Birth of a Foreign Child in Turkey: 2026 Rules and Steps

Birth of a Foreign Child in Turkey: 2026 Rules and Steps

The birth of a foreign child in Turkey does not make the child a Turkish citizen. Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901 gives citizenship at birth by descent from a Turkish parent, and by place of birth only to a child who would otherwise have no nationality at all. As of 23 October 2026 the birth must be notified to the population directorate within 30 days, and a child who stays on the hospital birth document must obtain a residence permit within 180 days, issued with effect from the day of birth.

This guide follows the rules in the order a family meets them: citizenship, the hospital papers, birth registration, the home-country consulate, the baby’s passport, the residence permit, insurance, deadlines and penalties, and the special cases of tourists, unmarried parents and investors. Every deadline, fee and legal article below is tied to the law text or the official page it comes from, and the amounts are the ones published for 2026. The guide describes the rules; the provincial migration directorate and the population directorate that handle a given file decide how they apply to it.

Key Facts on the Birth of a Foreign Child in Turkey

Is a Child Born in Turkey to Foreign Parents a Turkish Citizen?

No. A child born in Turkey to two foreign parents is not Turkish. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the same in its consular FAQ: where both parents are foreign nationals, a child born in Turkey cannot be a Turkish citizen. The only statutory exception covers a child who would otherwise be stateless.

Turkish law bases citizenship at birth mainly on descent. Law No. 5901 on Turkish Citizenship, adopted on 29 May 2009 and published in the Official Gazette of 12 June 2009 (No. 27256), opens its rules on citizenship at birth with Article 6, which says that citizenship acquired by birth arises automatically, on the basis of descent or place of birth, and takes effect from the moment of birth. Articles 7 and 8 then fill in the two bases: Article 7 is the descent rule and Article 8 is the narrow place-of-birth rule.

What Article 8 of the Citizenship Law says

Article 8(1) makes a child Turkish from birth if the child was born in Turkey and cannot acquire the citizenship of any country through the foreign mother and father. The wording looks at what the parents’ nationality gives the child. It does not look at where the parents live or how long they have lived in Turkey. If the parents’ home law passes the nationality on, the condition is not met.

Article 8(2) adds a presumption for foundlings: a child found in Turkey is regarded as born in Turkey unless the opposite is proven. Together the two paragraphs protect against statelessness. They do not give a route to citizenship to families who choose to give birth in Turkey, and a child whose parents hold passports of a country that passes its nationality to children born abroad falls outside Article 8.

When the child is Turkish through a parent

Article 7 covers descent. A child born within marriage to a Turkish mother or father is Turkish, whether the birth takes place in Turkey or elsewhere. A child born outside marriage to a Turkish mother and a foreign father is Turkish. A child born outside marriage to a Turkish father and a foreign mother becomes Turkish once the procedures that establish filiation have been completed. The Population Directorate’s birth page describes the same cases and names the Civil Code provisions through which an unmarried father’s filiation is established: marriage to the mother (Article 292), a court decision (Article 301) or recognition (Article 295).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs adds a practical point for dual citizens who give birth in Turkey: they notify the birth to the population directorate and register the child there, and if they also want the child to hold the other nationality they apply to that country’s mission in Turkey. For Turkish passports the same FAQ says that children cannot be entered in a parent’s e-passport, that a separate passport is issued for each child, and that an application for a minor requires the approval of both parents.

Scenarios at a glance

Terms You Will See on Turkish Birth Papers

Turkish forms use a small set of terms, and knowing them helps when a hospital clerk, a registry officer and an online system all use different words for the same paper. The glossary below uses the names that appear in the laws and on the official pages cited in this guide.

