Apostille and superlegalization

What the apostille is

The apostille is the certificate attesting that the document subject to this procedure is an official document, the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signatory acted or, where applicable, the identity of the seal or stamp on the document. The apostille does not certify the content of the document for which it was issued and is not valid for use in the State that applies it.

The apostille must be applied in the country that issues the document and is intended for use only abroad, in the countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention.

In Romania, the apostille is applied by 3 institutions:

the Prefecture, the Tribunal and the Chamber of Public Notaries, depending on the authority that issued the document in question.

Thus,

• The Prefecture applies the apostille to civil status documents, educational documents, administrative documents, etc.
• The Tribunal applies the apostille to documents it issues: judgments, documents from the Trade Register, etc.
• The Chamber of Notaries applies the apostille to documents issued by notaries: declarations, powers of attorney, legalized translations, etc.

Documents issued by a Consulate are not apostilled.

For certain documents, the apostille is not applied directly; a visa from the institution that issued the document is required first. Educational documents must bear the visa of the School Inspectorate or of the Ministry of Education, medical documents must bear the visa of the Public Health Directorate, judgments must be legalized at the Court/Tribunal, and documents issued by the Trade Register must bear the visa of the director of the Trade Register.

The Bucharest Chamber of Notaries apostilles a digitally signed document only if a date certification is obtained from the notary. If the document is signed by hand, the Chamber apostilles the translation directly.

What superlegalization is

Superlegalization is the procedure by which the authenticity of an official document is certified when the document is to be used in a State where the Hague Convention on the apostille does not apply and for which there is no convention or treaty providing for exemption from such formalities.

The procedure differs depending on the type of document and may involve several Romanian authorities, such as the Chamber of Public Notaries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice, as well as, to complete the procedure, the diplomatic mission or consular office of the State in which the document is to be used.

Notarial documents and legalized translations

For notarial documents, including legalized translations, the procedure starts at the competent Chamber of Public Notaries. The document superlegalized by the Chamber then goes through the required procedure at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the diplomatic mission or consular office of the State of destination.

Judicial documents

The Ministry of Justice superlegalizes Romanian official documents issued by judicial authorities. Court decisions must be presented as a copy certified by the court that delivered them.

Other official documents

For administrative documents, such as civil status documents, criminal records, educational documents, tax or professional documents, the superlegalization procedure differs depending on the type of document.

In certain cases, before superlegalization, the document must be endorsed or certified by the competent institution. It then follows the required superlegalization circuit and, where applicable, the formalities requested by the diplomatic mission or consular office of the State in which it is to be used.