Marriage to a Turkish citizen does not by itself make you a Turkish citizen. It opens a route to citizenship with its own eligibility conditions and its own paperwork, and the documents differ depending on whether you apply at a Turkish consulate abroad or at a citizenship office in Turkey. This guide covers both paths. For the investment-based alternatives, see our guides to citizenship by property investment and citizenship by bank deposit.
Who Can Apply
Marriage to a Turkish citizen does not confer citizenship directly. Under Article 16 of the Turkish Citizenship Law, a foreign spouse may apply once the marriage has lasted at least three years and is still subsisting on the date of application.
Three further conditions apply to the applicant:
- Living together in family unity
- Not engaging in any activity incompatible with the marriage union
- Having no circumstances that constitute an impediment on grounds of national security or public order
Two situations in the same article are worth knowing about, because they arise more often than people expect. If the Turkish spouse dies after the application has been made, the family unity condition no longer applies. And a foreign spouse who has already acquired Turkish citizenship through marriage keeps it if the marriage is later annulled, provided they entered into the marriage in good faith.
Applications on this basis are examined by a citizenship application review commission, which is where the interview described below fits in.
The Consulate Path
I. Required Documents for Citizenship Application at a Turkish Consulate
Below is the list of documents required for the citizenship application at the consulate, along with some further details on these requirements.
Main Documents
- Proof of cohabitation for the past 3 years (for example, a residential document, joint rental agreement or title deed, joint bank account, or any type of invoice such as a council tax document for the common household)
- Marriage certificate
Documents for the Foreign Spouse
- Birth certificate with names of parents
- Passport and two copies of the cover page
- Criminal record certificate from your country of residence (in the United Kingdom, this is a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check)
The criminal record document must be "issued within the last 6 months". There is no requirement to obtain it from the country of nationality, according to the information provided by the consulate. We can contact the consulate on your behalf if you need any further information.
- Four photos taken within the past 6 months
- Reference letters from two Turkish citizens
The letters should include copies of the referees' Turkish IDs.
The referees must know you.
The letters must include their addresses and phone numbers.
Reference letters are not required for applications made in Turkey.
Documents for the Turkish Spouse
- Record from the Civil Registry Office (Açıklamalı aile nüfus kayıt örneği)
II. Further Information
In addition to the list above, here is some further information on related matters.
We visited the Citizenship Office in Istanbul, which confirmed that a simultaneous application for a residence permit does not affect the status of an ongoing citizenship application. We also enquired about the interview process for the citizenship application and were told it includes questions about your spouse.
Reference letters or proof of cohabitation are not required when submitting a citizenship application in Turkey.
The Domestic Path: Applying in Turkey
Alternatively, applicants can pursue the domestic path described below.
According to Law Number 5901, Turkish Citizenship Law, Article 16, applications based on marriage require the following documents.
I. Documents Required at the Appointment
- Application form VAT-6.
- A residence permit card valid for at least 3 months after the application date. This includes a residence permit, work permit, temporary protection document, or international protection document under Law 6458.
- The applicant's passport or a similar document showing nationality, along with a notarised translated copy.
- The following documents must be attested by the relevant country's public bodies or Turkish authorities, or apostilled. The translations of these documents must be done in Turkey through a notary: birth certificate, marriage certificate, or Formule B (the international multilingual extract of a civil-status record). For those who married in Turkey, the first 3 pages of the international marriage document.
- A full registry record for the Turkish citizen spouse obtained from e-Devlet.
- Nüfus cüzdanı fotokopisi, a copy of the Turkish National ID for the Turkish citizen spouse.
- 3 up-to-date biometric photos.
- Receipt showing that you paid the service fee to Ziraat Bankası. You can obtain this document after the officer at the appointment confirms that the documents are in order.
II. The Public Authority to Be Applied To and the Procedure
When applying to the Citizenship Office, you must also submit 1 black-and-white copy of each document. If there are any discrepancies in the residence document records, the applicant must first write a petition to Göç İdaresi (Immigration Office) to correct the incorrect information. If there's any information that is different on the marriage document, the applicant must apply to the district Nüfus Müdürlüğü (population office) to correct the information.
Law Number 5901, Turkish Citizenship Law, and the relevant regulations require a name equivalency document if there is any discrepancy between the documents regarding the name printed on them.
Documents obtained from abroad must be approved or apostilled by a consulate, embassy, or Turkish authority such as Kaymakamlık, Valilik, Büyükelçilik, or Dışişleri. Turkish translations must be done in Turkey.
Applications are made directly to the Valilik if the applicant is in Turkey. If the applicant is abroad, they must apply in person to Turkey's foreign representatives (consulates and embassies). Applications made by mail are not accepted.
Attestation of official documents provided by foreign authorities is done pursuant to Article 59 of the Nüfus Hizmetleri Uygulama Yönetmeliği.
If the applicant's birth date does not include the day and month, the applicant must submit a document proving this, obtained from the relevant country and its public authorities. The document must be approved according to the required procedures, and a notarised Turkish translation must be provided, or the applicant must confirm that they agree their birthday is the first day of July, pursuant to Article 39 of Law Number 5490, titled Nüfus Hizmetleri Kanunu.
If the applicant requests that their child also be granted Turkish citizenship, this is possible if the child is under 18 years of age, whether from past marriages or outside of marriage. The required documents, pursuant to the regulation implementing Law 5901, depend on the circumstances, and we can advise on these.
If there's any final criminal judgment against the applicant, an attested copy of it must also be submitted.
