How to get Married in Romania – Step by Step Guide with Pictures

If you are a foreign citizen, or a dual citizen of Romania and another country, and want to find out how to get married in Romania to a Romanian partner, then there are a number of things you must learn in order to make your marriage possible and legally valid.

Like most things in Romania, there is a fair amount of bureaucracy and red tape you must go through in order to be able to have a successful and legally binding marriage. Luckily, we’ve covered everything you need to learn in this guide so that your marriage will be as effortless as possible.

It’s important that you read this guide thoroughly ahead of time so you can learn as much as possible about how to get married in Romania and the potential pitfalls you may encounter. Being well prepared and knowing what to expect ahead of time will ensure you that you can spend more time planning your wedding than dealing with government bureaucracy.

Get Married in Romania – Table of Contents

• How to Get Married in Romania Overview
• Step 1 – Establish an Administrative Unit
• Step 2 – Gather Required Documents
• Step 3 – Find an Interpreter
• Step 4 – The Medical Process
• Step 5 – Fill out Marriage Declaration
• Step 6 – Submit Documents and Wait 10 Days
• Step 7 – The Civil Ceremony
• Step 8 – The Religious Ceremony
• How to Get Married in Romania – Resources

How to Get Married in Romania Overview

Romania’s marriage law is based on the civil law system according to Romania’s constitution. This means that civil marriage, done through the city hall, is the only recognized binding form of marriage. Religious marriages are not recognized as legally binding.

After you’ve obtained a marriage certificate from the city hall in the area in Romania where you plan on marrying, then, and only then, can you perform any religious ceremony for your wedding. Romanian law is very strict on this notion and will lawfully punish any priest or church leader who performs a marriage without first having a legal marriage certificate in their possession.

Before reading further and finding out everything you need to know on how to get married in Romania, you must first find out the qualifications required to get married in Romania.

The qualifications that need to be met in order to be able to get married in Romania are as follows:

• Both future spouses must at least be 18 years old and of sound mind.
• At least one of the future spouses needs to be a Romanian citizen with a Romanian domicile, or have a temporary residence card if they are Romanian citizens who are domiciled abroad.
• Both future spouses must either be single, divorced, or widowed.

Step 1 – Establish an Administrative Unit

The majority of the bureaucracy a couple who wants to find out how to get married in Romania will have to deal with will come from the city hall (known as a Primăria) that they will use to obtain their marriage certificate. In order for a Romanian city hall to process documents and issue a marriage certificate, one of the future spouses must be a resident of the city, commune, town, or municipality where the city hall is located.

Romanian has over 2,700 city halls that cover the entire country, so odds are the Romanian spouse you wish to marry is located very close to a city hall that you can use for your marriage procedure. In the case that you wish to marry in a different region of the country where neither you nor your Romanian spouse-to-be has residency, a transfer of residency to your desired location would first need to be fulfilled.

Here is a complete list of all the local administrative units of Romania, you can use this list or by doing a google search of the area you plan on marrying and the word “Primăria” to find the ones in that area. Example Search: “Primăria Timisoara”. After you’ve established the city hall you will use for your marriage, you can continue reading the next steps on how to get married in Romania.

Step 2 – Gather Required Documents

After you’ve chosen the city hall you and your future spouse will use for your civil ceremony and have spoken with and provided them a date you wish to get married, you will then need to begin to gather the necessary documents needed. It’s best practice to have at least 2 or 3 photocopies of each document, as well as to have the originals in your possession when possible.

The documents will need to be compiled together into a dossier and submitted in person at the city hall. Certain types of documents will need to be filed by both individuals, other documents will be unique to each person.

The Romanian Citizen

The future spouse who is the Romanian citizen will need to provide the following:

• National Romanian Identity Card (Bulletin) or Passport (if domiciled abroad).

The Foreign Citizen

• If a European Union State Member: National ID card or Passport.
• If from: Liechtenstein, Iceland, or Norway: National ID card or Passport.
• Every other country: A passport with a valid visa, the visa will also need to be valid (unexpired) on the projected date of the marriage.
• Certificate of No Impediment (Certificat de Cutuma) – This is a declaration you need to obtain from your country’s embassy in Romania, that states that you are legally not barred from being married and can freely do so.

Both Individuals

• A Timbru Fiscal receipt for 2 LEI, paid at a local DGITL tax/post office.
• Marriage Declaration – Obtained from the city hall and to be completed by you.
• Birth Certificate – Original and copy.
• Medical Certificate – Issued by a Romanian general practitioner that states you are physically healthy for the marriage. This document is only valid for 14 days and so must be submitted within 14 days of receiving it.

If Previously Married

If either, or both, have been previously married they must provide:

• Definitive Divorce Sentence – Stamped by the court which issued the divorce.
• Previous marriage certificate.
• Death certificate of the previous partner if widowed.

Note: Any foreign documents which will be submitted to the Romanian city hall will first need to be translated into Romanian unless they are Multilingual Extract documents.

Translations will also need an apostille (from the originating country) if coming from any country other than the following countries which are exempt of needing an apostille due to bilateral treaties: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Cuba, North Korea, France.

For the following countries, an apostille may, or may not be required, it’s best to check with the country’s embassy in Romania for further information: Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Macedonia.

After a document has the apostille and is translated, it must be legalized at a notary.

Step 3 – Find an Interpreter

If the foreign individual who plans to marry a Romanian in Romania does not speak the Romanian language, then he must be accompanied by an authorized legal interpreter both, when filing the marriage declaration, as well as on the day of the marriage.

To find a Romanian Interpreter to hire visit the list of Romanian interpreters and search under “Limbi” (Language) and Judet (County) to find and contact one in your area who speaks your foreign language. The cost should be about 100 lei.

