Governorate or Courthouse: Which Office Apostilles a Document in Turkey

Which office apostilles a document in Turkey depends on a single question: is the document administrative or judicial? Administrative documents, and anything a notary has issued or certified, are apostilled by the governorate (valilik) or a district governorate (kaymakamlık), and judicial documents such as court decisions are apostilled by the courthouse (adliye). Working out which office apostilles a document before you set out saves a wasted trip to the wrong counter across the city.

We produce the sworn translations that sit inside this procedure, so clients ask us this almost every week. What follows is the full split between the two offices, the reason the line is drawn where it is, and where the sworn translation and the notarization fit into the chain.

The short answer on which office apostilles a document

An apostille in Turkey is issued by one of two authorities, chosen by the document's category rather than by where you live. The governorate, or a district governorate (kaymakamlık) at district level, handles administrative and notarial documents, and the courthouse handles judicial documents. Both offices apply the same Hague Apostille, so the certificate you receive is identical in form, and only the issuing counter changes.

An apostille is a standardised certificate, created by the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, that authenticates the origin of a public document so it can be recognised in another member country. It confirms the signature, the seal and the capacity of the official who signed it, and says nothing about the content itself. You can check the list of member countries on the Hague Conference status table.

Administrative and notarial documents go to the governorate (valilik)

The governorate apostilles administrative documents, which are the papers issued by civil administration and its provincial directorates. If your document came from a registry, a ministry's local office, a public school or a public hospital, it is almost certainly administrative. In a provincial centre the apostille is given at the governorate, and in a district at the district governorate (kaymakamlık).

Common administrative documents include:

• Civil registry records from the population directorate (nüfus müdürlüğü): birth, marriage and death certificates.
• Population register extracts and residence records.
• Diplomas and transcripts from state schools issued under the Ministry of National Education.
• Health reports and medical records from public hospitals.
• Documents from the provincial directorates of central ministries.
• Trade registry records (ticaret sicili), such as a company's registry extract.
• Anything a Turkish notary has issued or certified: notarized sworn translations, notarized copies, powers of attorney, declarations and signature circulars.

The apostille is placed by the governor's office, where a specific desk usually handles it, or by a district governorate. Notarized documents belong here too: the apostille on a notarized document authenticates the notary's signature, and that is done at the governorate, not at the courthouse. Whether a counter will apostille a document issued in another province is for that counter to say, so ask before you travel with papers from several provinces.

Judicial documents go to the courthouse (adliye)

The courthouse apostilles judicial documents, which are the papers produced by the courts and public prosecutors. Understanding which authority apostilles judicial documents matters, because many people assume every apostille comes from the governorate and lose a day at the wrong building. At the courthouse the apostille is issued by the office of the head of the judicial commission (adli yargı ilk derece mahkemesi adalet komisyonu başkanlığı).

Documents that are apostilled at the courthouse include:

• Court judgments, decisions and interim rulings.
• Documents issued by public prosecutors.
• The criminal record certificate (adli sicil kaydı), issued by the Ministry of Justice, which can also be apostilled online through the e-Apostil service on e-Devlet.

What surprises people is the notary. Notaries work under the Ministry of Justice, so it is easy to assume a notarized document is judicial and belongs at the courthouse. It does not: a notarized document, including a notarized sworn translation, is apostilled at the governorate or a district governorate, because the apostille authenticates the notary's signature.

Where the sworn translation and notarization fit in

A sworn translation on its own is not the thing that gets apostilled, because the apostille authenticates a public official's signature and a translator's certification is not a public act until a notary certifies it. In practice the document that carries the apostille is either the original public document or the notarized version of the translation. Which office apostilles a document can therefore shift depending on which layer you are authenticating.

The usual order runs like this. First you decide, with the receiving authority, whether they want the apostille on the original, on the translation, or on both. Then the sworn translation is produced, and if it must be apostilled it is first notarized, and the governorate or a district governorate then apostilles the notary's signature. Your notary will confirm what they need to see, and the receiving authority decides which layer must carry the apostille.

A notarized translation goes to the same kind of counter as an administrative original: the governorate or a district governorate, not the courthouse. In our experience, the most common reason a client makes an extra trip is that they apostilled an original at the governorate, had it translated and notarized, and only then learned the receiving side also wanted the notarized translation apostilled, which means a second apostille visit. Asking the receiving authority first avoids it.

