Vehicle Registration, Signature Circular, Activity Certificate: Translating Commercial Documents

Published: 17 September 2026 · Reading time approximately 8 minutes

In commercial paperwork, translation means translating not a single document but a whole file . In transactions such as tenders, exports, company incorporation or the admission of a foreign shareholder, the documents are assessed together; if the certification of one is missing, the whole file waits. So the right question is this: which institution is asking for this paperwork, and with which chain does it accept it?

Which commercial documents require notarial certification?

In practice, notarial certification is most often required for the following documents:

• Signature circular and signature declaration
• Activity certificate and trade registry record
• Articles of association and decisions of the authorised bodies
• Powers of attorney and authorisation documents
• Vehicle registration certificate and vehicle ownership documents

For paperwork submitted for information — price lists, product catalogues, commercial correspondence, internal reports — institutions generally consider a sworn translation sufficient. Notarial certification applies in cases where a right or a power arises from the document.

Why is vehicle registration a heading of its own?

A translation of the vehicle registration certificate is required both for transactions involving foreign-plated vehicles and for vehicles leaving the country. The certificate contains fields such as the chassis number, the engine number and the registration date; a single character's difference in these fields sends the file back. Rather than retyping these fields, we compare them with the document character by character.

Why does terminology consistency matter?

In the documents of one and the same company, the trade name, the address and the names of the corporate bodies must be written the same way in every translation. If one document says "board of directors" and another says "management board", the institution may take these for two different bodies. For companies we work with on a continuing basis we keep the trade name, address and term list on file and use the same equivalents in later work.

Commercial documents going abroad: the apostille chain

If the document is to be used abroad, the order is reversed. First the official document issued in Türkiye (for example the trade registry record) is obtained, then its notarised translation is made, and then the apostille is affixed. If the destination country is not a party to the Hague Convention, consular certification is required instead of an apostille and the chain grows longer.

The apostille itself is part of the document; leaving it out of the translation is the mistake we see most often.

The date and validity trap

For paperwork such as an activity certificate or a trade registry record, institutions ask for an "up to date" document; most authorities expect it to be no older than a given date. Having the translation done early and letting the source document expire makes the translation unusable as well. The right order is: set the application calendar, then obtain the document, then have it translated.

Confidentiality

Commercial documents carry turnover, shareholding structure and pricing information. Our translators work under a duty of confidentiality; the documents are not used outside the matter at hand and are not shared with third parties.

How do we manage the process?

We establish which institution is asking for the document and set out from the start the chain that institution accepts (sworn / notarised / apostilled). We invoice corporately, and for companies we work with on a continuing basis we provide terminology consistency and priority delivery. We also follow the notary step through; you send the paperwork and wait for the delivery date.