🏛️ Company formation

Apostille & Sworn Translation for Romania (2026 Guide)

When you form a Romanian company from abroad, your foreign documents usually can’t be used as-is. They typically need an apostille (or legalisation) and a sworn translation into Romanian before the Trade Register (ONRC) will accept them. Here’s what that means in practice.

Apostille vs legalisation

An apostille is an internationally recognised certificate that confirms a public document (or a notarised signature) is genuine. It exists because of the Hague Apostille Convention:

• If your country is in the Convention, documents get a single apostille stamp from the designated authority — fast and standardised.
• If your country is not, you go through consular legalisation instead, which involves your foreign ministry and the Romanian embassy/consulate — more steps and more time.

Either way, the goal is the same: making your home-country document legally usable in Romania.

Sworn (authorised) translation

Romanian authorities work in Romanian, so most foreign-language documents also need a sworn translation — a translation done by an authorised translator and, often, notarised. This commonly applies to your power of attorney, passport pages and any corporate documents if a foreign company is the shareholder.

Which documents are usually affected

• A power of attorney signed abroad (almost always apostilled + translated).
• Corporate documents when the founder is a foreign company (e.g. certificate of incorporation).
• Occasionally, identity or status documents requested for a specific filing or for your NIF tax ID.

A passport copy on its own is often enough without translation, but this depends on the filing — which is exactly why it pays to confirm the list before you start spending on stamps.

Note: apostille, legalisation and translation requirements depend on your country and on what ONRC/ANAF ask for at the time, and they change. Confirm the exact set of documents with us before legalising anything — it avoids paying twice.

How we handle it

We tell you precisely which documents need an apostille or legalisation and which need a sworn translation, then coordinate the Romanian-side translation and filing. These costs are always shown at cost, separately from our flat fee — see pricing. It’s part of forming your company remotely, without surprises.

Ready to begin?

Document legalisation is where many DIY attempts stall. Start your formation and we’ll give you an exact, country-specific checklist so nothing gets rejected at the Trade Register.