Schmidt & Schmidt covers the full spectrum of legalization services for documents issued in Romania.

Romania joined the Hague Convention on the Simplified Authentication of Documents on 7 June 2000; the Convention entered into force on 16 March 2001.

The apostille, or the “Hague apostille” is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public document (e.g., a birth, marriage or death certificate, a judgment, an extract of a register or a notarial attestation). It confirms the authenticity of the signature and the authority of an official who signed the public document.

Documents issued in Romania are certified with an apostille in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1961 are recognized in all Member States of the Hague Convention and do not require any other form of certification, such as consular legalization, which considerably reduces the costs and time required for the certification of documents. So far, more than 120 states have joined the Convention.

The apostille is not sufficient for use in the states that are not party to the Hague Convention. In this case, consular legalization applies to a public document.

Designated Competent Apostille Authorities in Romania

In Romania, there are a few different institutions assigned the status of competent authorities for issuing apostille. The specific body will depend on the type of document and by whom it was issued:

Type A - Judicial documents:

• Court decisions of any kind
• Documents issued by a bailiff ('executor judecatoresc')
• Documents issued by the Commercial Registry Office ('Oficiul Registrului Comertului')

These documents are apostilled by the tribunals (there are 42 tribunals in total).

Type B - Notary documents:

• Authentic instruments
• Documents with a certified date by the notary ('cu data certa')
• Documents with a legalized signature by the notary
• Legalized translations

These documents are apostilled by the Chambers of Public Notaries (15 of them in total).

Type C - Administrative documents:

• Civil status records
• Name records
• Family records
• Criminal records
• Fiscal and tax records
• Educational records
• Professional records
• Religious records
• Extracts and certificates from other public records
• Many others, basically any public document that does not fall into one of the other categories and is not exempted or forbidden.

These documents are apostilled by the Offices of the Prefect (42 of them in total).

To obtain an apostille from the Tribunal, first of all, you will need to identify the competent tribunal. This can be done using Romanian Judicial Atlas or looking for relevant information sources. It's important to note that the Bucharest Tribunal handles Commercial Registry documents. Check the operating hours of the tribunal and visit during the appropriate time. The apostille will be issued immediately upon completing the process at the tribunal.

If you need to obtain an apostille from the Chamber of Notaries, the steps you will need to follow will most likely include the following. Firstly, you need to identify the competent Chamber, which can be done by referring to the provided resources or contacting relevant service providers. On the day of the appointment, make sure to bring the original document that requires the apostille, as well as your identification document (such as a passport) to verify your identity. You will then be asked to pay the apostille tax, which is usually done in cash. After completing the payment, you will be provided with a request form which needs to be completed with up-to-date information. The apostille will be issued immediately upon completing the process at the tribunal.

To obtain an apostille from the Prefect's Office, identify the competent office, check their hours of operation, and bring the original document and your identification. Fill out the provided request form, ensuring that the document refers to you, or obtain a special power of attorney if it doesn't. The Prefect's Office will issue the apostille immediately, free of charge. Please note that some documents in this category need to be certified by a competent ministry before being apostilled. Remember to consult the relevant legal sources for accurate and up-to-date information.

The apostille in Romania is a square stamp in Romania with the obligatory heading "Apostille" and a reference to the 1961 Hague Convention in French (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961). The apostille certificate’s sides will be at least 9 centimeters long.

Types of documents

Specific aspects and document requirements for the apostille in Romania

Romania is among the 120 countries that recognize and issue apostilles in accordance with the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. The apostille serves as a confirmation of the official status of a document.

Document requirements for apostille in Romania

To obtain an apostille for a document in Romania, the following requirements generally apply:

• The document must be an original or a certified copy issued by the competent authority.
• The document should contain all relevant and accurate information.
• The document must be in the official language of the issuing country or translated into the official language of the country where the apostille is sought.
• The apostille must be affixed by the designated competent authority in accordance with regulations.

The apostille is issued in a uniform format. In Romania, it has the form of a printed sticker with a handwritten signature of an official, an official seal, and a hologram.

