Civil registration of child-birth
Birth registration is both a right and an obligation for foreigners including beneficiaries of international protection. Births that take place in Türkiye need to be notified to the Population and Civil Registry Departments under the Governorates. The mother, father or legal guardian of the child shall be responsible for the notification. In the absence of parents or a legal guardian, the child’s grandmother, grandfather, adult siblings or other persons accompanying the child shall notify the Population and Civil Registry Departments.
The notification needs to be made to the Population and Civil Registry Departments within 30 days. After birth registration, a birth certificate called International New Born Certificate (Uluslararasi Dogum Kayit Ornegi) will be issued for the child. The registration process and the issuance of the certificate are free of charge.
Reporting the birth of the child to the PDMM is important as the child will be issued with an identity document called certifying their legal status in Türkiye. Registration enables children to access rights such as education and health care. Birth registration proves the age of the child and protects the child from being vulnerable to protection risks such as trafficking, child labour, child marriage, illegal adoption, and sexual exploitation. Birth registration also proves the parental linkage between the child and the parents and protects the unity of the family. It can also help family reunification of the child with the parents in the future in case of family separation.
Civil registration of marriage
Turkish law is applied for all marriage procedures for international protection beneficiaries and applicants. Under Turkish law, a Turkish national and an applicant or beneficiary or two applicants or beneficiaries of different nationalities can be married by the Turkish authorities. All marriages carried out by the Turkish authorities are subject to the Turkish Civil Code and related regulations.
Marriages are conducted by marriage officers at the Marriage Departments of municipalities. Couples intending to marry therefore need to submit the relevant documents to municipalities. Relevant documents are:
- Petition of the marriage: the couple must file a petition of marriage (evlenme beyannamesi), signed by both individuals applying to marry;
- Celibacy document certifying that the applicants are not already married;
- Medical report confirming that the applicants are free from diseases that would prevent them from getting married;
- International protection applicant registration document; international protection applicant identity document or international protection status holder identity document;
- Four photographs.
Non-official marriages are not recognised in Türkiye. A religious marriage (carried out by imams) is only permitted after the official marriage.
In 2022, discriminatory practices targeting foreign citizens were reported. This included marriage registration. As part of his vigorous anti-migrant campaign, the Mayor of Bolu increased the cost of the marriage procedure – that reached 100,000 TL (5,000 EUR) – for third country nationals.[1] The Turkiye Human Rights and Equality Body imposed a fine of 40,000 TL (2,000 EUR) on the Mayor of Bolu for the discriminatory practice.[2]
There can be delays in divorce cases. If the residential address of a missing spouse cannot be determined, the litigation period can take a long time.[3] In the divorce cases of Afghan protection seekers, courts request a document from the country of origin proving that the applicant was married in Afghanistan but due to the regime change, these documents cannot be obtained from the embassies, and lawsuits are frozen.[4]
Address verification started at the end of 2021, beginning of 2022 for temporary protection holders then for international protection holders. In general, PDMM notifies those who do not live in their declared addresses that first their GSS will be deactivated then their IDS will be canceled.[5]
Regional PDMMs has processed data updates (civil status matters such as changing marital status, registration of a newborn etc.) over an electronic appointment system called E-Randevu. People can get an appointment by ringing 157 or on the website goc.net.org. An appointment system is in place in big cities such as Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, and Hatay where there are large refugee populations. In small cities people can apply without an appointment. Appointment schedules depend on the province and may sometimes be very busy. There were reports of refugees giving bribes to get an appointment in Adana and Gaziantep, as the waiting period for an appointment could reached up to 2-3 months, except in urgent cases.[6]
[1] Hurriyet Daily News, ‘Bolu mayor announces ‘controversial’ wedding fee tariffs’, 13 November 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3yBUoSR.
[2] Sendika, ‘Tanju Özcan’ın mültecilere yaptığı ayrımcılıktan dolayı Bolu Belediyesi’ne para cezası’, 19 May 2022, available in Turkish at: https://bit.ly/3Dc5PDx.
[3] Information provided by a stakeholder, April 2022.
[4] Information provided by a stakeholder, April 2022.
[5] Information provided by a stakeholder, May 2023.
[6] Information provided by a stakeholder, May 2023.