What Is MERSİS and How Is a Company Application Made in the System?

The short answer to the question “what is MERSİS?” is this: it is the official registry system through which company formation, amendment and closure procedures in Turkey are carried out electronically. The Central Registry System (MERSİS) is an information system operated by the Ministry of Trade together with TOBB (the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye), in which trade registry records are kept in a single shared database. This definition appears in Article 4 of the Trade Registry Regulation.

In this article, we describe not the entire formation process but the system itself: who logs in and by which method, how the MERSİS number is generated, the order in which an application moves through the screens, and where to run a search. We have also devoted a separate section to the points where applications with foreign shareholders most often get stuck.

What is MERSİS, and what does it do?

MERSİS has two separate functions. The first is to carry out the registration, amendment and deregistration (removal from the registry) of companies and commercial businesses electronically instead of on paper. The second is to assign a single number to each legal entity and economic unit so that public institutions can access this information from a single point.

The Ministry of Trade defines the system as one of the four core databases of e-government services, together with MERNİS (population), UAVT (addresses) and TAKBİS (land registry). In practice, this position means the following: shareholder information you enter in MERSİS is checked against the population register, address information against the address registration system, and tax information against Revenue Administration data. If there is a mismatch, the application stops on that screen.

Under Article 13 of the Trade Registry Regulation, registry procedures are carried out through MERSİS and records are kept in this system. Changed or deleted records are not lost either; they are stored as passive records and can be viewed on request, but they cannot be modified.

How did the central registry system come about?

The idea of a central registry system arose from two projects in the 2006 Information Society Strategy and Action Plan. According to the Ministry of Trade, these projects were merged on 10/08/2010 under the name MERSİS, and the first pilot started at the Mersin Trade Registry Office. The system came into use in 238 offices on 01/01/2015; the renewed version was launched on 03/06/2017.

Today, the scale of the system is larger than most company owners expect. According to the Ministry of Trade, in 2025 alone MERSİS responded to 1 billion 182 million queries from public institutions. When a bank, tax office or SGK asks who your company’s current authorized officer is, the answer usually comes from this database.

What is a MERSİS number, and how is it generated?

The MERSİS number is a unique, unchangeable number assigned to every company and commercial business registered with the trade registry. According to the Ministry of Trade, the number has 16 digits. It is generated with a special algorithm based on the tax number for legal entities and the Turkish ID number for individual merchants.

Knowing three features of the number makes things easier:

• The number is assigned upon registration; it does not yet exist at the application stage.
• Even if the company’s trade name, address or capital changes, the MERSİS number stays the same.
• Branch numbers are created by adding a sequence number to the head office’s MERSİS number.

Under Article 19 of the Regulation, in offices that use MERSİS, the MERSİS number replaces the old trade registry number. The old registry number lives on as a file number. That is why the registry number you see on an old document may differ from today’s MERSİS number; both refer to the same company.

The MERSİS number also appears first on the registry certificate issued by the trade registry office. You are expected to share this number together with the registry record for bank accounts, tender files or notifications to the parent company abroad.

Who logs in to MERSİS, and by which method?

Once the question “what is MERSİS?” is answered, the first practical question is about logging in. To use the system, you must first register once. An account is created by selecting “Register” in the “Login” area on the home page. According to the Ministry of Trade, subsequent logins can be made by one of four methods: e-Devlet, a MERSİS account, e-signature and mobile signature.

Which method you choose depends on the task. If you will only enter information and prepare a draft application, e-Devlet or a MERSİS account is sufficient. If you want to sign the articles of association through the system, you need a secure electronic signature or mobile signature. The Regulation requires electronic documents to bear a secure electronic signature and a time stamp in order to serve as the basis for registration.

The division of authority is also clear. Any user registered in the system can start a formation application. An amendment application for an existing company, however, can be submitted only by the company’s authorized officers. Authorized officers can define a power of attorney through MERSİS to allow an advisor or employee to prepare these applications.

How does a MERSİS application proceed in 5 steps?

A MERSİS application starts with entering information at formation and ends with the articles of association being signed and the registration file being sent to the registry office. The screens proceed in sequence, and you cannot move to the next screen until the current one is complete. We explained the legal steps of formation and their order in our article how to set up a company ; here we only summarize the flow within the system.

• Step 1, company information: The company type, trade name, head office address and business purpose are entered. The address is verified against the record in the National Address Database; the business activity is matched with NACE codes.
• Step 2, shareholders and authorized officers: The identity, address and share information of each shareholder and manager is added. For foreign shareholders, a tax number is required at this stage.
• Step 3, capital and articles of association: The capital amount and the distribution of shares are entered; MERSİS generates the articles of association text from this information. Special provisions are added to the text on this screen.
• Step 4, additional notifications: During formation, the system also collects certain information required by the tax office and SGK; employee information and e-notification (e-bildirge) authorization are among these.
• Step 5, signature and submission: The application is saved, the articles of association are signed either in person at the registry office or by e-signature or mobile signature, and the file is sent to the office.

For joint stock companies, the bank procedure must also be completed before Step 5. According to the Ministry of Trade, in a joint stock company at least 25% of the nominal value of the subscribed shares is deposited into a special account opened in the company’s name. In a limited company, the full capital may be paid within 24 months following registration.

