The route to be followed by couples wishing to marry a foreign national runs through completing the necessary documents and applying to the marriage registry office. Whether the process advances without difficulty depends on the documents being prepared in full and on the procedural steps being completed in order.
Nor is the solemnisation of the marriage the end of the process. Following the marriage, a series of official formalities arise that must be carried out by the Turkish party and by the foreign spouse alike. In this note we address every stage, from the application through to the post-marriage notifications.
How Is the Marriage Carried Out?
The request to marry is submitted, together with the necessary documents, to the marriage registry office in the place where one of the parties resides. It is not essential for the parties to be present in person at the application stage; the formality may also be conducted through a representative. The spouses must, by contrast, be present in person at the marriage ceremony.
As regards capacity to marry and the substantive conditions of marriage, each party is subject to his or her own national law. If, for example, one member of the couple is a Netherlands national, whether that person has capacity to marry and satisfies the required conditions is determined according to Netherlands law. If the other spouse is a Turkish national, the criterion in that person’s case is Turkish law.
The practical consequence of this distinction is plain. In Turkish law the age required for capacity to marry is 18; the Turkish party therefore cannot marry if he or she has not attained the age of 18. If the national law of the foreign party sets the age of marriage at 19, then being 19 years of age is regarded as sufficient in that person’s case.
The form of the marriage is subject to a different rule and is governed by the law of the place where the marriage is contracted. For that reason, even where both members of a couple marrying in Türkiye are foreign, the marriage is solemnised in accordance with the form prescribed by Turkish law. Accordingly, the parties must attend in person the ceremony conducted before an officer empowered to solemnise marriages.
Documents Required in the Application File
The documents required are set out in Article 20 of the Marriage Regulation. Under that provision, the following are placed in the file:
- The declaration showing that the parties have applied to the competent authority and expressed their intention to marry,
- The identity card and the civil registry record of the spouse who is a Turkish national,
- A notarised Turkish translation of the passport of the foreign spouse, or of the document serving in place of a passport,
- The visa of the foreign spouse,
- 4 passport photographs for each of the two parties separately, taken within the last 6 months,
- Health reports drawn up separately for each of the parties,
- Where one of the spouses requires the approval of a legal representative or of a court in order to marry, the document of consent,
- The certificate of capacity to marry — also known as a certificate of celibacy, it establishes that the person is unmarried according to his or her own national law and that there is no impediment to the marriage. The document is obtained from the consulate and certified by the district governorship; where it is obtained from the country’s embassy in Ankara, the certifying authority is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye,
- The birth certificate — this is not required separately if the certificate of capacity to marry states the names of the parents and the date of birth.
Documents drawn up in a foreign language must be submitted together with notarised Turkish translations. In the case of the certificate of capacity to marry, an apostille is also required. All the documents must have been obtained within the last 6 months.
From Which Institution Is the Health Report Obtained?
The health report required of the parties is the document establishing that there is no condition constituting an impediment to marriage. The report may be obtained from family medicine practices or from hospitals. If the foreign spouse has no family doctor registered in Türkiye, he or she may obtain the report by applying to the family medicine practice to which the person he or she is to marry is attached. The report must have been drawn up within the 6-month period preceding the marriage application.
As will be seen, a file for marriage to a foreigner contains a great many details, both as to obtaining the documents and as to the procedural formalities. A failure to complete the steps in full and in accordance with the law leads to the refusal of the application or to the prolongation of the process. It is therefore appropriate to obtain support at the outset of the process from a lawyer practising in the field of the law relating to foreigners.
Marriage to a Foreigner Without Lawful Status
Marriage to a foreigner who is present unlawfully is legally possible. Although in practice applications of this kind are for the most part not accepted, there are also marriage registry offices that accept the request where the documents are complete and the application is made in accordance with the proper procedure.
Steps to Be Taken After the Marriage
Foremost among the formalities to be completed once the marriage has been formally constituted is the updating of identity details: the record of marital status on the identity documents of both parties must be changed to married. If the woman’s surname has changed, that change must be entered on her identity document, or, where she is a foreigner, her passport must be renewed. Foreigners apply for these formalities to the consulate of their own country in Türkiye.
A foreigner who marries in Türkiye must notify the position to the consulate of his or her country in Türkiye so that the marriage is entered in the civil and family register of that country. Correspondingly, a Turkish national who marries abroad is likewise obliged to give notification to the Turkish consulate in the country in question within 1 month of the marriage.
For a foreigner who marries a Turkish national, a route to citizenship also opens. 3 years after the marriage, a request to acquire Turkish citizenship may be made, subject to the conditions of living within the unity of the family and of not engaging in any activity incompatible with that unity. The details of the subject are addressed in our note entitled becoming a Turkish citizen through marriage.
Family Residence Permit After the Marriage
A foreigner who marries a Turkish national may complete the necessary documents and apply to the provincial directorate of migration management with a request for a family residence permit. It is also possible for those who already hold another residence permit to transfer to a family residence permit. The scope and operation of this application are examined in detail in our note on the family residence permit.
Conclusion
The documents required in files concerning marriage to a foreigner are subject to strict conditions. Several requirements are sought at the same time: that the documents be obtained from particular authorities, that they be certified by particular authorities, that those in a foreign language be submitted with a notarised translation, and that they bear an apostille. Where there is a deficiency in the documents or in the procedural formalities, the application is refused. It is therefore important that the process be planned together with a specialist.
Independent Legal Assessment
Almost all of the adverse outcomes encountered in applications for marriage to a foreigner arise not from any substantive impediment but from deficiencies in the formal requirements as to documents. The two points most frequently overlooked in practice are, in particular, that the certifying authority varies according to the authority from which the certificate of capacity to marry has been obtained, and the requirement of an apostille. Furthermore, the 6-month window of validity of the documents can of itself create difficulties where the time taken to prepare the file is prolonged.
In planning the process, we recommend that the following matters be addressed as a priority:
- Assessing at the outset the capacity to marry of each of the spouses, taking their own national laws as the basis
- Clarifying in advance the certifying authority (the district governorship or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) when deciding where the certificate of capacity to marry is to be obtained
- Checking the requirements of an apostille and of a notarised translation on a document-by-document basis
- Gathering all the documents at the same time, having regard to their 6-month period of validity
- Placing in the calendar the post-marriage consular notifications and the 1-month period prescribed for the Turkish consulate
- Planning the family residence permit application immediately after the marriage, without delay
Independent Legal provides advisory services throughout the whole of the process in marriages contracted with foreign nationals, from the preparation of documents through to family residence permit and citizenship applications.