In Latvia apostille competence rests with a single institution, and that institution is neither a ministry nor a court but the Council of Sworn Notaries. Electronic apostilles have been in use since 2019. For a Turkish document the real difference lies on the exemption side: Latvia has not acceded to the convention on multilingual civil status extracts, so Forms A, B and C need an apostille in Latvia, whereas the 1968 European Convention has freed consular documents from legalisation since 2022. This page explains those four points.
A single authority for Latvia: the Council of Sworn Notaries
According to the HCCH authority page (13 January 2026), apostilles in Latvia come from the Council of Sworn Notaries of Latvia; there is no second authority by document type. A court judgment, a diploma, a civil registry record and a notarial act all pass through the same channel. Set against the Turkish arrangement there are two differences: in Türkiye the competence is split by document type between the governor’s offices and the judicial commission, and a Turkish notary places no apostille. It is therefore normal for a Latvian document to carry a certificate placed by a notarial body. The fee is stated on the HCCH page and is not copied here.
July 2019 e-Apostille and two verification addresses for Latvia
The HCCH e-APP chart records that electronic apostilles started in Latvia in July 2019. The verification address appears in two forms in two sources: the authority page gives a verification page under notary.lv, the e-APP chart one under latvijasnotars.lv. Both belong to the Council of Sworn Notaries; which of the two is current was not checked on this site, and no source read here says which one a Turkish institution should use.
Why a multilingual Turkish extract still needs an apostille in Latvia
Latvia has acceded neither to CIEC 16 nor to CIEC 17. The consequence surprises anyone used to a German or Luxembourg file: a birth, marriage or death extract issued in multilingual form (Formül A, B or C) by a Turkish nüfus müdürlüğü, the civil registry office, enjoys no exemption before a Latvian authority; it takes an apostille, and the Latvian institution may add a request for translation. A single-status or residence certificate presented for a marriage has no legalisation exemption either. The multilingual layout does not remove the need for an apostille in Latvia.
21 August 2022: consular documents between Latvia and Türkiye
According to the Council of Europe table, the 1968 European Convention (ETS 063) has applied to Latvia since 21 August 2022; for Türkiye the date is 23 September 1987. Since that date a document drawn up at the Turkish mission in Latvia is presented to a Latvian authority, and a document drawn up at the Latvian mission in Türkiye to a Turkish authority, without further certification. Because the Apostille Convention leaves consular documents outside its scope, no such exemption existed in the Latvian direction before 2022; files built on older consular documents followed the procedure of that time.
A Latvian document in Türkiye: notarial apostille, Turkish translation
Latvia acceded on 11 May 1995; its HCCH row shows 30 January 1996, and no objection is recorded between Latvia and Türkiye. A document issued in Latvia reaches Türkiye with the apostille of the Council of Sworn Notaries, and the Turkish institution does not look for a legalisation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The document is presented with a Turkish translation certified by a notary; the Turkish institution sets the scope of that translation, the Council’s certificate included or not. EU Regulation 2016/1191 exempts certain documents from the apostille between Latvia and the other Member States; a Turkish document is outside that regulation, and it does not apply to a Latvian document entering Türkiye either.
Open points on the Latvian file and the place of translation
Not verified: which of the two verification addresses is current, whether paper apostilles continue, the language preference of Latvian institutions and their approach to a Turkish e-Apostil print-out. For a Turkish document going to Latvia, a translation made in Türkiye is certified by a notary, and an apostille on that certification comes from a governor’s office; whether a Latvian institution takes such a translation or wants one made in Latvia was not verified and is asked of the institution. A translation office renders the text; it can say that no exemption exists, but it places no apostille and does not judge whether the document will be accepted.