Apostille or Legalisation for Romania From Australia

An Australian document for Romania takes a DFAT apostille, not embassy legalisation: as of our last check, the Convention has been in force for Romania since 16 March 2001. Check the HCCH status table on the day. Two Romanian rules matter more: some powers of attorney must be made at a Romanian consulate, and a marriage transcription needs two apostilles.

Key takeaways

• Romania is an Apostille Convention country, so a DFAT apostille replaces consular legalisation for documents within the Convention's scope.
• For Romanian citizens, the embassy's guidance said powers of attorney to sell, buy or deal with an inheritance can be used in Romania only if made at a Romanian consulate. An Australian notary cannot stand in for that.
• Other declarations, such as a pension power of attorney or a child travel consent, can be signed before an Australian notary, in Romanian, and then apostilled.
• Registering an Australian marriage in Romania, when we last checked, needed the certificate apostilled, a NAATI translation, and the translation apostilled too.
• Earlier name changes, marriages or divorces must be recorded in Romania before a later marriage can be.

Romania and the Apostille Convention

The HCCH status table records Romania's accession on 7 June 2000, with the Convention in force from 16 March 2001, and a declaration lodged with it. Australia has been a party since 1995, so between the two countries a document within the Convention's scope needs one certificate from Australia. When we last checked, the Romanian Embassy in Canberra confirmed that public documents from one Convention country, including documents executed before a notary, are recognised in another once they carry an apostille, and pointed to DFAT as the Australian authority. Confirm on the table the day you start.

An apostille is a certificate from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirming the signature and seal on an Australian public document, such as a registry certificate or a notary's certificate. It says nothing about whether the contents are true. Only DFAT issues apostilles in Australia; a notary cannot. For the wider picture, see how the Hague Apostille Convention works.

Australian registry certificates and court documents, including divorce orders, usually go to DFAT directly without a notary. DFAT's page on documents it can legalise lists what it accepts as originals.

Romanian consulates in Australia

When we last checked, the embassy said its own consular section in Canberra was closed. Consular work was done by the Consulate in Melbourne and the Consulate General in Sydney, each covering a group of states and territories, with requests made online through the Romanian eConsulat portal and every service by appointment. The embassy also said the consulates do not translate documents. Check the embassy's current page for which consulate covers where you live, because arrangements like these change.

Powers of attorney: consulate or Australian notary

This is the point on which Romania differs most from other Convention countries, and the one where people lose the most time. The embassy's page on powers of attorney and notarial acts divided them into two groups.

Only a Romanian consulate will do. The embassy said certain powers of attorney and declarations made by Romanian citizens could be used in Romania only if authenticated by a Romanian consulate. Its list was: powers of attorney for succession; declarations accepting or renouncing an inheritance; powers of attorney to sell; powers of attorney to buy; and revocations of powers of attorney. For these you attend the consulate in person with valid Romanian identity, although a foreign passport could be used if your Romanian documents had expired. The document had to be in Romanian and state exactly what the attorney may do. The embassy said a driver licence, Medicare card or proof-of-age card was not acceptable identification, and that it could not authenticate powers of attorney by post.

An Australian notary can do it. For notarial acts that do not transfer ownership of property in Romania, the embassy's examples were a pension power of attorney, a power of attorney to renew a bank card, and a declaration allowing a child to travel. For these you can sign before a notary in Australia, in Romanian, and then obtain a DFAT apostille. The embassy said a document apostilled this way is valid in Romania without further formality, but that anything written in another language must be translated into Romanian before Romanian authorities will act on it.

The embassy also said the consulates could not handle contracts, gifts or other dispositions of property, wills, or court proceedings. For those, and whenever you are unsure which group your document belongs to, ask a Romanian lawyer or notary before you sign anything in Australia. If the matter also touches property or an estate in Australia, see an Australian solicitor as well.

Signing a Romanian document before an Australian notary

If your document falls into the second group, the Australian steps are short, but the language needs thought.