Why do the application number and time record matter?

Every application saved in MERSİS receives a number, and this number becomes the reference for correspondence with the office. Under Article 25 of the Trade Registry Regulation, for electronic applications, the date in MERSİS is taken as the time of application. The registration date is the date in the time stamp attached to the office’s secure electronic signature.

This detail makes a difference in time-sensitive procedures. For an application meeting a statutory deadline, what counts is not the day the paperwork reaches the office but the moment the system records it. If a technical failure occurs in the system, the Regulation allows procedures to be carried out on paper and the records to be transferred to the system later.

Which procedures are carried out in MERSİS? Comparison table

The table below shows the main procedures in MERSİS together, by who can carry them out and which login method is appropriate. The information is based on the Ministry of Trade’s trade registry frequently asked questions page and the Trade Registry Regulation.

Where and how is a MERSİS search done?

Many people researching what MERSİS is actually want to access a company’s record. There are three channels for a MERSİS search: the “Company Search” screen selected from the “Queries” menu on the MERSİS home page, the company search application on e-Devlet and the Ministry of Trade website, and the “My Commercial Life” (Ticari Hayatım) service in the MERSİS Mobile app.

The channels answer different questions. Company search lets you access a company’s basic records starting from its trade name or number. The e-Devlet application and My Commercial Life work the other way around: using your own identity, they list all the companies in which you appear as a shareholder, owner or authorized officer. According to the Ministry of Trade, the e-Devlet application was launched on 10/03/2017 and the My Commercial Life service on 12/29/2023.

The information on the search screen is sufficient for an initial check before doing business with a company. For an official procedure, however, a registry certificate or a Trade Registry Gazette announcement is required. If you want to verify a supplier’s authorized officer, we recommend comparing the search result with these documents.

How can you prevent a company from being set up in your name?

You can prevent your identity details from being used in a company without your permission with the “Restriction Procedures for Becoming a Shareholder / Authorized Officer (MERSİS)” service on e-Devlet. According to the Ministry of Trade, the service has been running on turkiye.gov.tr since 12/30/2021. The same procedure can also be carried out from the “Restriction Procedures” menu in MERSİS Mobile.

A person who has placed a restriction must first lift it when they themselves want to become a shareholder in a company. Otherwise, the system returns an error when the shareholder is added in the formation application. Behind what our clients sometimes take for an unexpected obstacle, there is often a restriction placed years ago.

Where does the system get stuck in applications with foreign shareholders?

In applications with foreign shareholders, the place where MERSİS most often stops is the add-shareholder screen. The system tries to match the shareholder’s identity information and tax number with public records. For a foreigner without a tax number in Turkey, this number must be obtained before the MERSİS registration.

The second stop is address information. According to the Ministry of Trade’s explanation, if an address error occurs when a person is added as a shareholder or authorized officer, it should be checked whether the person has a valid residence registration at the civil registry office, and if not, one should be made. That is why foreigners residing in Turkey sometimes progress more slowly in the system than Turkish shareholders.

The third issue is the spelling of names. The name on the passport, in the tax record and on translated documents must be exactly the same. We have listed point by point which documents should be prepared in which form in our article documents required to set up a company .

Which institutions’ systems does MERSİS communicate with?

MERSİS does not only store company information; it also transfers it to other institutions. The Ministry of Trade’s MERSİS page lists the sources the system is connected to as follows: UAVT for address verification, the Revenue Administration for the potential tax number and tax office information, SGK for e-notification authorization, TAKBİS for land registry checks of authorized officers, UYAP for court decisions and UETS for electronic notification.

These connections have a concrete consequence for the company owner. Information entered at formation is reflected in the records of several institutions at the same time. An incorrectly entered address or business activity may affect many processes, from the tax office’s on-site inspection to banking transactions, until it is corrected.

If you notice an error in the record, you cannot correct it yourself through the system. According to the Ministry of Trade, update and correction requests are made to the trade registry office where the company is registered. Correction of a clerical error does not change the registration date of the previous record.

Common mistakes when using MERSİS

The mistakes we see most often in practice are not technical but related to preparation. We recommend checking the following points before starting the application:

• One of the shareholders having placed a restriction on e-Devlet and this going unnoticed until the application day
• Squeezing the business activity into a single NACE code and later needing to amend the articles of association
• Omitting special provisions that should be added to the articles of association by relying on the system’s standard text
• One of the founders lacking a valid certificate for a file to be signed by e-signature
• Moving to the add-shareholder screen without obtaining a tax number for the foreign shareholder

None of these mistakes breaks the system, but each can set the application back by several days. In our practice, the MERSİS screens are opened only after all information and decisions have been settled. The system is a verification tool; it does not make the decision for you.

Should you file the application yourself or with an advisor?

Knowing the technical answer to the question “what is MERSİS?” does not mean the application will be set up correctly. For a limited company with a single shareholder, cash capital and standard articles of association, the MERSİS screens are clear to most users. Where there is a foreign shareholder, a corporate shareholder, in-kind capital or privileged shares, however, the structure must be set up correctly before the screens. The system checks the information you enter; it does not question whether that information is the right choice for you.

For the official introduction of the system and the current list of services, see Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye: MERSİS (Central Registry System) page.

Last updated: 17.10.2026