French documents reach us from France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Quebec and a wide belt of African countries. They look similar and are governed by completely different rules, which is why the first question we ask is never “what language” but “issued where”. Since 1992 we have prepared French files for Turkish notaries and public offices with sworn translators.
SWORN FRENCH TRANSLATION IN ISTANBUL
IN FRANCE THE APOSTILLE NOW COMES FROM A NOTAIRE
For decades a French document was apostilled by the cour d’appel of the district where it was issued. That changed with the 2025 reform: responsibility for apostille and legalisation in France passed to the notarial profession, and applications are now made to a notaire.
If you are working from an older instruction sheet, or from advice given to a relative a few years ago, you will be sent to the wrong place. Documents that already carry a court-issued apostille remain valid — nothing has to be redone.
Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg each have their own arrangements, and Switzerland is fully decentralised: the apostille comes from the chancellery of the canton that issued the document, not from the federal government.
NOT EVERY FRENCH-SPEAKING COUNTRY USES THE APOSTILLE
Among the francophone countries of Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal are parties to the Hague Convention, and Algeria joined with effect from 9 July 2026 — documents certified before that date carry the older stamps.
Many others, including Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are not parties. Their documents need the full legalisation chain: the issuing ministry, then the country’s foreign ministry, then the Turkish consulate there. That work has to be done before you leave; it cannot be completed from Istanbul.
Tell us which country issued the paper and we will tell you which route applies.
COPIE INTEGRALE, EXTRAIT AVEC OU SANS FILIATION
A French birth record is not issued in one form but three. The copie intégrale reproduces the whole entry with the marginal notes. The extrait avec filiation gives the essentials plus the parents. The extrait sans filiation omits the parents altogether.
Turkish registry offices, courts and citizenship files almost always want the parents’ details, so the third form is refused at the counter — usually after the translation has already been paid for. Ask which version is required before you order the document from France.
One more thing that surprises people: French civil status copies are generated fresh on the day they are issued, so a copy dated last month is normal and does not mean your record was changed. The livret de famille, by contrast, is a household booklet and is not accepted on its own in place of a certificate.
DOCUMENTS WE TRANSLATE MOST OFTEN
- Civil status: birth, marriage, divorce and death records, single status certificates, livret de famille pages
- Education: baccalauréat, university degrees, transcripts, course descriptions, recognition (denklik) files
- Official: passports, identity cards, driving licences, criminal record extracts (bulletin n° 3), residence and work permit dossiers
- Legal: powers of attorney, court judgments, divorce decisions, inheritance and notarial deeds, contracts
- Commercial: Kbis extracts, articles of association, financial statements, tenders, invoices and customs papers
- Technical: machine and aviation documentation, quality and conformity certificates, patents
We provide consecutive interpreters for notary, land registry and marriage office appointments, and simultaneous teams for conferences and trade fairs. For repeat corporate work we build a client glossary and keep the same translators on the account.
Other languages are listed on our translation languages page.
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