Av. Gökçe ATUĞ

Administrative Recognition of Divorce Decisions Made Abroad in Türkiye

ADMINISTRATIVE RECOGNITION OF DIVORCE DECREES OBTAINED ABROAD IN TURKEY

A court decision obtained abroad does not automatically gain validity in Turkey. For a divorce decree obtained abroad to be valid in Turkey, this divorce decree must be registered in the civil registry in Turkey. Previously, for the decision to be recognized and enforced (applicable) before the courts of the Republic of Turkey, it was necessary to file a recognition and enforcement lawsuit. Pursuant to Article 27/A added to the Civil Registration Services Law, it has been made possible for divorce decrees obtained abroad to be validated in Turkey without filing a recognition lawsuit.

When Article 27/A added to the Civil Registration Services Law titled "Registration of divorce decisions given by foreign country judicial or administrative authorities in the civil registry" is evaluated together with the provisions of the "Regulation on Registration of Decisions Given by Foreign Country Judicial or Administrative Authorities in the Civil Registry", the conditions required for administrative recognition are as follows:

• The decision must relate to divorce, annulment of marriage, cancellation, or determination of whether it exists (CRS Law Art. 27/A, Reg. Art. 2),
• The decision must have been given by the competent judicial or administrative authorities of a foreign country (CRS Law Art. 27/A, Reg. Art. 2),
• The decision must be final according to the law of the country where it was given (CRS Law Art. 27/A, Reg. Art. 4/1-g),
• The spouses or their authorized representatives must apply jointly, or there must not be more than ninety days between the applications (Reg. Art. 6/1-a),
• The decision must not be contrary to public order (CRS Law Art. 27/A, Reg. Art. 4/1-g),
• There must be no pending or rejected case in Turkish courts regarding the decision whose recognition is requested (Reg. Art. 7/2)

APPLICATION

For the registration of divorce decisions given by foreign country judicial or administrative authorities in the civil registry, applications must be made to foreign missions in the country where the decision was given abroad, or to the provincial directorate of the place of residence of one of the parties domestically (Reg. Art. 5/1). According to Article 5/1 of the Regulation, "If there is no place of residence in Turkey, applications can be made to one of the provincial directorates of Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri, Konya, Kahramanmaraş, Samsun, Siirt, Sivas, Trabzon, Şanlıurfa and Van."

Documents required for civil registry registration application (Reg. Art. 7):

1. Original foreign court divorce decree, finalization annotation of the decision, Apostille annotation, and sworn translations of all of these certified by the Consulate abroad or notarized sworn translations in Turkey
2. Photocopies of identity cards or passports; if one of the parties is foreign, notarized Turkish translations of identity cards or passports
3. For applications through a representative, the original or certified true copy of a special power of attorney with photograph prepared by a notary

NOTE:

The procedure explained above is valid for decisions regarding divorce, annulment of marriage, nullity of marriage, and determination of whether a marriage exists, given by a foreign court or administrative authority, pursuant to Article 27/A of the Civil Registration Services Law. For decisions of foreign courts or administrative authorities that include matters such as alimony and custody, applications must still be made to Turkish Courts. Additionally, administrative recognition of divorce decrees obtained abroad in Turkey is not a mandatory route; the path of recognition and enforcement lawsuit can also be pursued. You can read our related article for detailed information about the recognition and enforcement lawsuit that needs to be filed for application to Turkish Courts.