How a Florida birth certificate is used in Turkey
A child born in Florida to a Turkish citizen is registered in Türkiye's civil registry (nüfus) through a Turkish consulate, and the Consulate General of Türkiye in Miami asks people born abroad to bring their birth certificate. At a Turkish mission in the U.S., a certified English-language certificate is usually the starting point; check the consulate's current list before paying for an apostille. Filing in Türkiye itself is different: the Presidency of Migration Management, for example, wants documents obtained abroad to carry an apostille and a notarized Turkish translation.
Translation for Turkey
Turkish offices expect a Turkish translation. Turkish consulates in the U.S. accept a translation by a sworn translator, certified by a U.S. notary and apostilled, which matches our rule: certified by the translator, notarized by a different notary and apostilled in Florida. In Türkiye, a sworn translator's translation approved by a Turkish notary is the alternative. Ask the Turkish consulate in Miami whether the translator must be registered on its list.
What your Florida birth certificate must look like
The Florida Department of State apostilles the signature of the State Registrar, so you need a certified copy issued by the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics or a county health department — not a hospital certificate, a photocopy or a scan. Copies certified before 2014 carry an older signature and are not accepted; order a fresh certified copy through VitalChek or your county health department before you send it. The certified copy itself (about $9–$14 from the issuing office) is the only cost on top of our $220.
Step by step: birth certificate apostille for Turkey
- Order online — pick "Birth certificate" and "Turkey" on the order form; $220 per document, $380 for two, $160 each for three or more.
- Send a photo — reply to the confirmation email with a picture of the document. We check the certification before anything ships, so a defect is caught before it costs you a round trip.
- Drop it at FedEx — after approval, FedEx emails you a prepaid QR code; show it at any FedEx Office or Ship Center, no printer or label needed.
- Filed in person in Tallahassee — we walk the document into the Florida Department of State and ship the apostilled original back by FedEx within 5–7 business days of receipt — to your U.S. address, or to Turkey with international return shipping (+$100).
One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs for Turkey. Whatever the office there asks for after that — a translation, a filing deadline — is covered above.