e-Devlet — the Turkish e-government portal

The Turkish e-government portal gives access to documents that once required a visit to a counter. For anyone dealing with Turkish paperwork it removes a great deal of queuing.

⭐ What you can obtain

• Population registry extracts
• Criminal record certificates
• Address registration documents
• Social security service records
• Student certificates
• Various tax and property documents

Each is issued with a barcode or verification code instead of a wet signature, and Turkish institutions verify them directly. No translation, no notarisation, no apostille for domestic use.

Access for foreigners

Foreign nationals holding a Turkish identity number can generally use the portal, which makes the residence permit card the key that unlocks a great deal else — see Turkish residence permit card.

⚠ Abroad, ask two questions

Can it be apostilled? An apostille certifies a signature, and an electronically issued document may not carry one in the traditional sense. Türkiye issues apostilles electronically for certain document types, which resolves this for some documents but not all.

Will the receiving authority accept it? Practice abroad varies. Some verify online without difficulty; others still expect a wet-signed original.

Settle both before printing anything, since switching to the paper route afterwards means starting again.

Verification codes expire

Codes have a limited life, so a printout produced months ago may no longer verify even though the underlying facts have not changed. Print close to the date of use, at full size and good quality — an unscannable code is the same as no verification.

Getting a signed original

Where the electronic form will not do, the issuing institution can generally provide a signed original at its counter. Ask explicitly; the electronic version is now the default in most offices.

What it does not replace

The portal issues documents; it does not decide applications. A residence permit, a work permit, a recognition decision or a citizenship application is decided by the responsible authority, and the portal is simply where some of the supporting documents come from.

Nor does it hold foreign documents. Anything issued outside Türkiye still travels the ordinary route — apostille at source, then sworn translation here — see which documents need an apostille.

Keeping your own copies

Because documents are so easy to obtain here, people stop keeping them — and then find that a code has expired at the moment a counter asks for a printout. Reissuing is quick, but only while you have access, and access depends on an identity number and a working login.

Keep a note of the identity number somewhere separate from the card that carries it, and check the login works before you need it rather than on the morning of an appointment.