Where Do You Apply to Marry a Foreign National?

Published: 14 September 2026 · Reading time approximately 8 minutes

In Türkiye a Turkish citizen may marry a foreign national, and two foreign nationals may marry each other. In practice the most frequently asked question starts right here: where is the application made? The answer is a single address — the marriage registry office. No other institution accepts a marriage application; the migration administration, the notary or the consulate come into play only in specific parts of the process.

Which authority is the application made to?

The couple wishing to marry apply together and in person . The competent authorities are as follows:

• Municipal marriage registry offices. The application is made to the municipality in the place of residence of one of the parties; in metropolitan cities the marriage departments of the district municipalities handle this.
• Marriage registry offices appointed by the provincial or district civil registry directorates. In places with no municipal organisation this duty may be assigned to the local headman's office.
• Turkish consulates abroad. Only if both parties are Turkish citizens can the ceremony be held at a consulate. If one of the parties is a foreign national, this route is closed.

The couple may choose the place where the ceremony will be held; once the application has been made to one municipality and the authorisation document obtained, the ceremony may be held at any marriage registry office in Türkiye within the statutory period.

Documents requested from the foreign party

The document list varies according to the person's citizenship and their status in Türkiye; the core list, however, is the same in almost every file:

• Passport and the passport's notarised translation. The identity details must be readable in Turkish.
• Certificate of capacity to marry (commonly called a certificate of single status). It shows that there is no impediment to the person's marrying under the legislation of their own country.
• Birth certificate or civil registry extract. Requested in order to confirm the date of birth, place of birth and the names of both parents.
• Health report. A report showing that there is no impediment to the marriage, drawn up in the form accepted by the marriage registry office.
• Passport-size photographs and the declaration forms required by the marriage registry office.
• Document showing your status in Türkiye. A visa, a visa exemption or a residence permit; the records are expected to be up to date.

From those who have been married before, a divorce decree or the spouse's death certificate is also requested. For women, the waiting period required by law (the iddet period) applies from the end of the previous marriage; this period may be lifted by a court decision.

Where is the certificate of capacity to marry obtained?

This document is obtained from the competent authority of the applicant's own state . In practice there are two routes:

1. 1

   From the representation in Türkiye

   The embassy or consulate of the person's country in Türkiye issues the document. On this route the document is often drawn up directly in Turkish or bilingually, so the process is shorter.

2. 2

   From the civil registry authority in their own country

   If the document is obtained from the country of origin, an apostille must be affixed to it, or consular certification carried out if the country is not a party to the Hague Convention. The sworn translation and notarisation are then completed.

Most of these documents are valid for a limited time. A certificate of capacity to marry or a criminal record or civil registry extract obtained long before the appointment date may be treated as invalid on the ceremony day. Obtaining the documents close to the appointment removes the most frequent cause of delay.

Where is the health report obtained?

In Türkiye the report is issued by family health centres or state hospitals . The marriage registry offices themselves state which tests will be required and in what format the report must be, so the correct order is to obtain the list from the marriage registry office first and then go to the health institution. When the report is obtained for the foreign party, the passport and, where available, the foreigner identification number are requested.

Is an interpreter mandatory at the ceremony?

Yes. If one of the parties does not speak Turkish, so that they can express their will freely, a sworn interpreter must be presentat the marriage ceremony. The interpreter translates the ceremony orally and signs the marriage register. The interpreter's identity document and status as a sworn translator are notified to the marriage registry office in advance.

The same obligation applies in notary procedures as well: when a power of attorney, a consent or a signature declaration is given, if the foreign party does not speak Turkish a sworn interpreter must be present before the notary. For both of these, our marriage ceremony interpreting service is available.

The process step by step

1. 1

   The list is obtained from the marriage registry office

   The document list for the relevant citizenship and the appointment conditions become clear. Because there can be small differences between districts, the list should be obtained in writing.

2. 2

   The foreign documents are procured

   Certificate of capacity to marry, birth certificate and, where applicable, the divorce decree; an apostille or consular certification is obtained where required.

3. 3

   Translation and notarisation

   The documents are translated by a sworn translator and certified before a notary. Care is taken that the spelling of names matches the passport exactly.

4. 4

   Health report and submission of the file

   The report is obtained, the file is submitted to the marriage registry office together, and the ceremony day is set.

5. 5

   The ceremony and afterwards

   The ceremony is held in the presence of the interpreter and an international family booklet is issued. The residence permit application then comes onto the agenda.

After the ceremony: residence and citizenship

Marriage does not automatically confer the right to stay in Türkiye. A foreign national who marries a Turkish citizen applies for a family residence permit ; this permit is renewed for as long as the marriage genuinely continues and the couple live together. For details see residence permit consultancy page.

Citizenship is a separate topic: for an application through marriage there must be a marriage in which the couple have genuinely lived together for the period required by law, and the application is subject to separate assessment. For the documents and translation requirements, our article on documents and translation in a citizenship application will guide you.

The four most frequently made mistakes

• The name being spelled differently across documents. The Latin-alphabet spelling in the passport should be taken as the basis and all translations should follow it.
• Skipping the apostille. An official document coming from abroad is not accepted until the certification chain is complete.
• Submitting the translation without notarisation. A sworn translation alone may not be enough; the marriage registry office looks for notarial certification.
• The document's validity period expiring. A document obtained too early may have lost its validity by the appointment day.

An important warning

Marriages entered into solely in order to obtain a residence permit, a work permit or citizenship, without any intention of living together, are regarded as sham marriages ; if detected, the permits are cancelled and criminal proceedings are brought. Our office does not act as an intermediary for requests of this nature; our service is directed at carrying out the official process of a genuine marriage correctly.

For the details specific to your citizenship, see our foreign marriage procedures consultancy page.