Rental contract signed before a Turkish notary

Residence permit files commonly ask for accommodation evidence, and where that is a rental contract, it is often expected to be notarised. This is one of the few points where a translator is booked as a person for a date rather than sent a file.

⭐ Interpreting, not translating

Turkish notarial practice requires that a party who does not speak Turkish understands what is being signed. A sworn translator attends the appointment and interprets the document aloud as it is drawn up, then signs the notarial record alongside you.

This is why you cannot email us a contract and receive it back. The translator has to be physically present, at that notary office, on that date.

Which notary matters

A translator’s oath record is valid only at the notary office where it was taken. A translator without a record at the office you are attending cannot sign there.

So the first question to settle is which notary office your landlord or estate agent has arranged. Give us that, and the date, before anything else.

What to bring

• Your passport, and your residence permit if you already hold one
• Your tax identification number
• The draft contract, if one exists
• The landlord, or their representative under a power of attorney

⚠ If the landlord is represented, the power of attorney must explicitly cover signing a lease. A general authority is often not enough, and the notary will say so at the counter rather than before.

Read the draft in advance

Interpreting at the appointment means you hear the contract once, at speed, in a room where everyone is waiting. If the draft exists beforehand, have it translated in writing first and read it at home.

That is a small cost against a contract you will be bound by for a year, and the two are not alternatives: the written translation is for you, the interpreter is for the notary.

What the notary is doing

The notary is recording that the contract was drawn up before them and that you understood it. The notary is not advising you on whether the terms are reasonable — nobody in the room is doing that.

Timing

Notary offices work on their own hours and do not open at weekends. Book the translator once the notary appointment is fixed, not before; a translator held for a date that then moves is a wasted booking for both sides.

Where this fits

The registration that follows the contract is described on address registration for foreigners. Why a notary certifies a signature rather than a text is explained on the Turkish notary system.