Short-term residence permit: documents and translation
Which of your documents actually need a notarised Turkish translation, and which are already Turkish and need nothing. The apostille must come from the country that issued the document — Türkiye cannot issue one for a foreign paper.
In brief
- Estimated time
- Depends on appointment availability
- Destination country
- Türkiye
Short-term permits are granted for reasons such as tourism, property ownership, medical treatment or research. The reason determines part of the document list, but the certification rules are the same across all of them.
The certification level is stated
The migration authority’s own wording asks for a Turkish translation made by a sworn translator and certified by a notary. A translator’s stamp alone is not enough here.
This matters because a different Turkish authority — the ministry handling work permits — accepts a lower level. Do not carry one regime’s rule into the other.
⭐ The apostille is not issued in Türkiye
An apostille certifies the signature of the authority that issued a document, so only that country can issue one. Türkiye cannot apostille your foreign birth certificate, income statement or criminal record, no matter which office you visit.
If you arrive with an unapostilled document, translation and notarisation done here will not advance your file — the document has to go back. Complete apostilles before you leave.
Two groups of paper
Turkish documents are not translated. Your address registration, Turkish rental contract, Turkish health insurance policy and Turkish bank statement stay as they are.
Foreign documents need apostille abroad, then sworn translation, then notarial certification. Splitting your list this way before ordering anything removes the most common unnecessary cost in the whole file.
⚠ We do not print a fixed list
The document list changes by permit purpose and by nationality, and it is revised from time to time. Take your list from the authority’s own current publication, not from any website — including this one.
What this page gives you is the part that does not change: who certifies what, and in which order.
Freshness decides your order of work
Income statements, bank documents and civil registry extracts are expected to be recently issued. Obtaining them early means obtaining them twice, because a stale document takes its apostille and its translation down with it.
Where this fits
The certification levels referred to above are explained on how it works, and the reason an apostille can only come from the issuing country is set out on why Türkiye cannot apostille a foreign document.
Order of steps
-
Identify the permit purpose
Tourism, property, treatment and research files differ. Confirm which category you are applying under before collecting anything, because the supporting documents follow from it.
-
Get the current list from the authority
Download the list from the authority’s own publication. Lists reproduced on third-party sites go out of date and cause returned files.
-
Split the list in two
Mark which documents are issued in Türkiye and which come from abroad. Only the second group needs translation.
-
Apostille abroad first
Have foreign documents apostilled in the issuing country. Türkiye cannot do this afterwards and translating first wastes the work.
-
Book the appointment, then collect short-lived papers
Income and bank documents are expected to be current. Obtain them in the two weeks before the appointment, not months ahead.
-
Translate and notarise back to back
Have the sworn translation done and notarised without leaving days in between, so the underlying document is still current on the day you submit.
Frequently asked questions
Not for this authority. Its wording asks for a sworn translation certified by a notary.
No. Only the country that issued the document can apostille it.
No. Documents issued in Türkiye are submitted as they are.
It changes by purpose and nationality. Take it from the authority’s own current publication.
Close to the appointment. An early statement goes stale and takes its translation with it.