Children, descent and the marriage route

Last updated: 16 August 2026Legal review: Bayraktar Attorneys2 min read

The rule that answers most questions

Turkish nationality passes by descent. A child with a Turkish citizen mother or father is Turkish from the moment of birth, regardless of where the birth occurred and regardless of the other parent's nationality. There is no application to make and no qualifying period; what there is, is a registration to complete so that the existing status appears on the registry.

The practical consequence for a binational couple is that your shared children are already citizens. They are not waiting on your Article 16 application, and a refusal of your application does not affect them. The firm's guide to Turkish citizenship by birth sets out the registration mechanics.

Children born outside Türkiye

Same rule, extra paperwork. The birth is registered through the Turkish consulate in the country of birth, or at a population directorate in Türkiye, on the foreign birth certificate — apostilled and translated where it is not a multilingual extract. Do it promptly. Registration years later is possible but requires more evidence of parentage, and until it is done the child has no Turkish identity number, which blocks everything from schooling to health cover.

If the parents were not married

Descent still operates, but parentage has to be established. Where the Turkish parent is the mother, that follows from the birth. Where the Turkish parent is the father and there was no marriage, paternity must be established — by acknowledgment before the registry or a notary, or by a court judgment — and the child's citizenship follows from the date parentage is established.

Children from a previous relationship

This is where couples are most often surprised. A foreign spouse who acquires Turkish citizenship through marriage does not thereby confer it on children from an earlier relationship. Those children have no Turkish parent, so descent does not assist them, and Article 16 operates on the spouse alone.

Their route into Türkiye is ordinarily immigration rather than nationality: a family residence permit as a dependent family member, subject to the sponsor conditions and to the age limits that apply to dependent children. See the sponsor conditions and the family residence permit guide. Where the other biological parent has rights of custody or access, moving the child to Türkiye also raises questions the firm addresses in its note on consent for a child's exit from Türkiye — a rule that cuts both ways and catches parents planning to travel with a child after a separation.

Minors and a naturalising parent generally

Where a parent acquires Turkish citizenship other than by descent, a minor child may acquire it with the consent of the other parent; if that consent is refused, the question falls to the court of the child's habitual residence. Once a child has reached majority, a parent's acquisition has no effect on them at all — they must qualify in their own right. Male dual nationals should also read the position on military service for dual citizens before the child turns eighteen, because the planning options narrow considerably afterwards.