Re-acquiring Turkish citizenship

Who can regain citizenship

Article 13 of the Turkish Citizenship Law (Law 5901) allows a person who lost Turkish citizenship by renunciation with permission (izinle çıkma) to regain it by decision of the Ministry of the Interior, without any requirement to live in Türkiye first, provided there is no obstacle on grounds of national security or public order. A person who lost citizenship by withdrawal (kaybettirme) or by other means falls under different articles and should take advice; this page is about the ordinary case.

The re-acquired citizen is a full citizen again, with voting rights and, for men under the age limit, the military service obligation that the Mavi Kart did not carry. Those who only need property, residence and inheritance rights may prefer the Mavi Kart; those who want a Turkish passport, to vote, or to pass citizenship to children born after renunciation go through re-acquisition.

Where to apply

From the UK the application is lodged at the consulate general for your district, London, Manchester or Edinburgh, by appointment. A person living in Türkiye applies at the provincial population and citizenship directorate (il nüfus ve vatandaşlık müdürlüğü). In both cases the file goes to the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs (NVİGM) in Ankara, which examines it and issues the decision. The consulates' notes and recent practice put the time at around six months from a complete file to decision, though there is no statutory deadline.

The file

• Application form and photographs.
• Current passport (British) and the certificate of naturalisation or other evidence of the present nationality.
• The renunciation document (çıkma belgesi) or the closed Turkish family record, which the consulate can retrieve from the register.
• Birth certificate and, where the name has changed since renunciation by marriage or deed poll, the certificate or deed showing the change, so that the old and new names can be linked.
• Marriage certificate and children's birth certificates, if the applicant wants family members recorded at the same time.
• For men of military age, the file is checked against the military records; see below.

Translation: British documents in-house, others apostilled and translated

The consulates' notes on re-acquisition say that documents obtained from British authorities, such as passports, birth certificates and marriage certificates, are read by the consulate without an outside translation, while documents from any other country are apostilled and translated. So a person naturalised in the UK with a British birth or marriage certificate brings the originals and nothing in Turkish. A person whose marriage certificate is Irish, Australian or American, or whose naturalisation took place elsewhere before moving to the UK, needs an apostille from that country and a Turkish translation; for the consulate file that translation should be from the consulate's register.

If you apply in Türkiye at the provincial directorate, the British documents are presented with an FCDO apostille and a translation made by a translator sworn before a Turkish notary and notarised in Türkiye, which is our service from Ankara. Documents from other English-speaking countries are handled the same way once apostilled in their country of origin.

Military service after re-acquisition

A man who regains citizenship before 35 becomes liable for military service and must arrange deferment or use the fee-based option. The rules for dövizle askerlik count time abroad with work or residence status, and a person who has lived in the UK for years typically qualifies quickly; the application is made at the consulate. Details are on dövizle askerlik and military service deferment. Think this through before applying, because the obligation attaches on the day the decision takes effect.

Documents you may need

• Certificate of naturalisation translation
• British passport translation
• UK marriage certificate translation and deed poll translation to link old and new names
• UK full birth certificate translation for children to be recorded

Common pitfalls

• Applying without checking the military service consequences.
• A name on the British passport that cannot be traced to the name in the closed Turkish record.
• Third-country documents without apostille.
• Expecting children born after renunciation to become citizens automatically; they are recorded in the Mavi Kart register and apply separately under the 2025 rule.
• Applying at a consulate outside your district.

Our service and prices

For an application lodged in Türkiye, or for the Turkish offices you will deal with after re-acquisition, we translate British and other English-language documents into Turkish, sworn and notarised in Ankara, from £6.50 per page of 1,000 characters plus the Ankara notary tariff at cost (about £13.50 per page in 2026) and £5 handling per document; apostille of the translation £15. A naturalisation certificate, passport and marriage certificate together are three to four pages, roughly £70 to £95 before courier. PDF by e-mail, wet-sealed originals by courier for £30 to the UK or to Türkiye; no UK VAT, no collection.