Turkish Worker & Businessperson Visa Translation Requirements (Ankara Agreement)

The Turkish Businessperson Visa Route

The Turkish Businessperson visa lets Turkish nationals set up or run a business in the UK. The Innovator Founder visa needs backing from an approved body and a minimum investment. This route needs neither. Instead, you must show three things: that you are really setting up a business that can work, that you will take an active part in running it, and that it will create jobs or otherwise help the UK economy.

You prove all of this with documents. Most applicants prepare their business papers in Turkey, so most of the evidence is in Turkish. UKVI needs a certified English translation of every document that is not already in English or Welsh. An untranslated document counts as no evidence at all.

The Turkish Worker Visa Route

The Turkish Worker route is open to Turkish nationals with a real job offer in the UK. Unlike the Skilled Worker visa, it has no Immigration Skills Charge, and the employer does not need a sponsor licence. The job must still be genuine and lawful. The main documents you need prove the job offer, your qualifications, and your identity.

Both routes ask for many of the same personal documents: identity documents, police clearance, military service records, and family documents for dependants. The sections below cover each document type in detail.

Business Registration Documents

Businessperson applicants usually need to translate more than the Ticaret Sicil Gazetesi. You will also need the company's articles of association (Şirket Ana Sözleşmesi), board resolutions, shareholder agreements, and any partnership contracts. Translate each one in full. UKVI does not accept part translations or summaries.

Financial Documents

Financial evidence matters on both routes. For businessperson applicants, UKVI needs to see that the business can pay its way and that you can reach enough money to run it. Worker applicants may need financial documents to show they have enough money to support themselves.

Personal Identity Documents

Educational Qualifications

Turkish Worker visa applicants may need their qualifications translated, to show they meet the needs of the job. Businessperson applicants may also want to include qualifications, as proof that they can run the business they plan.

The Turkish education documents most often translated are university diplomas (Diploma), degree transcripts (Transkript), and professional certificates. Turkish university diplomas are usually in Turkish, with the university seal and the signatures of officials. Some universities issue bilingual diplomas. Even those may need a certified translation, if the Turkish text holds details the English version leaves out.

Professional and vocational certificates can matter too. These come from Turkish chambers of commerce (Ticaret Odası), professional bodies, or government training bodies. For example, a Turkish chartered accountant on the businessperson route may need to translate their SMMM or YMM certificate. Engineers, architects, and healthcare workers may need to translate their professional registration, to show their skills fit the business they plan.

Military Service: Terhis Belgesi

Marriage Certificate: Evlenme Cüzdanı

The Turkish Evlenme Cüzdanı is the official marriage booklet from the municipal marriage office (Evlendirme Memurluğu). It is a small red booklet. It gives the details of both spouses, the date and place of the marriage, and has space to record the births of children. For UKVI, every page with writing on it must be translated, including the children's pages if they have entries.

If you bring dependants to the UK under the Ankara Agreement, you must translate the Evlenme Cüzdanı to prove the family link. You may also need the Aile Durum Belgesi (family status certificate), which confirms who is in the family. Translate both and send them together, so the picture is complete.

Police Clearance: Adli Sicil Kaydı

The General Directorate of Criminal Records and Statistics issues Turkish police clearance certificates (Adli Sicil Kaydı). The certificate says whether you have any criminal convictions in Turkey. A clean record reads "Adli sicil kaydı bulunmamaktadır", which means there is no criminal record.

The certificate is one page, in Turkish, and needs a certified English translation. It does not last forever. UKVI usually expects it to be no more than six months old on the date you apply. Plan your translation early, so you do not have to get a fresh certificate.

Turkish citizens can now get their Adli Sicil Kaydı online through the e-Devlet (e-Government) portal, which makes the process much easier. The online version has the same legal weight as the one you get in person, and UKVI accepts it. When translating the e-Devlet version, the translator should include the digital verification code (doğrulama kodu) on the document. UKVI can use that code to check the document is real.

Complete Document Checklist by Visa Type

Dependants of Turkish Workers and Businesspersons

Family members applying as dependants of a Turkish worker or businessperson need their own set of translated documents. That usually means birth certificates (Doğum Belgesi) for children, marriage certificates for spouses, and identity documents for everyone. Each dependant's documents must be translated and certified separately.

Turkish Apostille and Legalisation

Turkey is a member of the Hague Convention. So Turkish documents can be authenticated with an apostille stamp, instead of going through the slower consular legalisation route. A Turkish authority attaches the apostille. For notarised documents this is usually the Valilik (Governor's Office); for court documents it is the court.

The apostille is a standard form. It carries text in French and in the language of the country that issues it. The French text follows one fixed template. The Turkish parts — the authority name, the signatory details, and any handwritten notes — should be translated with the rest of the document. UKVI does not always ask for apostilled documents. But if you send one, the apostille must be translated too.

Common Translation Challenges with Turkish Documents

Turkish brings a few particular problems for document translation. It has used Latin script since the alphabet reform of 1928, so it looks easier than Arabic or Urdu script. But the grammar, vocabulary, and legal terms are different enough to need a specialist.

Turkish builds words by stacking endings onto a root. One Turkish word can hold what English needs a whole phrase to say. Legal and official Turkish leans on this, which produces long compound terms that non-specialists often get wrong. Place names, personal names, and the names of institutions must be copied exactly as they appear, including the Turkish letters (ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü) that English does not have.

Ottoman-era legal words still turn up in older Turkish documents and in formal legal writing. Many are borrowed from Arabic and Persian, and a translator who learned only modern Turkish may not know them. Ankara Agreement applications are harder still. They mix UK immigration terms with Turkish commercial and employment law, so you need an experienced translator.

Frequently Asked Questions