Translations for a UK spouse or partner visa (Appendix FM)

The route and the paperwork behind it

A Turkish husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner of a British citizen or settled person applies under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules: first for entry clearance from Türkiye, later for further leave to remain, and after five years for indefinite leave to remain. The relationship, the sponsor’s income (a minimum of £29,000 a year since 11 April 2024, held at that figure pending review), accommodation and English language all have to be evidenced, and the evidence rules live in Appendix FM-SE. The Turkish side of the file, everything from the marriage record to a previous divorce, arrives in Turkish and has to be translated before it can be assessed.

What Appendix FM-SE says a translation must contain

Paragraph 1(j) of Appendix FM-SE deals with documents that are not in English or Welsh. In summary, you must supply the original and a full translation that can be independently verified by the decision maker; the translation must be dated and include confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original, the full name and signature of the translator or an authorised person at the translation company, and the translation company’s contact details. The fourth item is quoted in the box on this page: for leave to remain and indefinite leave to remain applications, certification by a qualified translator and details of the translator or translation company’s credentials. Our certification statement carries the company’s legal name, Ankara trade registry number, address and the signatory’s name, which is the information that item asks for. We are a translation company in Türkiye rather than a named UK translator, and that is compatible with the rule as written. Notarisation is not mentioned anywhere in FM-SE and is not needed.

The Turkish documents in a typical spouse-visa file

• Nüfus kayıt örneği, ideally the full version with event history (vukuatlı), which shows the marriage, any earlier marriages and children on one document.
• Marriage certificate: the evlenme cüzdanı booklet or the Formül B multilingual extract, which still needs an English translation because the UK is not a party to that convention.
• Divorce decree (boşanma kararı) with its finality note (kesinleşme şerhi) where either of you was married before, or the former spouse’s death certificate.
• Bank statements for cash savings held in a Turkish account, which must be shown for the full six-month period.
• Where the British sponsor has been living in Türkiye and is returning with a UK job offer, their Turkish employment letter, payslips and SGK service record for the previous twelve months.
• Tapu and sale contract where savings came from selling property in Türkiye.
• Children’s birth certificates and, for a child of a previous relationship, the custody order.

Refusal reasons we see on the translation side

• A short-form nüfus record that does not show marital history, so the caseworker cannot see that a previous marriage ended.
• A divorce decree translated without the finality stamp, leaving it unclear whether the divorce is final.
• Bank statements translated for four months when the rule needs six.
• The wife’s name on the marriage record differs from her passport because the surname changed at marriage and the passport was not renewed; the translation must reproduce both and say so.
• For further leave applications, a translation with no company details, so the credentials item is unmet.
• Registrar stamps, the Formül B footnotes and margin notes left untranslated.

How we build the bundle

We translate each document in full, reproduce every stamp and seal, and keep names exactly as they appear in the passports you send us, adding a translator’s note where the Turkish record spells a name differently. Each page carries the certification with company details, date and signature. You receive a PDF for upload; a hard copy by courier is available for £30 but is not required by UKVI. A common entry-clearance bundle of a vukuatlı nüfus kayıt örneği, a marriage certificate and six months of bank statements comes to about £60–100 and takes 1–2 working days; a divorce decree adds £40–100 depending on length. No UK VAT is charged. Our step-by-step guide and the spouse-visa checklist list what to gather before you order.