• Doğum belgesi (birth document): the document issued by the hospital that proves the birth. The Presidency of Migration Management uses this name for the paper that lets a newborn stay for up to six months tied to the parents’ lawful stay.
• Doğum tutanağı (birth record): the record the population directorate officer writes when a birth is notified. The Population Directorate’s page says two copies are made, the notifier’s details are entered, the record is read to the notifier and then signed.
• Nüfus müdürlüğü (population directorate): the district office that keeps the civil register. The notification can be made at the one where the birth took place or at any other.
• Formül A (multilingual birth extract): the standard multilingual extract from Convention No. 16 of the International Commission on Civil Status, used for foreigners’ births in Turkey.
• e-İkamet: the online application system of the Presidency of Migration Management for residence permits.
• İkamet izni müracaat belgesi (residence permit application document): the document issued once the application is complete. It gives the right to stay until the application is decided.
• Harç and belge bedeli (fee and card fee): the two payments for a residence permit, the first a tax-type fee set by nationality and duration, the second a fixed price of the card as a valuable paper.
• Yabancı kimlik numarası (foreigner identity number, YKN): the number that Article 8 of Law No. 5490 allows the Ministry of Interior to give to foreigners who fall under Law No. 6458.

How to Register the Birth of a Foreign Child in Turkey

Report the birth to a population directorate (nüfus müdürlüğü) within 30 days. Law No. 5490 on Population Services, Article 15, requires every child born alive to be notified to the directorate within 30 days in Turkey and within 60 days at a consulate if the birth is abroad. The notification can also be made at the health institution where the baby was born.

The hospital has its own duty. Under Article 15(2) of the same law, health institutions and health staff attending a birth report it to the population directorate of the place within five working days, with the report proving the birth took place under medical supervision and a form that requests registration. The parents are therefore not the only route by which the birth reaches the register, but the law still places the notification duty on them. The Population Directorate’s page lists who may notify: the parent, a guardian or a trustee, and, if none is present, the grandparents, an adult sibling or the person who has the child with them.

Two smaller rules from the same article apply to every family. A stillborn child is not entered in the family register, and where several children are born at one birth they are entered in the order of birth (Article 15(7)). Each child, including each twin, then needs its own residence permit, because Article 23 of Law No. 6458 says residence permits are issued separately for each foreigner.

What the population directorate does with a foreign birth

The Population Directorate General issued an instruction on 30 April 2019 on the notification of births, marriages and deaths of foreigners. According to it, these events are notified to the authorities of the person’s country by means of the multilingual extracts annexed to Convention No. 16 of the International Commission on Civil Status, and the multilingual birth extract is known as Formül A. Foreign births are stored as records in the central database, so that duplicate notifications are avoided and any population directorate in Turkey can print a multilingual document from the stored record.

Two further points in the instruction matter to parents. First, for foreigners from countries that are parties to the relevant conventions, the population directorate itself notifies the country’s embassy in Turkey. The instruction describes the notification under Conventions No. 3 and No. 26 of the same Commission and under bilateral consular conventions, and says the multilingual documents are sent to the embassy weekly. Second, for citizens of countries that are not parties, no notification is sent at all, but the directorate issues the multilingual document on the request of the person concerned. The instruction says the lists of member countries are published on the Population Directorate’s website.

The instruction also says that the apostille on birth, marriage and death documents, for use in states that are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, is arranged by the persons concerned and not by the directorate.

The child’s name on the record

Article 15(5) of Law No. 5490 says that the name given to the child is written with no more than three given names and without abbreviation. The same paragraph says the notification can be made by the parent, guardian or trustee. Because the multilingual extract, the home-country registration and the passport are built from one another, parents with a long name or a name with special characters should compare the spelling letter by letter across every paper before the passport is ordered, since a passport that has been issued is harder to change than a draft form.

If the 30 days are missed

Law No. 5490 does not leave a late notification without a procedure. Under Article 16, for a child under six whose birth is notified after the legal period, the date of birth is taken from the declaration; for a child who has completed six years, the child is brought to the population directorate and an official health institution determines the age, unless an official document on the birth is presented. Under Article 17 the directorates may summon the parent, guardian or trustee of a child whose birth has not been notified and the person has 30 days to respond.

Why the Turkish notification does not replace home-country registration

It is sometimes assumed that a Turkish registration never reaches the home state. The instruction shows that this is not always so, because Turkey sends notifications to the embassies of treaty partners. Even so, a notification between registries does not create the child’s passport, and it does not by itself record the birth in the home country’s civil register. Whether and when the home country treats the child as its citizen is a matter of that country’s law, and each state sets its own steps and deadlines. The next section shows two examples.