In cases where apostilles are not recognized, holders of foreign documents will need to legalize them instead. However, If the country of destination of the document recognizes and issues apostilles, then legalization is unnecessary.

Legalization of Romanian educational documents for use abroad

For educational documents issued in Romania to be valid abroad, they must undergo authentication to verify their official status and legality. This process is applicable for states that require either the Hague Apostille or super-legalization. Educational documents in Romania typically require an additional certification called "Vizare" from the competent ministry before they can be legalized. It is advisable to contact the relevant authorities in the destination country for recognition of education, which can be found on the ENIC-NARIC websites maintained by the network of National Centres for the Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas.

To proceed with legalization, you will need to obtain oversight authority certification for specific document types from relevant institutions. For primary and high school educational documents, contact the county/Bucharest School Inspectorate. For university, master's, or PhD studies, contact the Ministry of Education. Notary documents need certification from the competent Chamber of Notaries and then the Ministry of Justice, and court documents, bailiff documents, and documents from the Commercial Register require certification from the Ministry of Justice.

Once you have obtained the necessary attestations, you need to visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for legalization. Bring the official request form, the original document along with a photocopy, your identity document (passport) along with a photocopy, and proof of paying the tax. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located in Bucharest, the legalization will be done on the spot and is free of charge.

The next step is to proceed to the diplomatic or consular office of the receiving country. Each country has its own requirements, address, and opening hours for this step. Refer to the provided resources and select the country you need. Note that some embassies or consulates may not be located in Romania, requiring you to visit the foreign country where they are located for legalization.

In cases where there is no embassy or consulate accredited to Bucharest, you may need to go through a third country that maintains diplomatic and consular relations with both Romania and the country where the document is needed.

In general, to recognize study documents in Romania, you should follow the steps of authentication by School Inspectorates for pre-university education documents, authentication by CNRED for higher education documents, apostille affixation by the Prefect Institution to the original documents, translation and/or legalized copies by a notary public, and apostille affixation by the Chamber of Notaries Public in the relevant city where the notarial office performed the legalization works.

In general, in order to recognize study documents in Romania, the following steps will need to be taken:

1. Authenticate study documents issued by pre-university education institutions through School Inspectorates.
2. Authenticate study documents issued by higher education institutions through CNRED (National Centre for the Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas).
3. Affix an Apostille to the original documents by the Prefect Institution.
4. Obtain translation and/or legalized copies of the documents from a notary public.
5. Affix an Apostille to the translation and/or legalized copies by the Chamber of Notaries Public in the town where the notarial office performed the legalization.

Recognition of the authenticity of public documents within the EU

Romania has entered into the agreements of:

Civil status certificates and certificates of marriageability, which are issued by one of the contracting states according to the model of the Convention of the International Commission (CIEC Convention) for Civil and Civil Status Affairs (CIEC), are exempt from any formality in Romania.

Contracting states of the Vienna CIEC Convention of 08.09.1976 (issuance of multilingual extracts from civil status registers: birth, marriage, and death certificate) are:

• Austria, Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Italy, Cape Verde, Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey.

Regulation on public documents (EU) 2016/1191 of 6 July 2016

Furthermore, Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 of 6 July 2016 on public documents simplifies the circulation of certain public documents that must be presented in an EU Member State and have been issued in another EU Member State, thus exempting public documents from the confirmation of authenticity with the Apostille with the aim of reducing administrative burden and costs for citizens.

Consular legalization of Romanian documents for use abroad

Consular legalization is the process of authenticating or certifying a legal document so a foreign country's legal system will recognize it as with full legal effect that is carried out by the diplomatic or consular mission of the country in which the document is to be used.

Consular legalization is more complex, time-consuming, and costly than the simpler apostille procedure. Whereas apostille is usually issued within one step, consular legalization requires several pre-certifications before a public document can be certified at the embassy or consulate of the destination country in Romania.

It is a common requirement that the document has to be translated into the official language of the destination country before submission to the embassy. It is up to the diplomatic mission to decide about the authentication procedure.

The main differences between an apostille and consular legalization of documents

The common feature between apostille and consular legalization is that they authenticate an official document for presentation to institutions in another country. However, they have many differences.