Obtaining a Romanian civil status certificate or multilingual extract

The easiest way to obtain a Romanian civil status record or multilingual extract is to Contact Us!

If you would like to do it yourself, here are the steps you need to go through. Last update: November 2023.

As of October 1st, 2020, if you go through us, for birth and marriage certificates, there is no more need of a notarized Power of Attorney! This means that most certificates for yourself can be ordered simply online. Conditions apply. Contact us now.

Important: Apart from death certificates, and birth certificates for your own minor children, it is not possible for you to obtain certificates for deceased persons (e.g.: your grandparents' birth certificates). This can be done by us via specialized procedures which involve other legal professionals!

01

Identify where the birth / marriage / death happened

You need to go to the specific Town Hall where the certificate was issued. In Romania, there are 320 cities and over 2700 parishes ('comune') which can issue birth / marriage / death certificates and multilingual extracts.

Alternatively, if you have your domicile (or the address on your Residence Card issued by the General Immigration Inspectorate) in Romania and have the appropriate proof, you can go to your place of domicile or residence.

02

Present yourself at the specific town hall

Check in advance what is the working schedule of the civil status office. They are not usually open every day, or some days may be reserved for depositing documents, others for receiving them.

03

Bring the following documents

You should have with you:

Your identification document (your passport for foreign citizens / your ID for Romanians domiciled in Romania / your passport with domicile inscribed abroad, for Romanians domiciled abroad), in original and a photocopy (xerox);
If possible, a photocopy (xerox) of the certificate, if you had one and it was lost / destroyed / stolen;
If, between the time of your birth or marriage, and the day of the request, your name or surname changed abroad in any way, including spelling, and therefore does not match the version recorded in Romania, you will need proofs of this name change. These can include name change decisions from abroad, divorce rulings, naturalization certificates showing the old and new names etc.

Note! You must be the person to whom the certificate relates. See below for death records.

04

For death records

In addition to the documents above, for death records you need to prove that you are a relative or spouse of the deceased, or an interested person. To prove you are a relative, you can bring a Romanian or foreign (if you are a foreign citizen) civil status certificate (birth certificate, marriage certificate) or other identification documents, if the relationship with the deceased appears clearly.

05

Come back for the certificate

The certificate or multilingual extract is not always issued on the spot. You need to come back for it in 2-14 days, to the same office, with your passport and the little receipt which you have been given when depositing the documents.

06

Apostille or Legalize your certificate

The birth, marriage or death record which you have obtained is not valid in most countries without an Apostille, or a Legalization. Please check the Apostille & Legalization page to find out which one you need and how to get it.

Note! Multilingual extracts do not need either Apostille, or Legalization. If the country where you need them is in the list, you should request a Multilingual Extract in lieu of the certificate. To see the list of countries where they are accepted, click here (look at Convention no. 16).

07

An alternative: going through the Romanian Embassy / Consulate General

Romanian civil status records can also be obtained through the Romanian Embassies and Career Consulates (not through the honorary consulates), if you speak Romanian and are able to make a pre-appointment via the www.econsulat.ro portal. The duration of the request is about 3 months until the Consulate returns with your papers. Also, complex requests (for example, if you changed your name abroad and did not transcribe the change in Romania) cannot be processed via the Consulates.