Original, certified copy or photocopy?
Electronic applications take scans, but later stages ask for originals or certified copies, and the two are not the same thing. For most Turkish registry documents a freshly issued original is easier to obtain than a certified copy — and unlike a copy, it restarts the document's useful life.
Checked on 8 September 2026 Last updated 8 September 2026
In brief
- Certification level
- Notarised translation (Türkiye) + Apostille
- Estimated time
- A reissued registry document is usually faster than certifying a copy of an old one
- Destination country
- Québec
Accepted under conditions
Applications are submitted electronically, so for a long time nobody asks about paper. Then a professional order, a university or an officer at a later stage asks for an original or a certified copy, and the difference between three words suddenly matters.
Three different things
- An original. A document issued by the competent office, bearing its seal and an authorised signature. Most Turkish registry documents can be issued again on request, so "the original" is often a fresh original rather than the one in your drawer.
- A certified copy. A copy compared with the original by a notary — or in some cases by the issuing office — and certified as corresponding to it. Its value comes from the certification, not from the paper.
- A photocopy or scan. No certification, no independent value. Acceptable where the recipient only needs to read the content.
What a Turkish notary is doing when certifying a copy is set out on the notary page.
Who asks for what
| Stage | Usually accepts |
|---|---|
| Electronic immigration application | Colour scans; originals may be requested later |
| Professional order file | Original or certified copy, often with an apostille |
| Credential assessment | Frequently documents sent directly by the institution |
| Court or tribunal | Original, or a certified copy where the original cannot be produced |
| Employer, landlord, private recipient | Scans, at the recipient's discretion |
Confirm your own stage rather than working from the table; requirements are revised and vary between bodies.
A fresh original usually beats a certified copy
For civil registry extracts, criminal record certificates and social security records, obtaining a new original from the issuing office is normally simpler than having an old document certified — and it does something a copy cannot: it restarts the document's useful life. A certified copy of a two-year-old extract is still a two-year-old extract, and bodies that impose a recency window will treat it as one. The timing page deals with which documents have such a window.
Documents you cannot replace
Diplomas are the main case. A university issues one, and replacing a lost diploma is a slow administrative process with its own conditions. The rule is straightforward: never surrender the diploma itself. Obtain a certified copy, or ask the university for an official duplicate document confirming the award, and keep the original in your own hands. Court judgments and older documents held in personal archives fall in the same category.
Sealed envelopes are a separate category
Where a body requires a transcript sent directly by the university in a sealed envelope, that envelope is the certification. Opening it to scan the contents destroys what the requirement was for, and no amount of subsequent notarisation restores it. If you also need a copy for yourself, ask the university for two sets. This is set out on the sealed transcript page.
What the translation attaches to
A translation is meaningful only in relation to a specific document, so a translation of a certified copy is a translation of that copy, and the copy travels with it. Where an apostille is involved the same logic applies: the apostille is attached to one particular document and does not follow the text to another copy. Obtain the copy you will actually submit, then translate that one — see the apostille page for the ordering.
What we do
Under your power of attorney we obtain freshly issued originals from the competent Turkish offices, arrange notarial certified copies where the original has to stay with you, take documents through to apostille where the receiving body requires it, and courier the wet-signed set with a full colour scan so you can submit while the package is in transit. The notary's charge for a certified copy is a third-party item; the exact amount is calculated by the notary office when the document is presented to it.
Frequently asked questions
You can, but the result is a Canadian document. Turkish offices will treat it as foreign, and a Québec body may still ask why a Turkish document was certified in Canada. For Turkish documents the certification is normally done in Türkiye.
Because different stages verify differently. An electronic application checks the content; a professional order, a court or an admissions office may need to handle the document. Keep the originals available throughout rather than only at the start.
No, and this confusion is common. An apostille authenticates a signature and seal already on the document, so a plain photocopy has nothing for it to authenticate. The copy must first be certified, and the apostille then relates to that certification.
More than one, since a second set costs little compared with repeating the process from abroad. Bear in mind that extra copies of a short-lived document do not extend its life; for those, obtain them close to the date you will submit.