In Malta the apostille comes from a single ministry, and although the HCCH record was updated in June 2026, no electronic apostille has been notified. A Turkish document takes the apostille route to Malta; the multilingual civil status form provides no exemption there, whereas the 1968 European Convention has freed consular documents from legalisation since 2018. This page explains the single-ministry set-up, the two fee classes, the limits of the exemptions and the place of translation for English-language documents.
One ministry in Malta, three kinds of office in Türkiye
According to the HCCH authority page (22 June 2026), apostille competence in Malta lies with the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs; there is no court, notary or other ministry channel. Every document leaving Malta, a court judgment as much as a diploma, carries the certificate of that one ministry. The contrast with Türkiye is marked: the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs places no apostille and does not process a document that already carries one; a Turkish apostille comes from the valilik (provincial governor’s office), the kaymakamlık (district governor’s office) or, for the original of a court document, the presidency of the judicial commission at a high criminal court seat. Knowing that difference keeps a Turkish document out of the wrong building.
Commercial and non-commercial: two fee classes, not two scopes
The HCCH page gives Malta’s apostille fee in two classes, commercial documents and non-commercial documents; the amounts are on that page and are not copied here. This classification should not be confused with the Apostille Convention’s exclusion of administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations: Malta’s commercial class is a fee tariff, and it shows that company documents do receive apostilles. Belonging to a company is no obstacle to an apostille; what falls outside the Convention is only an administrative document dealing directly with a commercial or customs operation. The same rule applies to a Turkish company document bound for Malta.
A Maltese record updated in June 2026, with no e-APP row
The authority page was updated on 22 June 2026, yet the HCCH e-APP chart of 13 August 2026 has no row for Malta. No online register for Maltese apostilles is known. Whether verification can be obtained through the Maltese mission in Türkiye was not checked on this site. Nor was it verified whether Maltese authorities accept a document from e-Apostil, the official Turkish electronic apostille system, in electronic form; a holder sending one of the six document types covered by that system should ask beforehand.
Why Forms A, B and C are apostilled for Malta
Malta has acceded neither to CIEC 16 nor to CIEC 17. 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 Maltese authority and takes an apostille. A single-status or residence certificate presented for a marriage has no legalisation exemption either. Being printed in several languages does not spare the form its apostille in Malta. EU Regulation 2016/1191 works between Malta and the other Member States and does not cover a Turkish document. Malta acceded on 12 June 1967; its HCCH row shows 3 March 1968, and no objection is recorded between Malta and Türkiye.
15 June 2018: consular documents between Malta and Türkiye
According to the Council of Europe table, the 1968 European Convention (ETS 063) has applied to Malta since 15 June 2018; for Türkiye the date is 23 September 1987. Since then a document drawn up at the Turkish mission in Malta is presented to a Maltese authority, and a document drawn up at the Maltese mission in Türkiye to a Turkish authority, without further certification. Because the Apostille Convention leaves consular documents outside its scope, no exemption existed for them before 2018. It is the only regime between Malta and Türkiye that operates outside the apostille.
English-language Maltese documents and translation
A Maltese document drawn up in English is still presented in Türkiye with a Turkish translation certified by a notary; the wide use of the language does not lift the translation requirement. Whether the ministry’s certificate has to be rendered too is left to the receiving Turkish institution. For a Turkish document going to Malta, whether the translation is wanted in English or another language is learned from the receiving institution; the language preference of Maltese institutions was not verified on this site. A translation made in Türkiye is certified by a notary and that certification receives its own apostille; a translation made in Malta leaves only the original to be apostilled. A translation office renders the text; the commercial classification and the acceptance of the document are decided by the Maltese authority.