What are Foreigner Marriage Procedures in Turkey 2025
In this article, we focus on the documents required for marriage procedures with foreign nationals and how to make foreign marriage procedures. In addition, we will try to explain the family residence permit procedures of the foreign person after marriage in detail for you.
How to marry a foreigner in Turkey?
The foreign person must be legally present in Turkey
Firstly, the foreign person who wants to marry, must be in Turkey legally. If the person is in Turkey illegally, then he/she cannot perform the marriage procedures. People who are legally in Turkey can start the marriage procedures by applying to the municipal marriage office (evlendirme dairesi) where the address is located.
People can also go to the marriage offices(evlendirme dairesi) where their addresses are not registered. By applying to the municipal marriage office, the person gets a day and goes to the municipality for the necessary procedures for marriage on the appointment day.
When applying to the municipality for pre-marriage procedures, these procedures can be done through a lawyer. People who have busy jobs and who do not have time to get a day for marriage from the municipality can give a power of attorney to the lawyer and carry out the pre-marriage procedures through the lawyer. However, the persons must be present in person at the time of signing for marriage in the municipal office.
The path that people should follow for marriage procedures can be briefly summarised as follows;
1- Preparation of necessary documents for marriage
2- Obtaining the health report
3- Getting a date for marriage from the municipality
4- Performing the wedding ceremony
5- Name and surname updates at the Population Directorate and Consulate(Nüfus Müdürlüğü – Göç İdaresi)
6- Applying for family residence permit and making SGK transaction(Healthy insurance)
What are the Documents Required for Marriage for Foreign Nationals?
The documents required for foreign nationals to marry in Turkey are regulated in Article 20 of the Marriage Regulation. Let us explain these procedures in detail together with the extra documents requested in practice;
1- Certificate of Consent – This document is signed by the persons when applying to the marriage registry office(Evlendirme dairesi). It is a document that is readily available in every registry office, this document can be signed and delivered to the relevant registry office when you go to your marriage application.
2- Identity Documents – Photocopy and identity card of the Turkish citizen, notarised passport translation and original and photocopy of passport of the foreign citizen, residence permit card or work permit card of the foreigner.
3- Photograph – 4 photographs for both spouses – must be taken within the last 6 months.
4- Health Report – A health report is required for both spouses. The health report can be obtained from the family doctor or public hospitals. In some cases, health reports of private hospitals are also accepted, but in general, marriage offices request health reports of official authorities. In this respect, in order for your transaction to be valid, you must go to the family doctor to whom the Turkish Citizen is affiliated and obtain the necessary health report. When you tell the family doctor that you want a health report for marriage, he will examine you.
5- Certificate of Bachelorhood and Nufus certificate – A certificate of bachelorhood showing that the foreigner is single is required. If the certificate of bachelorhood contains the person’s mother’s name, father’s name, place and date of birth, there is no need for a birth certificate. The bachelor’s certificate must be apostilled and if it is written in a foreign language, it must be translated and notarised.
The consulates of some countries provide the certificate of bachelorhood and the birth certificate. However, the consulates of some countries do not provide these documents, but you must return to your country personally and obtain these documents.
6- Population registration sample of the Turkish citizen who will marry – A population registration sample obtained through E-Devlet is sufficient. In addition, marriage offices see your information online. You can do your transaction without this document.
Note: Documents obtained from foreign states must be apostilled and submitted to the relevant authorities with a notarised translation in Turkey. Only in this way can your documents be validated.
Note: A residence permit is not required for a foreign person to get married in Turkey. If the foreign person is legally staying within the visa period or is legally in Turkey, he/she can apply to the marriage registry office for marriage procedures.
What is the case for the abolition of the period of iddat and the period of iddat?
For newly divorced women, there is a mandatory 300-day waiting period in the law. This period is called iddat period. In case of divorce for women, it is necessary to pay attention to the iddat period. If a woman is newly divorced, in this case, according to Turkish law, she cannot marry for 300 days, the iddat period should be expected to pass.
For women who want to marry immediately after the divorce without waiting for the end of the period of iddat, a lawsuit for the abolition of the period of iddat should be filed in the Family Court. This is because it is not possible for a newly divorced foreigner to marry in Turkey without cancelling the period of divorce. As BaltaşGlobal law firm, the cases we file for the lifting of the period of limitation are usually concluded within 1 month and a positive result is obtained.
We have helped our clients by filing many lawsuits regarding the abolition of the duration of the period. If you want to get help in this regard, you can contact us at our contact number. CONTACT US
How to Get a Health Report for Marriage?
The health report for marriage can be obtained from the family physician to whom the Turkish Citizen is affiliated. A foreigner can also obtain a health report for marriage from the family physician to whom the Turkish citizen is affiliated. This health report can also be obtained from some private hospitals. However, in practice, the health certificate for marriage is obtained from the family doctor to whom the Turkish citizen is affiliated.
Some marriage offices do not accept the health report obtained from private hospitals and request a report from the state hospital. Because of this situation, it is useful to ask the marriage office where you will apply for marriage in advance and prepare the health report accordingly.
Is it Possible for Illegal Foreigners to Marry?
If you are in Turkey illegally, it is not possible to get married. However, even if the person who is illegal in Turkey is married to a Turkish citizen, the illegal status does not disappear.
In other words, when you marry a Turkish citizen, your illegal status continues and it is not possible to apply for a Family Residence Permit because you are still illegal. Since you are an illegal, it is not possible to apply for Citizenship even if you are married for 3 years. Because, as a rule, there is a requirement to have a residence permit card for at least 6 months in citizenship applications.