Home-Country Registration, Citizenship and Passport for the Baby

The baby’s passport comes from the home country, and the Turkish residence permit process needs a travel document, so this step sits in the critical path. The Turkish Regulation says a child born in Turkey may stay on the birth document, depending on the parent’s valid residence permit, until a travel document is issued and the residence permit application is made, and that the birth document alone gives no right to enter or leave Turkey.

Two official examples: the United Kingdom and Germany

The two examples below come from official government pages and show how different the rules can be. They illustrate the kind of rule a home state sets; they are not a list of every state.

The German rule contains its own reminder of why Turkey’s approach to birthplace matters. One of the conditions that triggers the one-year deadline is that the child acquires a foreign nationality through birth. A child born in Turkey to foreign parents normally does not, so that condition is normally absent. A German parent in this position should still read the official page in full and ask the competent mission, because the conditions are cumulative and together they decide the result.

Order of steps for the baby’s papers

1. Obtain the hospital birth document and make sure the birth is notified to the population directorate (30 days).
2. Ask the population directorate for the multilingual birth extract (Formül A) if the home mission accepts it, or follow the mission’s own list of documents.
3. Obtain an apostille if the home country is a party to the Apostille Convention, or the legalisation chain the mission requires if it is not.
4. Apply to the mission for registration of the birth and the baby’s passport, within the home country’s own deadline.
5. Apply for the Turkish residence permit through e-İkamet before day 180.

Steps 3 and 4 depend on offices outside the family’s control, which is the usual reason to start them as soon as the hospital document is in hand.

Apostille and Legalisation for a Turkish Birth Document

An apostille is a certificate attached to a public document so that it is accepted in another state that is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that governorates and district governorates are the authorities that issue an apostille in Turkey, that Turkey is a party to the Convention, and that an apostilled document cannot be certified again by the Ministry itself.

The Ministry describes the other situation as well. A document from a Turkish authority that is not to be apostilled, because the destination state is not a party to the Convention, goes through a chain: a translation into the destination language if the foreign authority asks for one, notarisation of the translation, certification by the governorate or district governorate at the place of issue and, as the last stage, certification by the Ministry’s attestation unit.

The same logic applies in the other direction when Turkish authorities receive a foreign document. The Presidency of Migration Management states in its residence FAQ that a document with an apostille still needs a sworn Turkish translation approved by a notary before it can be used with Turkish institutions. Its list of documents repeats the requirement and adds that a document from a country that is not an Apostille party, or that lacks the apostille, must be approved by that country’s authorities, through consular or embassy approval and certification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or another authorised Turkish authority, and must have a notarised Turkish translation. Parents who hold a foreign marriage certificate, a custody decision or a death certificate of a former spouse should expect to run through the same chain for each paper.

Residence Permit for a Foreign Child Born in Turkey

A foreign child born in Turkey must obtain a residence permit within 180 days of birth. The Implementing Regulation of Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, published in the Official Gazette of 17 March 2016 (No. 29656), says in Article 21(13) that foreign children born in Turkey may stay with the birth document, depending on the validity of the mother’s or father’s residence permit, until a travel document has been issued and the permit application made, and that the birth document alone gives no right of entry into or exit from Turkey. It adds that a residence permit suited to the child’s situation is mandatory within 180 days and that the permit is issued so that it is valid from the child’s date of birth.

The Presidency of Migration Management repeats the rule in its residence FAQ. A child can stay up to six months on the hospital birth document, linked to the parents’ lawful stay, and within that time a passport has to be obtained and the permit application made, counted from the date of birth. For a child born outside a hospital, the FAQ says a certificate from the neighbourhood head (muhtar) is needed. A provincial migration directorate’s announcement says the same and adds that those who stay on the birth document and do not apply within the period are charged the penalty residence fee.