1. Get the Romanian text from the Romanian lawyer, notary or institution, stating exactly what the attorney may do.
2. Tell the notary in advance that the document is in Romanian. A notary must be satisfied that you understand what you sign; if you do not read Romanian well, arrange a translation or a bilingual version first.
3. Sign before the notary with your passport. Do not sign beforehand. The notary checks your identity and that you are signing freely, witnesses your signature and attaches a notarial certificate.
4. DFAT apostille on the notary's certificate.
5. Send the original to Romania. A scan is rarely enough.

The notarial certificate is usually in English. Ask the Romanian recipient whether it wants the certificate and apostille translated into Romanian, since the embassy's guidance required translation of anything not in Romanian. Our power of attorney and declarations page explains the witnessing side.

Registering an Australian marriage in Romania

When we last checked, the embassy said Romanian citizens are legally required to register civil status events that happen abroad. An Australian marriage is registered, or transcribed, through a Romanian consulate, which results in a Romanian marriage certificate. The Romanian spouse applies, and the page said both spouses had to attend for more recent marriages; check the current rule on the embassy's page.

The chain the embassy set out was precise. First, DFAT apostilles the Australian marriage certificate. Second, a translator credentialled by NAATI translates the apostilled certificate, apostille included, into Romanian. Third, the translation itself goes to DFAT for its own apostille. The consulate then asked for the original apostilled certificate, the apostilled translation, both spouses' identity documents and, where needed, proof of Romanian citizenship.

Two practical notes. Use the standard certificate issued by the state or territory registry, not the decorative certificate handed over at the ceremony, because DFAT will not apostille a ceremonial or commemorative marriage certificate, nor a laminated one. And tell the translator the translation is for DFAT, so that it carries the translator's name, signature, NAATI seal and date on every page. Our NAATI translation with notary page explains how translation and certification fit together.

Earlier changes come first. The embassy said the marriage can be registered only once the Romanian spouse's Romanian records show every change in civil status. If you changed your name abroad, or had an earlier marriage and divorce that were never recorded in Romania, those must be registered first, each with its own apostilled documents and apostilled translations. An Australian divorce order is a court document, so it goes to DFAT directly. Check your Romanian birth certificate before you start; it shows what Romania already knows.

Documents commonly needed for Romania

Document	Typical use in Romania	Australian route
Marriage certificate	Transcription on the Romanian record	DFAT apostille, NAATI translation, apostille on the translation
Birth certificate of a child born in Australia	Transcription, Romanian identity documents	Registry original to DFAT, then a translation the consulate accepts
Divorce order	Recording the divorce before a new marriage	Court document to DFAT directly, then translation
Power of attorney to sell or inherit	Property and succession	Romanian consulate only, on the embassy's guidance
Pension or bank power of attorney	Administrative matters	Signed in Romanian before a notary, then DFAT apostille
Child travel consent	A child travelling with one parent	Signed before a notary, then DFAT apostille

For a child's birth, ask the consulate what it currently wants; the pattern for a marriage, with an apostilled translation, is a sensible guess but not a substitute for its list.

Coming the other way

A Romanian document for use in Australia is apostilled in Romania, not by DFAT, and an Australian notary cannot vouch for what a Romanian registry issued. For an Australian visa, Home Affairs usually wants a certified copy rather than an apostille, with a translation of anything not in English: made in Australia by a NAATI-credentialled translator, or made overseas with the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications. See documents from overseas for use in Australia.

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A Romanian-born woman in Adelaide needs two things: her brother to collect her late father's pension arrears, and her share of the family house near Cluj sold. The Romanian notary's office sends a pension power of attorney in Romanian, which she signs before a notary in Adelaide and sends to DFAT for an apostille. For the sale, the lawyer explains that the power of attorney to sell must be made at a Romanian consulate, so she books through eConsulat and attends with her Romanian passport. Two documents, two routes.

In short

Romania takes an apostille, on our last check, so consular legalisation is not needed for documents within the Convention's scope. But the consulate is compulsory for Romanian citizens' powers of attorney to sell, buy or inherit, and a marriage transcription needs an apostille on the translation as well as on the certificate. More on the Australian steps is at apostille and authentication.

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Sending documents to Romania? Send us what the Romanian notary or consulate asked for, and we will explain each step before you book.