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Obtaining a Legalization on your Romanian public document

 

Important: For all documents obtained by us, we provide all the services below as a matter of course. 

 

01

Identify if you need a Legalization

 

A legalization is only needed if you would like to use your document in a country which is not a party to the 1961 Apostille Convention. Check this page to see if your country is listed. If it is not, you need a Legalization.

 

You do not need either an Apostille or a Legalization if:

  • Romania and the receiving country have signed a treaty abolishing the need for legalization (check the list here); or

  • The document is a multilingual civil status extract, according to the 1976 Vienna Convention on the issue of multilingual extracts from civil status records (check the list of states where you can use such an extract here, look for Convention no. 16); or

  • The document was issued by a diplomatic or consular mission of a country party to the 1968 European Convention on the Abolition of Legalisation of Documents executed by Diplomatic Agents or Consular Officers (check the list of state parties here); or

  • It is an EU-instituted document (for example the P1 portable document for pensions); or

  • The document is to be used at an international organization where Romania is a member.

 

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02

Get the oversight authority certification

 

Some documents in the last category need an additional certification ('Vizare'), applied by the competent ministry, before they can be legalized. Here are the most important types and where to obtain this visa:

  • Educational documents for primary school and high school - the county/Bucharest School Inspectorate (check this document)

  • Educational documents for university, Master's or PhD studies - the Ministry of Education (check this page, search for 'Vizare')

  • Medical documents - the Public Health Directorate of Bucharest or the relevant county (check this document)

  • Religious documents - the State Secretariat for Rites (see this page)

  • Employment attestations (for pension purposes) - the National Pension House (check this page)

  • Notary documents - the competent Chamber of Notaries and then the Ministry of Justice (check this page)

  • Court documents, documents from bailiffs, documents from the Commercial Register - the Ministry of Justice (check this page)

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03

Getting the Legalization from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

 

Once you have obtained the relevant attestations, you need to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Go with the following:

  • The official request form (found here)

  • The original of the document, and a photocopy (xerox)

  • Your identity document (passport) and a photocopy (xerox)

  • Proof of paying the tax.

The Consular Section of the Ministry is located at 24 Aleea Alexandru Str., Bucharest.

Their opening hours are Mo-Fr 9:00 - 12:00 and 13:00 - 16:00.

The legalization is done on the spot and is free.

04

Getting the further Legalization from the receiving country's diplomatic or consular office

 

The next step in the Legalization procedure is to go to the diplomatic mission or consular office of the receiving country (= the country where you need to use the document).

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Each country has its own requirements for this step. To find out these requirements, the address and opening hours of the legalization offices, check this page, and select the country you need.

 

Note! Quite a few countries' embassies and consulates accredited to Bucharest are not actually located in Bucharest. To obtain their legalization, you need to go to the foreign country where they are located.

 

What if there is no embassy or consulate? In some cases, there could be no embassy or consulate accredited to Bucharest at all. In this tough luck case, you need to go through a third country which maintains diplomatic and consular relations with both Romania, and the country where you need your document.

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05

Final step: legalization in the receiving country

 

The final step is to have the seal of the embassy or consulate of the receiving country legalized by their own Foreign Ministry. If requested, we can provide advice about this step, and even undertake it directly or through a contractor if you are not able to do so yourself.

Note

You must be the titular of the document!

 

The procedures described above work only if you are the person to whom the document refers. If you are not you will need a special power of attorney, and sometimes higher taxes apply.

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