Legal Guide

Yes. A civil marriage performed by a Turkish registrar is recognised across the EU, the UK and most other countries. You receive an international marriage certificate (the multilingual extract known as formule B), which is accepted directly by most institutions without further legalisation. Requirements for reporting the marriage at home vary slightly by country; the country guides say what yours needs.

A legal ceremony is performed by a Turkish state registrar and requires the full document set for your country. A symbolic ceremony is identical in every visible way (celebrant, vows, rings, readings, a register your guests sign) but carries no legal weight, so it requires no documents at all. Roughly seven out of ten of our couples marry legally at home and hold the symbolic ceremony here. The full comparison is here.

Four to eight weeks depending on your country, and the clock starts at your own register office rather than with us. The UK and Ireland run four to six weeks, the Netherlands five to seven, Germany six to eight because files are frequently referred to the Oberlandesgericht. Start ten weeks before your date so one delay does not move the wedding.

An apostille is a standardised certificate that confirms a public document is genuine, issued by a designated authority in the country the document came from. Türkiye is party to the Hague Convention, so documents from other member states need an apostille rather than full embassy legalisation. You need one on every document going to a Turkish registrar. There is a longer explanation here.

We do. Turkish registry offices accept translations produced by a sworn translator and notarised in Türkiye, which means it has to happen here rather than at home. You post the apostilled originals to us once and we handle translation, notarisation, the health report appointment and the registry booking.

There is no residency requirement, but you do need to be here to attend the health appointment and lodge documents at the registry office. Three working days before the ceremony is comfortable. Two is possible and leaves no margin.

Not legally. A Turkish registrar conducts civil marriages at the registry office. A ceremony at a private villa, on a yacht or on a cliff terrace is symbolic. That is not a limitation in practice: sign at home, hold the ceremony where you want it, and the day is identical.

You need the decree absolute, final divorce judgment or death certificate, apostilled and translated, in addition to the standard set. It adds a document rather than a stage. Where the previous marriage was abroad, allow extra time. This is a common reason for a file being referred for review at home.