Counting the 180 days: a worked example

Suppose a baby is born on 10 March 2026. The 30-day birth notification falls due around 9 April 2026. Adding 180 days to the date of birth gives about 6 September 2026 as the outer limit for the residence permit application. Because the permit is issued with effect from the birth date, the 180 days are an outer limit and not a period in which the start of validity moves. The practical limit is usually the baby’s passport, since the process needs a travel document and the home mission’s processing time varies.

Article 21(2) of the same Regulation says that applications made from within Turkey must be made before the legal period ends, and that applications from people who have exceeded a permit, visa or visa-exemption period by up to ten days are also accepted. That ten-day tolerance is a general rule and is separate from the 180-day period for newborns.

Deadlines at a glance

Which type of permit a newborn gets

The law does not create a special newborn permit. Article 22(1)(g) of Law No. 6458 only permits applications from within Turkey for children born in Turkey to a parent who holds a residence permit, so the child does not have to travel to a consulate abroad to apply. The permit type is then the one that fits the family’s situation. The two most common are the family residence permit and the short-term residence permit.

Family permits depend on the supporter. Article 35 of the law sets the supporter’s conditions: monthly income of not less than the minimum wage in total and not less than one third of the minimum wage per family member, housing that meets the general health and security standards, health insurance covering the whole family, at least one year in Turkey on a residence permit, and an entry in the address registration system. The one-year condition does not apply to some supporters, for example those with a work permit, a scientific research permit, a Blue Card or a Turkish spouse (Article 35(2)).

The income rule gives a simple calculation. With three family members, one third of the minimum wage for each comes to exactly one minimum wage, which is also the floor on the total. With four members the supporter needs 4 divided by 3, or about 1.33 minimum wages. With five members the figure is about 1.67 minimum wages. A newborn therefore raises the required income whenever the family has more than three members after the birth.

Article 34 of the law fixes the limits of the family permit: it is granted for up to three years each time and never beyond the supporter’s own permit. For children, the consent of the parent who lives outside Turkey and shares custody is needed (Article 34(3)). Article 36 and the Regulation list the reasons a family permit is refused or cancelled, among them that the Article 35 conditions are not met or cease, that the permit is used for a purpose other than the one it was given for, and that a valid deportation or entry-ban decision exists.

Parents with property-based or investor permits

Article 31(1)(b) of Law No. 6458 lets foreigners who own real estate in Turkey apply for a short-term permit. The Presidency’s explanation says the property has to be housing used for that purpose, and that family members who share ownership can apply on the same ground, where family members means the spouse, the minor child and the dependent adult child. Article 31(1)(j) covers investors, with the investor’s foreign spouse and the minor or dependent foreign child of the investor and the spouse. A child born later into such a family needs its own permit, because Article 23 of the law says permits are issued separately for each foreigner.

Documents, Insurance and Fees for the Child’s Residence Permit

The application is made online through the e-İkamet system of the Presidency of Migration Management, which then gives an appointment at the provincial directorate. The common documents listed on e-İkamet for short-term permits include the application form signed by the foreigner or legal representative, a photocopy of the passport, two biometric photographs taken in the last six months with a white background, receipts for the residence fee and the card fee, proof of health insurance, proof of sufficient means and proof of address. The same list adds a single-entry visa fee receipt for people who came visa-exempt and apply for a first permit within their legal stay, or who overstayed, except for exempt country groups.

For applications made on behalf of a child, the list adds a few items. If the parents cannot be identified from the child’s passport or identity card, the approved birth certificate is needed. After a divorce, the approved custody document is needed, or the approved consent of the other parent where custody is shared or the other parent has visiting rights. If one parent has died, the approved death certificate is needed, and for a child born outside marriage whose custody is with the other parent, a single-parent document. Papers issued by Turkish authorities must be e-signed or signed and stamped; foreign papers need an apostille and a notarised Turkish translation, or the consular chain where the apostille is not available.

Does a newborn need health insurance for the permit?

