With a paper document the translation has a known place in the chain: either the original is apostilled and then translated, the receiving institution saying whether the certificate is included, or the translation is certified by a notary and the apostille is placed on that certification, the element assessed then being the notary’s signature and capacity. With an electronic document the second order is not available in the system, since a notarised translation is not among the six e-Apostil document types. How the first order works for a file, however, is not described in any source read for this site. This page separates what is settled from what is not, and lists the questions that settle the rest. This site is not the official system; the electronic document is downloaded by its holder from the official site.
What the e-Apostil file contains
An e-Apostil document is the document created electronically by the competent institution together with the apostille certificate applied to it, the whole signed with the qualified electronic certificate of PTT, the national postal operator. The certificate follows the square form prescribed by the Convention, and its title is in French. Whether a translation is to be made from a printout of the file or from the file itself, and whether it must include the certificate, is not stated on the official e-Apostil pages or in the other sources read for this site. The receiving institution is the one that says what it wants translated.
Why nothing is added to the electronic file
When the electronic document is uploaded to the official verification page it is tested on its hash value. Adding a page to the file, stamping it or re-saving it alters the file and breaks the verification. Whatever form the translation takes, it is therefore not inserted into the original file; it stays a separate document. Whether the receiving institution wants the electronic file forwarded, a printout, or both, together with the translation, is its own decision and is asked in advance.
The notary in front of an electronic document: no official source found
Notarisation of the translation is a familiar step for a paper document: the sworn translator (yeminli tercüman, whose oath is on record at the notary) translates, and the notary certifies the translator’s signature. With an electronic document the notary has no paper original in front of it. Whether a Turkish notary treats a printout of an e-Apostil file as an original, first certifies the printout as a true copy, or asks to see the electronic file itself could not be verified from an official source in this site’s survey. The Consolidated Circular 25 of the Union of Turkish Notaries (TNB), read for this site, deals with electronic apostilles issued by other States and contains no provision on a printout of a Turkish e-Apostil document. Its Consolidated Circular 23 allows a translation from a fax or a photocopy, provided the heading states that it is such a translation; whether a notary treats an e-Apostil printout in that way was not found. If notarisation is required, the notary’s office should be asked before the translation is made how it handles an electronic document.
A second apostille on the translation, on paper only
Some institutions want the translation itself apostilled. On a paper document this is a second certificate placed on the notarial certification, issued, as for any notarial act, by the vali or kaymakam, the provincial or district governor, in any province or district. For an electronic document this second certificate is likewise available on paper only; the e-Apostil system does not cover notarised translations. The file may then hold two apostilles, one electronic and one on paper. Whether receiving institutions accept such a mixed file was not measured on this site, and the institution is asked.
Five questions to put to the receiving office in writing
- Do you accept the electronically apostilled file, or do you want a printout?
- What should the translation be made from, and should it include the apostille certificate?
- Who should make the translation: a sworn translator in Türkiye, or an authorised translator in your own country?
- Does the translation need a notary’s certification, and if so, do you want an apostille on that certification as well?
- Through which channel, in which form and by which date do you want to receive the file?
Written answers to these questions are obtained before the translation starts, so that the chain rests on the institution’s own words rather than on a verbal answer. France shows why the question is needed: for a translation to be apostilled, service-public.fr requires that it be made by a sworn translator, that the translator’s signature be certified and that the translation be presented together with the original; every country has a pattern of its own.
Settled and open points for an electronic document
Settled: the e-Apostil is placed on the original document, a notarised translation cannot itself go through e-Apostil, nothing is added to the file, and any apostille on a notarised translation is obtained on paper. Not settled by any source read here: what the translation is made from, whether it includes the certificate, and how the notary treats an electronic document. Those points are answered by the receiving institution and the notary, in writing where possible. A translation office renders the text, leaves the file untouched and makes neither the notary’s decision nor the institution’s.