Senegal switched to the apostille for Turkish documents in the spring of 2023; two states objected on the way, and a third withdrew its objection in 2026. Company and study papers, birth records, diplomas and marriage certificates are examples of documents that can move between the two countries. This page is for the Senegalese registry, university or company that receives a Turkish document and for the Turkish office that receives a Senegalese one: the 2023 date, the three officials in Dakar who sign the certificate, the objections and why they reach a Turkish file only through a third country, the difference between documents issued before and after the date, and the place of the French translation.
13 July 2022 and 23 March 2023: Senegal joins the apostille map
Senegal deposited its instrument of accession on 13 July 2022, and the HCCH status table shows 23 March 2023. The eight months in between hold the six-month objection window of article 12 and the waiting period that follows it. Türkiye did not object, and the full status report contains no exception between Türkiye and Senegal; the date that governs the pair is Senegal’s own. Senegal is absent from the HCCH list of Members, one more state that joined the Convention without joining the organisation. Senegal has not acceded to ETS 063, CIEC 16 or CIEC 17, and no other arrangement between Türkiye and Senegal removing legalisation was found in this site’s survey.
Three signatures in Dakar: who places a Senegalese apostille
According to the HCCH authority page, updated on 22 July 2022, the authority in Senegal lies with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad and is exercised by three officials: the Director of Legal and Consular Affairs, the Head of the Chancellery Division and the Head of the Civil Registry Office. Whether the three signatures are divided by document type or by workload is not stated in the HCCH summary and was not verified here; a Turkish office receiving a Senegalese document accepts the signature of any of the three as that of the authority notified under article 6. The page states no fee, the data record marks that as unverified, and no amount appears on this page.
Berlin and Vienna objected; the Dutch withdrawal took effect on 28 January 2026
Germany and Austria objected to Senegal’s accession, so the apostille does not run between Senegal and those two states. The Netherlands had objected as well; according to the HCCH record the Dutch objection was withdrawn with effect from 28 January 2026. A Turkish document is unaffected by any of this. The objections show up in Türkiye only in three-country files: a person living in Türkiye who has to send a German document to Dakar cannot rely on a German apostille there, while a Dutch document has travelled with a Dutch apostille since 28 January 2026; which route applied to Dutch files before that date is not stated in the sources read for this site.
Senegalese documents issued before and after 23 March 2023
How a Senegalese document legalised before 23 March 2023 by the Turkish mission or the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is treated today was not checked in this site’s survey. A document issued after that date is expected to carry an apostille; the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not legalise a document that already carries one. What route applies to a document issued before the date but presented in Türkiye for the first time today was not verified on this site; the holder asks the Senegalese authority whether a certificate with a current date can be placed. The e-APP chart of 13 August 2026 has no Senegal row, and no online register for Senegalese certificates is known.
A Turkish apostille for Dakar: governor’s office or judicial commission
A Turkish document for Senegal is apostilled by a Turkish authority: administrative documents and every notarial act at a valilik or kaymakamlık, the provincial or district governor’s office; the original of a court judgment at the adli yargı adalet komisyonu başkanlığı, the judicial commission at a high criminal court seat. Onikişubat writes that it certifies documents from any province, whereas Develi names only documents from its own district; the any-province rule of Notaries Law art. 199 covers notarial acts only, and a uniform practice for administrative documents was not verified. In a company file the signature circular and the power of attorney are notarial acts and receive an apostille; an administrative document dealing directly with a commercial or customs operation is outside the Convention, and a separate route is asked for it. For the six document types handled by e-Apostil, the official Turkish electronic apostille system, an electronic certificate exists, but no Senegalese electronic certificate has been notified to the HCCH and the reception of a Turkish electronic one in Dakar was not verified. The apostilled document is not taken to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and does not pass through the Senegalese mission.
French translation on the Senegal file and the fee left unverified
Whether Senegalese institutions want French was not verified in this site’s survey, and the receiving institution is asked. A translation made in Türkiye passes through a notary, and the notarial act receives its own apostille; the certificate attests the notary’s signature, not the accuracy of the text. A Senegalese document is translated into Turkish after the certificate is placed; translating the certificate along with it is a matter the Turkish office decides. The unverified points on this page are the fee of the Senegalese authority, the division of documents among the three signing officials, the route for a document issued before the date and presented now, and the form in which a Turkish e-Apostil is accepted. A translation office renders the text; it places no certificate and does not forecast the Senegalese institution’s decision.