For short-term and student permits, no. The Presidency’s FAQ explains that although the e-İkamet form asks for insurance details, there is no insurance obligation for applicants under 18 and over 65, and that in the form the insurance type for under-18 and over-65 applicants should be chosen. For a family permit the position differs, because the supporter must hold valid health insurance covering all family members. Parents who rely on a family permit should therefore check that the policy names the baby.

The e-İkamet list says the insurance period must cover the requested permit period. The FAQ gives an example: where a two-year short-term permit is requested and the policy runs one year, the applicant can use a 1+1 year policy from the insurer or a two-year general health insurance. The list names three kinds of acceptable proof: a document showing use of health services under a bilateral social security agreement, an SGK document showing provision or an application for general health insurance, or a private health insurance policy, for which the first page with the policy number is presented.

Fees in 2026

Two items are paid for each permit: a document (card) fee and a residence fee. The Presidency of Migration Management states that the 2026 document fee is 964 TL, set by the Accounting General Directorate’s communiqué in the Official Gazette of 24 December 2025 (No. 33117), and that no nationality is exempt from it. The residence fee is set by Harçlar Kanunu General Communiqué No. 98 of 31 December 2025 (Official Gazette No. 33124), which raised fixed fees by 18.95 percent from 1 January 2026, and the Presidency states that the Ministry of Treasury and Finance sets the residence fee by reciprocity.

For nationals of countries that are not in the Presidency’s country list the page prints this tariff: 348.10 TL per day for up to one month, with a first-month floor of 653.70 TL and a ceiling of 3,359.90 TL per permit, and 2,232.30 TL for each month after the first. Nationals of Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, Kosovo, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, Northern Cyprus and Palestine are exempt from the residence fee under reciprocity, while the document fee still applies. The nationality of the child therefore matters for the amount.

The last row shows how the published default tariff adds up; it is an illustration and not a quote. The system calculates the exact fee when the application is completed, as the FAQ explains, and the amount for a given nationality comes from the Presidency’s country list. The fees are paid at a finance counter, a tax office or one of the authorised banks (Ziraat, Vakıf, Halk) before the appointment date.

After you apply: the application document

Once the application is complete, the provincial directorate issues the residence permit application document. Article 21(9) of the Regulation says the document is not subject to any fee, that it gives the right to stay in Turkey until the application is decided, and that holders who have paid the residence fee may leave and return through the border gates several times, with a return within 15 days each time, without a visa. The decision follows within 90 days at most from the date the file is complete (Regulation Article 22(2)), and missing documents can be requested for up to 30 days, after which the application is removed from processing (the FAQ and Article 22(1)).

Extension and time abroad

Extension applications go to the governorate from 60 days before the permit ends and always before it ends (Law 6458, Article 24(2)). Families who travel home after the birth should note the limits on time abroad: the Regulation provides that a short-term permit can be cancelled for more than 120 days abroad in the last year, and a family permit for more than 180 days abroad in the last year, except for compulsory public service, duty, education or health reasons (Articles 29(1)(c) and 33(1)(d)). For counting continuous residence, Article 28 of the law treats absences of more than six months in a year, or more than one year in the last five, as an interruption, again except for the same listed reasons.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline for the Birth of a Foreign Child in Turkey?

If the 180 days pass without an application, the Regulation describes the consequence as a charge at exit. According to Article 21(13), a child who stayed on the birth document and did not apply within 180 days is charged, when leaving Turkey, the residence fee for the overrun period at the tariff, with one additional fold of the same amount. If that fee is paid, the time-limited entry ban is not applied.

The Presidency’s FAQ on violations adds that the penalty fee is different for every country because fees are set under agreements with countries, and that it depends on the period violated, the nationality and the age. Penalty amounts are shown at the border gate when leaving.

Leaving Turkey before the permit is issued

The Regulation says the birth document alone gives no right of entry or exit, and it sets the penalty-fee rule for children who did not apply within 180 days. After an application is completed, the Presidency’s FAQ for applicants says the application document and the approved fee receipts allow repeated exits with a return within 15 days each time, within the requested permit period.

