How to register a marriage or birth

Documents required for marriage in Romania between a British and a Romanian citizen

Passport
Birth Certificate** translated into Romanian and legalised by a Romanian Notary Public. The birth certificate should contain the name and surname, date and place of birth and name and surname of parents. If the certificate does not contain these details, it can be replaced with a declaration signed by the applicant, with the missing details. This declaration should be translated into Romanian and legalised by a Notary Public
Prenuptial Medical Certificate. This can only be obtained in Romania from any state or authorised private clinic
Divorce certificate or death certificate** (if widowed), translated into Romanian and legalised by a Romanian Public Notary
A certificate of No Impediment issued by the British Embassy in Bucharest in the Romanian language. This is confirmation that you are free to marry.

- If you are not resident in Romania, a certificate of No Impediment must be obtained from the Registry Office in the district you are resident in the UK. On the ground of this certificate a Romanian version must be obtained at the British Embassy in Bucharest, for a fee of £63 (equivalent in lei), payable only in cash.

- If you have been resident in Romania for more than 21 days then you can obtain the certificate from the British Embassy in Bucharest, at a cost of £126 in the local currency. This will then take a further 21 days to issue.

We recommend that the applications be submitted to the marriage office at least 14 days prior to the intended marriage.

** All original documents from the UK will need to have an 'Apostille' under the Hague Convention attached to them. This should be done through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Legalisation Department , London.

NB: The information on this website on marrying or entering into a civil partnership in Romania is provided as a general guide and is based upon information provided to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office by the relevant local authorities. The information on this website is therefore only up to date and accurate to the extent that such authorities provide us with timely and accurate information. Accordingly the Foreign & Commonwealth Office does not guarantee that this information is accurate and will not be liable for any inaccuracies in this information. British nationals wishing to obtain information about marriage or civil partnership must also contact the relevant local authority to be sure of the requirements that they need in order for their ceremony to go ahead.

Registering a birth

If your child is born outside the UK you can register the birth with the nearest consulate or with our consular department in London if you’ve returned to the UK. You don’t have to do this, but if you do your child will be given a British style birth certificate and the birth will be registered at the General Registry Office in the UK.

We recommend consular birth registration because it means you’ll be able to get extra copies of the certificate from the General Registry Office in the future.

Before applying for consular birth registration

You won’t be able to register the birth with your local registry office in the UK so you’ll need to register the birth with the local civil authorities and obtain a birth certificate from them.

Exceptions

Please note that we can’t register births which occurred in the following countries:

Australia
Canada
New Zealand
Republic of Ireland
South Africa
Overseas Territories

The standard of registration in these countries is similar to that of the UK. We also can’t register a birth if the parents were born overseas and are only British by descent. Nor can we register the birth of a non-British child who has been adopted by British parents.

What documents do we need to provide?

To register a birth a consulate or with the consular department in London you will need to provide:

child’s civil overseas birth certificate
mother’s full British birth certificate (or Home Office naturalisation or registration certificate if born outside of the UK)
father’s full British birth certificate (or Home Office naturalisation or registration certificate if born outside of the UK)
parent’s marriage certificate
British Passport.

We’ll need to see the original documents and two legible photocopies of each.

We can accept a certified copy of your passport but the bio-data page will need to be certified by a UK Solicitor or a notary public registered with the Law Society.

If you and your spouse are not married

If you are a British man and your child’s mother is foreign you can only apply for a Consular birth registration if the child was born on or after 1 July 2006. If you are an unmarried women who has had a child abroad and you would like the father’s details recorded on the certificate, you will need to swear Statutory Paternity Declarations.

How much does it cost?

The current fee for this service, whether in London or at the Consulate abroad is £161. In Bucharest payment of this fee can only be accepted in Lei, in cash. If you would like more than one copy of the certificate each additional certificate will cost £63. The fees are closely regulated by parliament and cover the cost of administration.

Registering at a consulate overseas

You should consult the website of the relevant consulate for information on processing times and other information. You can find an embassy or consulate using the search facility to the right.

Registering at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London

We can't accept personal callers at our London office so we recommend you post your documents to us by recorded or special delivery.

First you'll need to download and complete the registration form .

Please include a stamped addressed special or recorded delivery envelope so we can return your documents to you. We’ll return your documents to you within 10 working days. And you should receive the Consular certificate within 4 to 6 weeks.

Obtaining copies of the certificate in the future

You’ll be able to obtain certified copies of the certificate from the General Registry Office one year after registration. If you need a copy before then you should submit a request to us which we’ll forward to the relevant British embassy.

UK in Romania