The Apostille is a stamp or a certificate issued by the competent authorities of a state that is a signatory to the Hague Convention, for official documents drawn up in that country, which are to be presented in the territory of another state signatory to the Convention.

The purpose of issuing the Apostille is to authenticate the origin of an official document, to prevent the use of false documents with the aim of producing legal effects.

The procedure for issuing the Apostille for official administrative documents issued by central or local public administration authorities, as well as by other administrative authority bodies in Romania, which organize a public interest activity within strict competences established by law, is carried out through the apostille office organized within the prefect institutions.

The issuance of the Apostille is free of charge and is performed by the prefect institution in the county where:

• the document holder or their spouse or a relative up to the second degree has their domicile/last domicile;

or

• the issuer of the document has its headquarters.

By exception, criminal record certificates and civil status certificates can be apostilled at any prefect institution.