The overstay rules for the parents

A newborn’s deadline is separate from the parents’ own status. Article 19 of Law No. 6458 requires a residence permit from foreigners who will stay longer than the visa or visa-exemption period or longer than 90 days, and Article 11(1) limits the stay allowed by a visa or visa exemption to 90 days in any 180-day period. A parent who relies on a visa-free stay is therefore on a different clock from the baby’s 180 days.

Tourist Visa or Visa-Free Stay and the Birth of a Foreign Child in Turkey

Birth during a visa-free or tourist stay is possible, but the child’s right to stay is tied to the parent’s lawful stay. The Regulation says a child born in Turkey stays on the birth document depending on the validity of the mother’s or father’s residence permit. Article 20(1)(a) of Law No. 6458 exempts from the residence permit requirement only those who come with a visa or visa exemption of up to 90 days, for the duration of that visa or exemption, and Article 19 requires a permit for any stay beyond that.

Two consequences follow from the wording, and parents should confirm them with the provincial migration directorate before the due date. First, if the parent’s lawful stay ends and the parent has no permit, the basis for the child’s stay on the birth document is the parent’s status and not an independent right. Second, a parent who wants to remain in Turkey after the birth needs a permit ground of their own. The Presidency’s list of short-term grounds in Article 31(1) includes tourism, treatment in a hospital and owning a home. The treatment ground covers foreigners who come for medical treatment and are admitted to a public or private hospital, and the Presidency’s explanation says that those who document that they have paid all treatment costs do not need health insurance. Which ground fits is decided by the directorate on the facts of the case.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs adds in its FAQ that a foreign child needs a Turkish residence permit to be enrolled in a Turkish school, which is one more reason to treat the permit as the document that anchors the child’s status after the birth.

Health Insurance and Hospital Costs for the Birth

Who pays the hospital depends on the mother’s insurance status, and the rules differ from the rules for the baby’s residence permit. Under Article 60(1)(d) of Law No. 5510 on Social Insurance and General Health Insurance, foreigners with a residence permit who are not insured under a foreign country’s system are, subject to reciprocity, general health insurance holders, but the law also says that those in this group who have been resident in Turkey for less than one year are not counted as insured. During the first year of residence a foreign family therefore has no general health insurance under that paragraph and needs another source of cover: a private policy, cover under a bilateral social security agreement (the e-İkamet list names this) or its own funds.

A policy accepted for the residence permit is a separate contract from the hospital bill. Before the pregnancy is advanced, read the policy wording for maternity cover and any waiting period, because the permit rules ask for cover of the permit period and say nothing about what the policy pays for. Hospitals state their own prices for a delivery package, so ask for an itemised written estimate. The estimate should show what the package includes, how many nights are covered and what changes if the delivery is by caesarean section or the baby needs neonatal care.

Documents Checklist After the Birth of a Foreign Child in Turkey

The Population Directorate’s page for births says that a notification can rest on the official document that shows the birth. The e-İkamet lists are the authority for the permit stage, and the mission’s website is the authority for the home-country stage.

Unmarried Parents, Paternity and the Child’s Name

When the parents are foreign and not married, the question of who the legal father is does not start from Turkish law. Article 16 of Law No. 5718 on Private International Law and Procedure says that the establishment of filiation is governed by the child’s national law at the time of birth, and, if filiation cannot be established under that law, by the law of the child’s habitual residence, then by the national law of the mother or father at the time of birth, then by the parents’ common habitual residence, and finally by the law of the place of birth. Article 17 says that the effects of filiation follow the law that established it, unless the mother, father and child share a national law or, failing that, a common habitual residence.

In practice the home law of the child comes first and Turkish law enters the chain only when the earlier laws fail to establish filiation. Parents who are not married should find out how paternity is recognised under their home law before the birth, because recognition procedures differ between countries, and a recognition document usually has to travel through the apostille chain described above.

For the residence permit the paperwork follows the status. The e-İkamet list asks for a single-parent document where a child born outside marriage has custody with the other parent, and for the approved birth certificate where the passports do not identify the parents. If the father is Turkish, Article 7(3) of Law No. 5901 requires the filiation procedures to be completed before the child becomes a Turkish citizen, and the Population Directorate’s page lists the Civil Code routes.