Application for Family Residence Permit after Marriage
After marriage, the person can now apply for a family residence permit. What is required for this application is to complete the marriage procedures and make the application. After the application, people can apply online at https://e-ikamet.goc.gov.tr/ and obtain a family residence permit. We have explained to you in detail below, you can get the necessary information from our articles.
If you already have a residence permit, you can apply for a Family Residence Permit after marriage.
Family Residence Permit Requirements : https://www.baltasglobal.com/en/family-residence-permit/
Documents required for family residence permit : https://www.baltasglobal.com/en/family-residence-permit-required-documents/
How to apply for a Residence Permit : https://www.baltasglobal.com/en/how-to-apply-for-a-residence-permit/
Is Türkish Citizenship through Marriage possible?
A foreigner can apply for Turkish Citizenship 3 years after the marriage, provided that the marriage is lived in a marriage union.
Procedures to be done after marriage
After the persons get married, firstly, passport changes and changes in the population register are required. Then, if the Turkish citizen has the right to SGK, if he wants his married person to benefit from this right, he can apply to the SGK directorate and his spouse can benefit from this right. In this way, people meet the residence permit requirement while obtaining a family residence permit.
Note: SGK(Türkish healt insurance) entries cannot be made without foreign numbers starting with 99….. However, by going to the SGK general directorate, a signed paper can be obtained that the person is eligible for SGK and this paper will be sufficient for Family residence permit applications for the health insurance requirement.
Marriage Contract
In Turkish law, people can make a marriage contract before marriage. However, there are issues to be considered for the marriage contract. Under the name of marriage contract, people cannot make determinations in the style we are used to seeing in films.
Can alimony be agreed in a marriage contract?
-No
The person with the marriage contract ;
*Number of children
*If they mistreat each other, the marriage will end
*In case of divorce, no one will pay alimony to each other
*That there will be a divorce in case of infidelity
*In the event of divorce, the woman/early spouse agrees to give custody of the children to the other spouse
It is not possible to agree on such situations in the marriage contract. Writing these situations in the marriage contract will prejudice the validity of the marriage contract. Such statements are absolutely null and void, it does not do anything other than relaxing the parties or causing fear to the other party. Legally, no result can be obtained when going before the courts.
What can people decide with a marriage contract?
The marriage contract is briefly a contract that the persons have made freely before the marriage and it is decided how to share and save their property in marriage-after marriage-pre-marriage.
With the marriage contract, people can decide on the choice of property regime. It is a contract in which people decide how to share their pre-marital goods and the goods they will receive while married with the marriage contract (Property regime contract).
Relationship between property regimes and marriage contract;
Turkish Civil Code entered into force on 01.01.2002. According to this law, people are subject to the ‘regime of participation in acquired property’, which is the legal property regime when getting married. If a choice of property regime is not made before marriage, married couples are deemed to have automatically accepted the regime of participation in acquired property. People make the marriage contract when they do not want to be subject to this legally chosen property regime.
What is the regime of participation in acquired property? According to this regime, people do not share the property before marriage, they share the property acquired during the marriage.
Other legal property regimes;
Property partnership regime: All goods other than the personal property of the spouses are considered as common, it is accepted that the spouses do not have the authority to dispose of the goods alone. All income and assets are shared in common.
Separation of property regime: In this property regime, each spouse owns the assets registered in his/her name. Throughout the marriage, the acquired property continues to be in the name of the person in whose name it is registered.
Shared property separation regime: In the shared property regime, people can request that the assets be made on their own by proving their contribution to the acquisition of assets. In short, if the spouses have purchased a property together within the marriage union, the spouses will be able to receive money in proportion to their contributions by proving their contributions
How to make a marriage contract?
How to make a marriage contract is specified in the law. The marriage contract can only be made in the presence of a notary public. Persons can make the marriage contract by choosing one of the regimes of property partnership regime, property separation regime, shared property separation regime. If people are abroad, they can also make a marriage contract by going to consulates.
In addition, at the beginning of the pre-marital marriage procedures, people can specify which property regime they will choose with a written petition to the marriage registry office.
Persons can make a marriage contract personally by going to the notary public, or they can prepare a contract through a lawyer and make the contract in the form of notarisation. In the marriage contract, only one regime can be selected or a list of goods can be made in detail and it can be decided how the goods will be shared.
Can a Marriage Contract be concluded in a Foreign Language?
The marriage contract cannot be made in a foreign language. Because it is necessary to make the marriage contract officially, it must be issued at the notary public. In accordance with the Notary Law, transactions are carried out in the Republic of Turkey Notaries and Consulates in the mother tongue, i.e. Turkish language. No transactions other than Turkish are carried out in notaries and consulates.
What to do if the foreign person who will make a marriage contract does not speak Turkish?
If one of the persons who will make a marriage contract is foreign and does not speak Turkish, in this case, a Turkish sworn translator is present at the notary public during the marriage contract. Before signing the contract, the Turkish interpreter translates the marriage contract to the foreign person and explains to the person who does not speak Turkish what to sign. The person who does not speak Turkish signs the contract in the presence of the interpreter.
Lawyer Cihat BALTAŞ
Lawyer Cihat BALTAŞ graduated from Police College in 2006, Police Academy in 2010, Yalova Law Faculty in 2016 with a degree and has worked and specialised in foreign law throughout his professional life. Cihat BALTAŞ, who is currently working as a lawyer in Kadıköy, Istanbul, is the founder of BaltaşGlobal law and consultancy office.