Translations for employers and HR

Right to work: no translation involved

Every UK employer must check a new employee’s right to work before they start. The Home Office employer’s guide describes the three routes: an online check with the worker’s share code, a manual check of original documents from the prescribed lists, or a check through an identity service provider for British and Irish passports. A Turkish national proves the right to work with an eVisa share code or, for older permissions, a passport with a valid vignette or a biometric card. None of the listed documents is in Turkish and the guide asks for no translations. An HR team that requests a translated Turkish ID card for the check has confused it with something else; the check is satisfied by the share code alone.

Where HR does need Turkish documents in English

Pre-employment screening is broader than the right to work, and that is where Turkish paperwork appears. A qualification check needs the Turkish degree or vocational certificate. An employment history check needs references from Turkish employers, which are usually a short çalışma belgesi, and increasingly the SGK service record, which lists every job with dates and is hard to fake. Regulated sectors go further: NHS trusts follow employment check standards covering identity, qualifications, employment history and, for roles with patients, occupational health records such as hepatitis B immunity; schools, care providers and financial firms ask for a criminal record check for the years spent abroad, because a UK DBS certificate does not cover Türkiye. Sponsors of Skilled Worker visas keep evidence of the worker’s qualifications and experience on file for Home Office audits, and restaurant sponsors of Turkish chefs are asked for proof of the chef’s training and experience.

Turkish documents that come up

• University diplomas, lise diplomas and transcripts.
• Vocational certificates (ustalık belgesi, MYK mesleki yeterlilik belgesi, kurs sertifikası) for chefs, barbers, electricians and other trades.
• Employer references (çalışma belgesi).
• The SGK hizmet dökümü as an independent record of employment dates.
• An adli sicil kaydı from e-Devlet, with an e-apostille where the employer requires one, for overseas criminal record checks.
• Vaccination and immunity records for healthcare roles, and a driving licence for driving roles.

Common reasons HR sends documents back

• A reference gives a job title and dates but no company contact details or signatory, so the screening provider cannot verify it. The SGK record fills the gap.
• Job titles are mistranslated. An aşçıbaşı is a head chef, a usta a qualified craftsman, a kalfa a journeyman; a wrong title can affect a Skilled Worker sponsorship as well as the hire.
• An ustalık belgesi from the Ministry of National Education is confused with an MYK certificate; they are different schemes and we name each correctly.
• The adli sicil kaydı is translated without its verification code, or an employer wanted an apostilled version and received a plain one.
• Dates in Turkish format are read the wrong way round on a screening form.

How we prepare HR documents

We translate every certificate and reference in full, with the issuing body, stamps and signatures rendered, and a second linguist checks names, dates and titles. Each page carries our certification statement with the company’s Ankara registry details, the date, stamp and signature, and the original is attached so screening providers can compare. Employers and screening companies accept the PDF; where a paper set is wanted we send it by UK Special Delivery (£8) or courier from Ankara (£30). Diplomas and references are one page each (£10); an SGK record 2–4 pages (£20–40); an adli sicil kaydı one page (£10); a transcript £30–60. Turnaround is 1–2 working days, and single documents received before 11:00 UK time are returned the same day. No UK VAT is charged. Employers sponsoring staff from Türkiye will find translations for a Skilled Worker visa useful, and restaurants hiring chefs should read vocational evidence for Turkish barbers, chefs and trades.