Birth of a Foreign Child in Turkey and Citizenship by Investment

A birth does not shorten any of the routes to Turkish citizenship, but the routes treat children in specific ways. Article 12(1)(b) of Law No. 5901 lets the President decide to grant citizenship to foreigners who hold a short-term permit as investors under Article 31(1)(j) of Law No. 6458, to Turquoise Card holders, and to their foreign spouse and the minor or dependent foreign child of the foreigner and the spouse. The Regulation’s property threshold was raised from 250,000 to 400,000 US dollars by Presidential Decision No. 5554, published in the Official Gazette of 13 May 2022 (No. 31834).

The general rule on children appears in Article 20(2) of Law No. 5901. A decision granting citizenship does not affect the spouse’s citizenship; children in the custody of the parent acquire citizenship if the other parent consents, and if consent is refused the matter follows the court decision of the country where the parent habitually lives; and the children of parents who acquire citizenship together also acquire it. Children who were not included at the time can apply after reaching majority under the ordinary conditions of Article 11 (Article 20(3)).

The routes, amounts and property conditions are covered on the page about Turkish citizenship by investment, and the taxes and costs of buying a home are summarised in the Turkey property tax calculator. A family comparing places to live can look at the comparison of the cheapest and most expensive cities in Turkey, and the pages for Türkiye and Istanbul list the projects currently shown on this site. The apartments for sale in Istanbul and villas for sale in Istanbul pages list individual properties, and the explanation of buying an apartment in Turkey in installments covers staged payments.

Does the birth give the parents any residence or citizenship right?

Not by itself. Article 34(1) of Law No. 6458 lists the relatives who can receive a family residence permit from a supporter: the spouse, the minor child and the dependent child. The parent of a child is not on that list. The family permit rules run from the supporter to the family, and the investor route runs from the investor to the family, so a birth does not create a separate right for the parents.

Common Mistakes After the Birth of a Foreign Child in Turkey

• Assuming that the hospital registered the child. The hospital reports the birth, but the law places the notification duty on the parents and the population directorate holds the record.
• Counting the residence permit deadline from the day the baby’s passport arrives. The 180 days run from the date of birth.
• Leaving Turkey on the birth document alone. The document gives no right of entry or exit, and a late application costs a surcharge at the border.
• Assuming that Turkey informs the embassy of every country. The instruction applies to countries that are parties to the listed conventions, and non-parties receive the multilingual extract only on request.
• Assuming that a Turkish apostille is accepted everywhere. A country that is not a party to the Convention needs the longer chain of translation, notary, governorate and the Ministry.
• Using a foreign document in Turkey without a notarised Turkish translation, even when it carries an apostille.
• Choosing a family permit without checking that the supporter has one year on a residence permit, the income and the insurance covering the baby.
• Confusing the parents’ visa-free 90-day stay with the baby’s 180 days.
• Relying on an insurance policy accepted for the permit without reading its maternity terms.
• Staying abroad for long stretches after the birth without checking the 120-day and 180-day limits for short-term and family permits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a baby born in Turkey to foreign parents a Turkish citizen?

No. In the birth of a foreign child in Turkey, the child takes the parents’ nationality if their home law passes it on. Article 8 of Law No. 5901 makes a child born in Turkey Turkish only if the child acquires no citizenship from the foreign mother and father, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that where both parents are foreign the child cannot be a Turkish citizen.

How soon must a birth be reported?

Within 30 days. For the birth of a foreign child in Turkey, as for every birth, Article 15 of Law No. 5490 sets 30 days in Turkey and 60 days abroad. The notification can be made at the population directorate of the place of birth, at any population directorate or at the health institution, and the hospital must also report the birth within five working days.

Which documents does the hospital issue?

After the birth of a foreign child in Turkey the hospital issues the birth document or report that proves the birth and sends the notification form to the population directorate. The Presidency of Migration Management calls it the birth document (doğum belgesi) and says it lets the child stay up to six months, tied to the parents’ lawful stay. For a birth outside a hospital, a certificate from the neighbourhood head is needed.