Governorate versus courthouse: a side by side view

The table below sets the two offices next to each other so you can see at a glance where to apostille a document in Turkey for each type. When a document could arguably fall into either column, the office you approach makes the final call, so confirm the category before you travel.

Point	Governorate (valilik)	Courthouse (adliye)
Document type	Administrative and notarial	Judicial
Typical examples	Birth, marriage and death certificates; state school diplomas; public health reports; notarized translations, copies and powers of attorney	Court decisions; prosecutor documents; criminal record certificate
Issuing office	Governor's office (valilik) or district governorate (kaymakamlık)	Head of the judicial commission at the courthouse
Notarized translations	Apostilled here	Not handled here

How to tell which category your document is in

You can usually place a document by asking who signed and sealed it. If the last signature belongs to a registrar, a ministry directorate, a state school, a public hospital or a notary, the document goes to the governorate. If it belongs to a judge, a prosecutor or a court clerk, it is judicial and goes to the courthouse.

Two documents cause most of the confusion:

• Educational documents: a state school diploma is administrative, and a notarized copy of it is a notarial act; both are apostilled at the governorate, but they are two different apostilles, so ask which one the receiving side wants.
• Powers of attorney and declarations: these are notarial acts from the start, so they are apostilled at the governorate or a district governorate, not at the courthouse.

When the category is genuinely unclear, the governorate or the courthouse will tell you whether the document belongs to them, and requirements differ between provinces, so ask the office directly rather than assume. This is also where a notary translation and the notary's own guidance help, because the notary handles these documents daily.

Commercial paperwork follows the same test. A trade registry extract (ticaret sicili) or a company's certificate of activity is administrative, so it is apostilled at the governorate, and a notarized board resolution or a notarized signature circular goes to the governorate as well, because the notary's signature is what gets authenticated. A corporate file splits between the two offices only when it also contains a court or prosecutor document, so it helps to sort corporate papers by who signed them last before anyone travels.

What each office needs before it will apostille

Both offices work from original public documents, so an apostille counter will not act on a plain photocopy. Bring the original document, or an official certified copy where the issuing body provides one, together with your identification. The apostille is stamped on or attached to that original, which is why the order of steps matters: apostille first when the receiving authority wants the original authenticated, and translate first when it wants the translation certified.

A few practical points help either visit go smoothly:

• Check that the document is recent enough for your purpose, because some receiving authorities abroad ask for a civil registry record issued within a set window.
• If your papers come from several provinces, ask the counter whether it apostilles documents issued elsewhere before you travel.
• Keep court and prosecutor documents apart from administrative and notarized ones, so you do not queue at one building for papers that belong at the other office.
• Decide in advance whether the translation itself needs an apostille, because that turns a single errand into two.

Court and legal documents crossing borders

Court and legal documents almost always take the judicial route, which is worth planning for early. A divorce decree or a litigation file is a judicial document, so its apostille comes from the courthouse. A power of attorney is a notarial act and goes to the governorate. When the legal translation of a court document is notarized and must itself be apostilled, that apostille is placed on the notary's signature, so it also comes from the governorate. If a file mixes administrative and judicial papers, each sheet follows its own office, and a bundle of mixed document translations can need stamps from both the governorate and the courthouse.

For documents leaving Turkey, the destination country decides whether an apostille is enough or whether consular legalisation is also required. If the destination is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, the apostille alone is usually the recognised route; if it is not, the document typically goes on to the relevant consulate for legalisation after the Turkish steps. Either way, that decision does not change which office apostilles a document inside Turkey, because the governorate and courthouse split is set by Turkish rules and not by the destination. The receiving authority abroad still makes the final call on acceptance.

Choosing the right office the first time

Deciding which office issues a Turkish apostille for your specific paper is the step that prevents a second trip. Sort every document into administrative or judicial before you leave home, group them by the province that issued them, and keep the originals with you, because the apostille counter, whether at the governorate or the courthouse, works from originals rather than photocopies. If a translation has to be notarized and then apostilled, plan the governorate visit for after the notarization, not before.

The choice comes down to who signed last: the governorate or a district governorate for administrative papers and for anything a notary has issued or certified, and the courthouse for court and prosecutor documents. Get the sorting right, confirm the apostille for administrative documents in Turkey with the governorate and the judicial ones with the courthouse, and remember that which office apostilles a document in Turkey never changes the receiving authority's separate right to decide whether it accepts your document. Knowing which office issues a Turkish apostille before you leave saves the trip you would otherwise repeat.