Twenty-eight years separate the two dates in Vanuatu’s record: the Convention reached the territory through an extension by two states before independence, and Vanuatu notified its commitment in 2008. This page is for Vanuatu institutions receiving Turkish papers and for companies and individuals in Türkiye holding Vanuatu documents. It covers the two-state extension, how the 2008 notification bears on the start date with Türkiye, the two certifying bodies, a fee note that varies with the sides of a page and the place of translation.
The 1966 extension to the New Hebrides by the United Kingdom and France
According to the HCCH record, the Convention applied to the New Hebrides, as Vanuatu was known before independence, through an extension made in 1966 by the United Kingdom and France. Two states, not one, made the extension; that detail separates Vanuatu’s record from those of Fiji and Tonga, which rest on the United Kingdom’s 1965 extension. After independence Vanuatu notified succession; the HCCH table dates the notification 1 August 2008 and gives the effective date as 30 July 1980. Because succession reaches back to independence, the table shows Vanuatu as bound since 1980.
The 2008 notification and 29 September 1985
This site counts the start between Türkiye and Vanuatu from Türkiye’s date, 29 September 1985, because the backdated effective date is 1980. The day Vanuatu notified its commitment to the HCCH, however, was 1 August 2008. How Vanuatu documents were treated in Türkiye, and Turkish documents in Vanuatu, between 1985 and 2008 was not found in this site’s survey; a person working with a document from that period puts the question to the receiving institution. No objection is recorded between the two countries, and Vanuatu is not counted in the Kosovo note.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and the Financial Services Commission
The HCCH authority page, updated on 2 June 2014, gives the power to two bodies: the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission. The Commission’s power is expressly limited: it certifies only documents under its own jurisdiction. Which documents fall within that jurisdiction is not stated in the summary and could not be verified here. On a Vanuatu document, a Turkish institution will see the certificate of one of the two.
Single-sided, double-sided, extra copy: Vanuatu’s fee items
Vanuatu’s fee note is in US dollars and lists three items: a single-sided document, a double-sided document, and an additional copy certificate for an identical document from the same issuing authority. A fee that depends on the sides of a page contrasts sharply with Türkiye, where no fee is charged for a physical certificate at a governor’s office. The amounts are not reproduced here, and whether the items on the 2014 page still apply could not be verified. The e-APP chart of 13 August 2026 has no Vanuatu row. Vanuatu has not acceded to ETS 063, CIEC 16 or CIEC 17 and does not appear on the list of Members of the Hague Conference.
Turkish documents for Vanuatu and the place of translation
A Turkish document going to Vanuatu is certified by a Turkish authority: a valilik or kaymakamlık, the provincial or district governor’s office, for a diploma or civil registry extract; a governor or district governor in any province or district for every act drawn up before a notary; and the adli yargı adalet komisyonu başkanlığı for the original of a court judgment. The certificate attests the signature, the capacity and the seal, not the content of the document. What Vanuatu institutions expect regarding translation language and certification was not found in this site’s survey. On a Vanuatu document the certificate sits on the original; the Turkish translation is made in Türkiye and certified by a notary, and the receiving Turkish institution says whether the certificate text is translated too. A translation office renders the text and does not assess a document dated between 1985 and 2008.