Are you a family thinking of coming to live in Turkey and bringing your children?  Do all the children have your surname?  If not, due to divorce and remarriage, read on..

Residence Permit - Family

A contributor to the site who wishes to remain anonymous recently recounted the bureaucratic nightmare she’d survived due to the above circumstances.

Residence permits for two children, whose surnames didn’t ‘match ‘ the other family members, were initially refused as our contributor couldn’t prove she had legal custody of the children.  Remember that English divorce law no longer gives custody to one parent, but merely states there is a ‘joint duty of care’ – Turkish law is very different.

Luckily these children were in private school so the months it took to sort out the residence permits didn’t disrupt their education.  However, if you plan on placing your children in the Turkish state system, forget it.  Your child will only be placed in a Turkish state school after s/he has a residence permit valid for at least one year.

Our contributor is a very resourceful woman and she did manage to sort out the problem but wants everyone who may fall into the same trap to be aware and make sure they bring all necessary documentation from UK:

• Full birth certificates naming the mother and the father – certified copies of an entry.  Small originals are no good.  To order the full certificates over the internet costs approx. £50 per certificate.  Certificates need to be translated and notarised – which can be done in Turkey.

• Death certificate if one parent is a widow(er).  Again this will need to be translated and notarised.

• Divorce papers – translated and notarised.

• Marriage certificate – translated and notarised.

• Any court order that determines custody of the child – translated and notarised – if such a document exists.

If you are divorced, are still in contact with the other parent and have his/her agreement to the child(ren) coming to live here with you and your new spouse, then a sworn affidavit from a UK solicitor should help.  It will, of course, need to be translated and notarised here before it can be used for any bureaucratic purpose.