For a foreign diploma arriving in Türkiye the general formula has one shape: an apostille from the issuing state on the original, and a Turkish translation certified by a notary in Türkiye. The recognition page of YÖK, the Turkish Council of Higher Education, changes that formula for two countries, and Bulgaria is one of them. A diploma from Bulgaria needs an apostille not only on the original but also on the translation made in Bulgaria, and both have to carry the seal of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science. This page describes that exception, the Bulgarian office that places the apostille, the electronic apostille question and what becomes of the Turkish notarised translation requirement.
The general YÖK rule and the Bulgarian exception
YÖK’s general list asks for a Turkish translation of the diploma certified by a Turkish notary or by a Turkish mission abroad, and expects the apostille on the original in line with the Convention. The Bulgarian paragraph gives a date, 1 June 2013, and names three documents: the diploma, the diploma supplement and the academic record. The originals of all three, and the translation made by any sworn translator in Bulgaria, have to bear the seal of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science and the apostille of the same ministry. The sentence is unambiguous: the certifications have to be on the originals and on the translations made in Bulgaria alike. The page gives no reason for the exception.
Two apostilles on two documents, both in Bulgaria
This route is the mirror image of the Turkish expression “double apostille”. For a document leaving Türkiye, one apostille may go on the original and another on the translation; for a diploma coming from Bulgaria there are also two certificates, but both are obtained in Bulgaria within the same ministerial chain. The translation is made by a sworn translator in Bulgaria and, in YÖK’s wording, bears the ministry’s seal and its apostille; how the seal and the translator’s signature are linked is not described on the page. A translation made in Türkiye cannot satisfy this condition, since no Bulgarian authority places an apostille on a Turkish notary’s certification. The sequence is completed in Bulgaria, and two apostilled documents arrive in Türkiye.
Ministry seal and NACID apostille: same office or not
The YÖK text names the Ministry of Education and Science as the office placing the apostille. The HCCH page for Bulgaria lists the National Centre for Information and Documentation (NACID) as the competent authority for educational documents; the Ministry of Justice handles court and notarial documents, the regional administrations municipal documents, and the remaining documents fall to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That the Centre is an agency under the ministry, and that YÖK’s “ministry apostille” means the Centre’s certificate, is plausible, but no official text found in this site’s survey confirms that match. A holder who obtains the apostille in Bulgaria checks the name of the authority on the certificate before presenting it to YÖK.
Electronic apostille since June 2020 and the YÖK file
According to the HCCH e-APP chart, NACID has placed electronic apostilles since June 2020, with its register at apostille.bg. The other Bulgarian authorities keep separate registers, and no single national verification page exists. In what form YÖK accepts an electronically apostilled document in a recognition file, whether it wants the printout or the file itself, is not stated on the page and was not verified on this site; where both forms are available, the question goes to YÖK before the application is filed.
Where the Turkish notarised translation requirement lands
The Turkish translation requirement in YÖK’s general list and the apostilled translation requirement in the Bulgarian paragraph stand side by side on the same page. The sworn translator in Bulgaria may translate into Turkish, and that translation arrives with an apostille; whether a Turkish notary then certifies a further translation, or whether the apostilled Bulgarian translation takes the place of the general requirement, the text does not make clear. No further source on how YÖK applies the pair was found in this site’s survey. The safe course is to have the translation made into Turkish in Bulgaria and apostilled there, and to add a notarised translation in Türkiye only if YÖK asks for it. The translation’s place on this route is the reverse of Turkish practice: before the apostille rather than after it, and in Bulgaria rather than in Türkiye.