APOSTILLE/ SUPERLEGALIZATION
APOSTILLE
SUPERLEGALIZATION
Apostille
An apostille is called a resolution on a petition, on a request, on a report, in general on an official act.
The Apostille of the Hague (Apostille – Convention de la Haye du 5 Octobre 1961) has the form of a square stamp which is applied directly to the official act or to its annex and it contains the same information in all signatory states of the Hague Convention. By applying the Apostille, the origin of the official act is authenticated, being recognized by all signatory states without further super legalization formalities. We can handle the apostillation of your documents!
So far, 83 States have joined the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on simplifying the superallegalization procedure of acts to be used abroad. You can consult them here.
Romania joined the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on 16 March 2001 and the Republic of Moldova on 16 March 2007.
Starting from 1 September 2005, the apostillation of documents is made by the specialized offices of the Prefectures and Tribunals of the respective county.
Any document on which the apostille of the Hague Convention has been applied to is automatically recognized for use, without further requirements, in any of the other signatory countries.
For States that have not joined the Hague Convention the super legalization procedure will be made by obtaining approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and, where possible, by the Consulate in Bucharest of the respective country.
If in the destination state it is necessary to present the translation done in the issuing state, the acts, after applying the original apostille, shall be translated into the language of the country of destination by an authorised translator, including the apostille, after which the signature of the translator is legalized by a notary, and finally the Apostille is applied on the legalized translation.
Superlegalization
Superlegalization is the procedure carried out by the competent authorities of Romania, certifying, for states that do not have the quality of being in the Hague Convention or with which Romania does not have bilateral treaties for the mutual recognition of acts, the fact that the notarial act subject to this procedure is an official act, the veracity of the signature, the quality in which the signatory of the act has acted and the identity of the seal or stamp on that act.
In Romania, superlegalization is a different procedure from Apostille under the Hague Convention. The Convention intended to suppress the requirement of superlegalization of foreign official acts, concluded on 5 October 1961. The signatory states of this Convention, wishing to eliminate the requirement of diplomatic or consular superlegalization of foreign official acts, decided to conclude a convention in that regard.
Acts and documents that can be superlegalized are original acts, legalized copies and certified translations thereof. Some documents need to obtain approval from the competent authority before being superlegalized.
Acts and documents which cannot be superlegalized
Acts to be used in states which are part of the Hague Convention (Apostille Convention). These documents must be apostilled, and not superlegalized.
Acts issued by diplomatic missions or consular offices of Romania abroad.
Acts and documents issued by other states cannot be superlegalized. They will only be superlegalized in the issuing states. In Romania, only the acts issued by Romania can be superlegalized.
Acts and documents which require prior approval by the competent authorities before being superlegalized cannot be superlegalized.
The original acts or those translated by the Register Office (birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate) in old format (issued before 1998) cannot be superlegalized. They need to be changed by the competent authorities.
Acts and documents that are exempt from superlegalization
The civil registry certificates, as well as any other documents issued by the diplomatic agents of Romania (whereas, by Law 114/2011, Romania ratified the European Convention on the Abolition of Legalisation of Documents executed by Diplomatic Agents or Consular Officers, adopted in London, on June 7, 1968, which, in art.3 establishes that “Each Contracting Party shall exempt from legalization documents to which this Convention applies”).
The acts and documents that will be used in the countries / states with which Romania has concluded bilateral treaties or conventions of legal assistance in civil matters that provide for the exemption of superlegalization or apostille. However, if one of the countries so requests, apostille or superlegalization must be applied. See the list of Countries / States for which there is no need for apostille or superlegalization.
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