Multilingual civil status extracts (Formula A, B, C)

An international convention provides standard forms for civil status records, printed with fixed headings in several languages. The registry fills in the variable data; the headings are already readable by the receiving authority.

⭐ The three forms

Formula A — birth. Formula B — marriage. Formula C — death.

Because the layout is standardised and the headings are multilingual, a receiving authority that accepts the form needs no translation. And because the form is issued under the convention, it generally needs no apostille or legalisation either.

Two costs and two waiting periods disappear at the same time.

⚠ Two conditions

The issuing country must be able to produce it. Not every country is party to the convention, and not every registry within a participating country issues the form routinely.

The receiving authority must accept it. Practice differs, and an institution that wants an ordinary certified translation is entitled to say so.

Both halves are worth asking before you order anything.

Asking for one

Registries issue the ordinary domestic certificate by default. Describe what you need — a civil status extract on the international multilingual form, for use abroad — rather than naming a form number, since local terminology differs.

In Türkiye these are obtained from a population directorate, and in many cases through a Turkish consulate abroad.

What it does not cover

Only civil status records. Diplomas, criminal record certificates, court decisions, powers of attorney, company documents and medical reports are all outside the convention and follow the ordinary chain — see which documents need an apostille.

Where it saves most

Family files. A residence permit or citizenship application for a family of four can contain five or six civil status documents, and one request to the right registry can cover all of them — see family residence permit.

Why a translation office publishes this

Telling people they may not need a translation is a deliberate choice. The most common avoidable expense we see is someone paying to translate and legalise a record that could have been issued in a form needing neither.

Asking the registry costs nothing. If the answer is no, the ordinary chain is still there and nothing is lost; if it is yes, you keep both the money and the weeks it would have taken.