UK authorities and purposes English → Turkish
FCDO Legalisation Office: apostille for documents going abroad
Turkish authorities want UK public documents apostilled before they read a translation of them. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Legalisation Office is the only body that issues the apostille, at £45 on paper or £35 as an e-Apostille, and the order of steps decides whether your file is accepted in Türkiye.
What the receiving body requires
Summary of GOV.UK guidance, not a quotation: the FCDO Legalisation Office issues apostilles on UK public documents at £45 for the standard paper service and £35 for an e-Apostille; the e-Apostille cannot be issued for General Register Office certificates, ACRO police certificates, DBS certificates or fingerprint certificates; and a translation can be apostilled only after a UK notary or solicitor has certified it. Fees and processing times should be checked on the live page.
Source:
· checked 29 August 2026What the Legalisation Office does
An apostille is a certificate that confirms the signature, seal or stamp on a UK public document is genuine, so that an authority in another Hague Convention country can rely on it without further checks. In the UK only the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Legalisation Office issues it. Consulates do not, notaries do not, and a solicitor’s stamp is not one. Türkiye has been a party to the convention since 1985, so an FCDO apostille is the only legalisation a UK document needs there; no Turkish consular stamp is added on top. The apostille says nothing about the content of the document and nothing about any translation. It is a verification of a signature, and that is why the sequence matters: the Turkish reader expects to see the apostille as part of the document and expects the translation to cover it.
What it costs and how long it takes
The FCDO offers a standard paper service at £45 per document and an e-Apostille at £35, issued on an electronic version of the document and verifiable online. The e-Apostille is quicker, but GOV.UK lists documents it cannot be used for: certificates issued by the General Register Office, ACRO police certificates, DBS certificates and fingerprint certificates must go through the paper service. Processing times change; the paper route has been measured in weeks at busy periods, the e-Apostille in days, and GOV.UK publishes the current figures. A business premium service exists for registered users. We cannot obtain FCDO apostilles ourselves from Ankara: you apply on GOV.UK and post the document, or we place the order through a UK legalisation partner for the FCDO fee plus £20 handling, with the document sent to the partner rather than to us.
Which UK documents Türkiye wants apostilled
- Birth, marriage and death certificates for the nüfus register; GRO certificates are apostilled directly but only on paper.
- The decree absolute or final order for registering a UK divorce under Article 27/A.
- DBS and ACRO certificates for Turkish citizenship applications; paper only.
- Degree certificates and transcripts for YÖK denklik; these usually need a solicitor or notary to certify them before the FCDO will apostille.
- Powers of attorney and statutory declarations signed before a UK notary, for tapu and court matters.
- Company documents for Turkish company formation and trade registries.
- A deed poll, which must be certified by a solicitor or notary first unless it was enrolled.
Where the process goes wrong
- Translation before apostille. A Turkish translation made before the apostille was added does not cover the apostille page, and Turkish offices send it back. Apostille first, always.
- Choosing the e-Apostille for a GRO, DBS or ACRO certificate, which the FCDO will not issue, and losing a week.
- Sending a photocopy. The FCDO legalises the signature on an original public document or on a copy certified by a UK notary or solicitor; a plain copy is returned.
- Expecting the Turkish consulate in London to apostille. It cannot; its role is different, as our consulate page explains.
- Asking for the translation itself to be apostilled in the UK. That is possible only after a UK notary or solicitor certifies the translation; for Türkiye it is unnecessary, because a translation notarised in Türkiye is what Turkish authorities want.
How we fit in after the apostille
Once the apostilled document is in your hands, send us a scan of every page including the apostille. Our translators, sworn before notaries in Ankara, translate the document and the apostille into Turkish; the translation is notarised by an Ankara notary so that nüfus offices, YÖK, tapu offices, courts and trade registries accept it, and if a third country or a cautious office wants the translation itself legalised we apostille the notarial act at the Ankara kaymakamlık for £15. English to Turkish is from £6.50 per page, the notary tariff is passed through at cost (about £12–15 per page in 2026) plus £5 handling, and courier to the UK or direct to your representative in Türkiye is £30. A scan arrives the day the notary signs; the paper original follows by courier. No UK VAT is charged. The whole sequence is set out in apostille for UK documents going to Türkiye, and our legalisation route checker tells you in a minute whether your document needs the paper or electronic route.
What you receive
- Written check of which FCDO route (paper or e-Apostille) your document type qualifies for
- Order placed with a UK legalisation partner if you prefer not to apply yourself (FCDO fee + £20)
- Turkish translation of the document and its apostille by a notary-sworn translator, notarised in Ankara
- Optional apostille on the notarised translation from the Ankara kaymakamlık (£15)
- Scan on the day of notarisation; original by courier to the UK or to Türkiye (£30)
Frequently asked questions
Can you get the FCDO apostille for me?
Not from Ankara. You can apply on GOV.UK yourself, which is cheapest, or we place the order with a UK legalisation partner and pass the FCDO fee through with £20 handling. Either way the document goes to the FCDO, not to us.
Is the e-Apostille accepted in Türkiye?
Türkiye verifies electronic apostilles through the Hague e-Register and runs its own e-Apostil system, but individual offices sometimes still ask for paper. Confirm with the receiving office before choosing the electronic route.
Does the apostille need translating?
Yes. Turkish offices treat the apostille as part of the document, and the notarised translation covers it. That is why the apostille must be obtained before translation.
My degree certificate was refused by the FCDO. Why?
The FCDO apostilles signatures it can verify. Many university signatures are not on its records, so the certificate must first be certified by a UK solicitor or notary, whose signature the FCDO then apostilles.
How long is an apostille valid?
The apostille does not expire, but Turkish offices often want the underlying document to be recent, for example a criminal record certificate issued within the last few months. Check the receiving office’s rule before you order.