Does Turkey tell my embassy about the birth?

For countries that are parties to the relevant international conventions or bilateral consular conventions, yes: the population directorate sends the multilingual extract of the birth of a foreign child in Turkey to the embassy weekly, according to the Population Directorate’s instruction of 30 April 2019. For other countries nothing is sent, although the extract is issued on request. The embassy’s own registration still has to be applied for.

How long does the residence permit for a foreign newborn take?

The application must be made within 180 days of birth, and the authority decides applications within 90 days of the date the file is complete (Regulation, Article 22(2)). The permit is issued with effect from the date of birth, so the validity does not start late. The time that matters most is how long the home mission takes to issue the baby’s passport.

What happens if I miss the 180 days?

After the birth of a foreign child in Turkey, a late application leads to a charge at exit: the residence fee for the overrun period is collected with a one-fold surcharge, and if it is paid no time-limited entry ban applies, according to Article 21(13) of the Regulation. The amount depends on nationality, age and the length of the overrun and is shown at the border.

Can the baby leave Turkey before the residence permit is issued?

The birth document alone gives no right to enter or leave Turkey. After the application is completed, the application document and fee receipts allow repeated exits with a return within 15 days each time, within the requested permit period, according to the Presidency’s FAQ. A child who never applied pays the late-application surcharge at exit.

Does a newborn need health insurance for the residence permit?

For a short-term permit, no: the Presidency’s FAQ says applicants under 18 are not required to have insurance and that the under-18 option is selected in e-İkamet. For a family permit, the supporter must hold valid health insurance covering all family members, so after the birth of a foreign child in Turkey the baby has to be included in the policy. This question is separate from the insurance used to pay the hospital.

Can parents on a tourist or visa-free stay give birth in Turkey?

They can give birth in Turkey, but the child’s stay on the birth document depends on the parent’s lawful stay, and Article 20(1)(a) of Law No. 6458 exempts only stays of up to 90 days on a visa or visa exemption. For the birth of a foreign child in Turkey in this situation, ask the provincial migration directorate which residence ground the parents will use before the due date.

Who decides paternity when the parents are not married?

Article 16 of Law No. 5718 applies the child’s national law at the time of birth first, then the child’s habitual residence, then the parents’ national laws and common habitual residence, and finally the law of the place of birth. For a Turkish father, Article 7(3) of Law No. 5901 requires the filiation procedures to be completed.

Can a Turkish birth document be apostilled?

Yes, if the destination state is a party to the Apostille Convention. For a birth of a foreign child in Turkey the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says governorates and district governorates are the issuing authorities, and that a document that has an apostille cannot be certified again by the Ministry. For non-party states the chain runs through translation, notary, governorate and the Ministry.

Does the birth help the parents obtain residence or citizenship?

Not by itself. The birth of a foreign child in Turkey creates no right for the parents: Article 34 of Law No. 6458 lists the supporter’s spouse and children as the people who can receive a family permit, and the parent of a child is not on the list. Citizenship by investment is a separate route in which the investor’s minor children can be included, and a child born to a parent who is already Turkish is Turkish by descent.

Last checked: 23 October 2026. Sources: Law No. 5901 on Turkish Citizenship (mevzuat.gov.tr); Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection; Law No. 5490 on Population Services; Law No. 5510 on Social Insurance and General Health Insurance; Law No. 5718 on Private International Law and Procedure; Implementing Regulation of Law 6458, Official Gazette 17 March 2016; Presidential Decision 5554, Official Gazette 13 May 2022; Presidency of Migration Management, residence FAQ; Presidency of Migration Management, document and residence fees; Presidency of Migration Management, residence permit types; e-İkamet, documents required for short-term permits; Düzce Provincial Migration Directorate announcement; Population and Citizenship Directorate General, birth procedures; Population Directorate instruction of 30 April 2019; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, consular FAQ; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attestation unit information; GOV.UK, register a birth abroad; German Federal Foreign Office, section 4(4) Nationality Act; German Federal Foreign Office, birth of a child abroad.