Registering a foreign marriage in Romania (transcription): documents and deadline
Married abroad as a Romanian citizen? How to transcribe the marriage into the Romanian registers: the 6-month deadline, where to apply, documents, apostille, your name and what comes next.
- Romanian citizens who marry abroad must transcribe the marriage within 6 months of its registration there, or face a fine of 100-500 lei.
- You can apply at any Romanian city hall or at a Romanian consulate, not only where you are domiciled.
- Certificates from other EU countries need no apostille since 2019, and the EU multilingual standard form can replace the translation.
- If the foreign certificate does not show your married name, you will be asked for a declaration of the chosen name.
- Only with the Romanian marriage certificate can you change your Romanian ID card and other documents.
If you are a Romanian citizen and married in another country, Romanian law requires the marriage to be transcribed into the Romanian civil registers within 6 months of its registration abroad. You file the foreign certificate, with a certified translation and, for non-EU countries, an apostille, at any Romanian city hall or at a Romanian consulate. You then receive a Romanian marriage certificate.
This guide is for Romanians living abroad who married where they live, couples who held their civil ceremony at a destination wedding, and international couples where one partner is Romanian. The rules were checked on 24 October 2026 against Law 119/1996 on civil status records, as amended up to July 2026. The exact document list varies slightly between city halls and consulates, so check with the one you use.
Why transcription is mandatory
A marriage certificate issued abroad proves a Romanian citizen's civil status in Romania only once it has been transcribed (Article 41(1) of Law 119/1996). Until then, for the Romanian state, you are not married: you cannot get a Romanian ID card in your married name or rely on the marriage with a Romanian notary, bank or in an inheritance.
Missing the deadline carries a fine of 100-500 lei (about €20-100) under Article 63 of the same law, and you still have to transcribe.
The 6-month deadline
Apply within 6 months of the date the marriage was registered by the foreign authority (Article 41(2)). Older guides, including some city hall pages, say "6 months from returning to Romania". The law in force counts from registration abroad.
You married in Lisbon on 18 September 2027 and the marriage was registered the same day. Apply by 18 March 2028. If you want a new ID card before summer, apply early, since approval takes time.
Where to apply
Two options (Article 41(3) and (3^1)):
- In Romania: at any civil status office or city hall, not necessarily where you are domiciled.
- Abroad: at the Romanian embassy or consulate in the country where you live.
Either way, transcription needs the mayor's approval and the opinion of the county population records service, so it is not done on the spot. Times vary. Some city halls offer a paid urgent service: Petrila, for example, charges 215 lei (about €42) in 2026 for transcription within 10 working days (fee list).
Documents
A typical list, from the guide published by Piatra-Neamț city hall. Ask your city hall or consulate whether they need anything else.
| Document | What to know |
|---|---|
| Foreign marriage certificate, original | from outside the EU, with an apostille (or legalisation, for countries outside the Hague Convention) |
| Certified translation into Romanian | from an EU country, ask for the EU multilingual standard form, which can replace the translation |
| Romanian birth certificates of the spouses | originals, plus copies |
| ID of both spouses | valid ID card or passport |
| Declaration of married name | only if the foreign certificate does not show the name used after marriage; usually made before a notary |
| Proof of an earlier divorce | only if one of you was married before |
| Notarised power of attorney | only if someone else files for you |
No apostille within the EU. Since 16 February 2019, public documents on birth, marriage and name circulate between EU countries without an apostille under Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 (European e-Justice Portal). A certificate from Spain, Germany or Portugal needs no apostille in Romania.
Your name after a marriage abroad
This is where most surprises happen. In some countries names do not change on marriage or the married name is not on the certificate; Spain, for example, keeps each spouse's name. If your certificate does not show the name you use after marriage, the city hall will ask for a declaration of the chosen name, which then appears on the Romanian certificate and your ID card. Decide in advance which name you want on Romanian documents.
Step by step
- After the ceremony, get the marriage certificate from the foreign authority (plus the EU multilingual form in an EU country, or the apostille outside the EU).
- Get a certified translation, unless you have the multilingual form.
- File at a Romanian city hall or consulate, in person or through a power of attorney.
- Wait for approval and collect the Romanian marriage certificate.
- Change your ID card straight away, within 15 days, if you changed your name: see the Romanian ID card after marriage.
- Update the rest: passport, licence, car, bank. The full list is in changing your name after marriage in Romania.
If you live abroad and will not be in Romania soon, file at the consulate, or give a notarised power of attorney to a relative in Romania who can file at any city hall.
What it costs
Transcription itself has no stamp duty, as civil status stamp duties were abolished in 2016. You may pay for:
- a certified translation (translator and notary), unless you have the multilingual form;
- an apostille in the issuing country, if outside the EU;
- a notary, for the name declaration or power of attorney;
- an urgent service, where the city hall offers one.
If your partner is not Romanian
Transcription is done for the Romanian spouse, even if the other is not Romanian. The Romanian certificate then supports the foreign partner's separate application for the right to live in Romania, made to the General Inspectorate for Immigration.
If you have not married yet and are choosing between abroad and Romania, see civil marriage in Romania. Many diaspora couples marry where they live and hold the wedding party back home with family; a wedding website with RSVPs keeps guests in both countries in the loop.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, if you are a Romanian citizen. A marriage certificate issued abroad proves your civil status in Romania only once it has been transcribed (Article 41 of Law 119/1996). Without it you cannot get a Romanian ID card in your married name.
6 months from the date the foreign authority registered the marriage. Missing it carries a fine of 100-500 lei, and you still have to transcribe.
At any civil status office or city hall in Romania, not only where you are domiciled, or at the Romanian embassy or consulate in the country where you live.
Not if it comes from an EU country: since February 2019 civil status documents circulate between member states without an apostille. From outside the EU you need an apostille or, for countries outside the Hague Convention, legalisation.
