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

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

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

The issuance of the apostille is free of charge and is carried out by the prefecture institution in the county where:

• the holder of the document 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 prefecture institution. ​Documents to be apostilled must be brought in original to the institution's headquarters.