The document list of the foreign institution decides; the two documents do not show the same thing and do not get their apostilles from the same office. The civil registry extract (nüfus kayıt örneği) is an administrative document showing a person’s current status in the register. The divorce decree is a judicial document showing in which court, when and on what terms the divorce was concluded. Which of the two a given file needs is written in the institution’s list.
Two documents, two chains, two offices
The civil registry extract is a document of the Turkish Ministry of the Interior: its paper apostille is issued by the valilik or kaymakamlık (the provincial or district governor’s office), and its electronic apostille is obtained from e-Apostil, the official Turkish electronic system, where this document is available to Turkish citizens only. A barcode printout from e-Devlet, the e-government portal, gets no paper apostille. The divorce decree is a court document: the apostille on its original is issued by the presidency of the judicial commission at a high criminal court seat, or it is obtained from e-Apostil as a court judgment. Before the apostille, the decree has to carry the finality clause, a term explained in the key terms section of this site.
The German marriage sheet wants the decree
The information sheet of the German missions in Türkiye for a visa with a view to marriage asks a previously married applicant for the complete divorce decree with the finality clause, an apostille and a German translation. An institution registering a new marriage may thus want to see not only the word “divorced” but the decree that became final. The same missions recognise the civil registry extract with an apostille and a sworn translation; both documents may be asked for together, and neither substitutes for the other.
Registration and pension files: the institution’s list
Where a civil status has to be entered in a register or reported to a social security body, whether the current extract is enough or the decree is wanted is for the institution to say; this site’s survey found no general rule on it. In the French Foreign Ministry’s legalisation table, civil status documents from Türkiye are exempt from legalisation, and an exemption is also provided for judicial documents relating to civil status and family situation, while other judicial documents require an apostille. Whether a divorce decree falls under that exemption is for the French institution to interpret; this site’s survey found no source settling the point. The French regime for Turkish documents is described on the country page of this site.
Two things to ask the institution first
- Is recognition of the divorce wanted, or only proof of civil status? The first points to the decree, the second to the extract.
- If the decree is wanted, the whole of it or only the operative part? The German sheet says “complete decree”; other institutions may write differently.
Preparing both documents means two apostilles and two translations; having both done before the institution answers may produce needless expense.
A few pages against a long judgment
The civil registry extract runs to one or a few pages; a divorce decree with its reasoning can be long, and the finality clause enters the translation with it; whether the apostille does as well is for the institution to say. In the translation of the decree the court’s name, the case and decision numbers, the names of the parties and the operative provisions are kept exactly; sections on custody or maintenance are not shortened even where the institution has no interest in them, since the notarial certification covers the whole document. A translation office translates either document; which one is wanted is read from the institution’s list, not decided by the office.