After you’ve found an interpreter, contact them and let them know you wish to hire them to be present for the filing of your marriage declaration, and for the day of the marriage. Make sure the interpreter will be free on both dates if you chose to use the same interpreter for each event.

Step 4 – The Medical Process

When researching how to get married in Romania you might be surprised to discover that Romania requires both future spouses to first have a blood test done, and second, to have it certified by a qualified medic. In the past, this blood test checked for many different diseases but as it currently stands, after many changes to the law, that the test currently only checks each partner to find out if they have syphilis. A few administrative units might (although not required by law) ask that an HIV test also is done.

The blood test can be done at any clinic which does “analize medicale” medical analysis. To have the blood test done you can either make an online, or phone appointment at your preferred clinic or simply do a walk-in appointment at the clinic and wait in-line. Tell the receptionist that you want to have a civil marriage ceremony medical analysis done (analize medicale pentru cununie civila). The cost is around 20 to 40 LEI.

*Important you have to have the blood test done no longer than 14 days before the date you have your civil ceremony scheduled at the city hall. The blood test results (know as the “buletin de analize”) are only valid for 14 days after having them done.

Your next step after you have the medical exams is to take them to your future spouses family doctor to have both of them certified. If neither you nor your future spouse has a family doctor in Romania, you can ask the clinic that did the blood test where you can take them to get them certified. The certification is also known as getting a “certificat medical prenuptial” (Prenuptial Medical Certificate). The price ranges from 40 to 120 LEI for the certification, family doctors being the ones offering the cheapest option.

*Important after the medical doctor certifies your blood results, you only have 24 hours to get the certification to the city-hall that you are using for your marriage. The certification is only valid for 24 hours. It is in your best interest to get the certification done at a time and place that will provide you with enough time to get them to the city-hall within the 24 hours.

Step 5 – Fill out Marriage Declaration

A guide on how to get married in Romania wouldn’t be complete without detailing the unique intricacies and options available for future spouses so we cover them all in great detail below.

When filling out the marriage deceleration, you will have different options to select for various categories. Pay close attention to the options, and what you will select, as some choices might be hard to change at a later date if you ever wish to do so.

Surnames of Spouses

When choosing the surname (Last Name) you and your spouse wish to be known by after your marriage, you have various options.

• The wife can take the husband’s last name, or the husband can take the wife’s last name
• Both husband and wife can keep their original last names
• Both spouses can have both surnames hyphened, example, Roberts-Johnson
• One spouse keeps their original surname, the other spouse takes on a hyphened joined last name

Note: The spouse(s) who change their surnames will have to obtain new personal documents, their previous ID Card, Passport, Drivers License, Credit Card, etc. will no longer be valid.

Matrimonial Regime

The matrimonial regime is the agreed upon terms that will establish the division of assets, debts, and property of two individuals whose marriage later ends in divorce. There are 3 different options to select which have different governing rules that will be used if a divorce occurs.

Even though there are different matrimonial regimes in Romania with different rules, all have some rules which are universal, the universal rules are as follows:

• Each spouse has economic autonomy, meaning, a spouse cannot be forced to work and cannot be prohibited from owning a bank account.
• Each spouse can regularly request to know the financial situation of the other, including the owning of bank accounts, property, and other assets.
• If there are children in the family, a home cannot be sold by either spouse without both spouses consenting to the sale of the home, regardless of who owns the home.

Matrimonial Regime Options

The matrimonial regime you select will only be binding if you and your spouse decide to reside in Romania after you are married. If you relocate abroad any time after your marriage, the matrimonial regime you selected will transfer to the default matrimonial regime of the country which you move to.

If either spouse is a dual citizen of Romania, and another country, then the spouse with the citizenship of the other country can opt to, while living in Romania, be governed by the marriage regime AND/OR marriage laws of either Romania OR, the other country of which they have citizenship in.

The matrimonial regime you and your spouse wish to use must be selected at the time you submit the marriage declaration. If choosing any regime other than the default, you must first, in advance, make a matrimonial contract at a Romanian Notary Public. If choosing the default regime, selecting it on the marriage declaration will suffice.

You can change your matrimonial regime anytime you choose to do so by visiting a Romanian Notary Public and making or altering the regime contract.

Community of Property Regime – Default

The community of property matrimonial regime is the default option and most used regime. It states:

• Assets that each spouse owned before marriage, remain as individual assets of the respective spouse.
• All assets acquired with consideration during the marriage become shared assets. The percentage share of the asset will be calculated during divorce proceedings, with whoever contributed (and proves it) the most to the asset being issued the majority share of the asset.
• All assets acquired without consideration (such as gifts) belong to the spouse who acquired it.

Conventional Community Regime

The conventional community is similar to the community of property regime, it differs in that it allows for the ability of great flexibility in setting the rules. It allows you to decided that certain assets, or classes of assets, such as a property, or properties in general, remain individually owned.

You can also determine that shared assets have a pre-determined share, such as 50-50 or 60-40. There are many possibilities and a great level of complexity can be used in setting up the rules.

Separation of Assets Regime

The separation of assets regime is the one which gives the biggest amount of individual rights to each spouse. The rules are as follows:

• Assets that each spouse owned before marriage, remain as individual assets of the respective spouse.
• Assets which are acquired during the marriage are also owned individually by the spouse who acquired them.
• Assets which are acquired together are acquired with pre-determined shares so that each spouse knows at all times how much of the asset they own.

Step 6 – Submit Documents and Wait 10 Days

You’ve now completed the most important steps on how to get married in Romania. Your next step after you’ve gathered all the required documents and filled out your marriage declaration is to submit them in person to the city hall you’ve chosen. After submitting the documents, you must wait 10 days, including the day you submitted, before you can legally be married.

The 10-day waiting period is to give the city hall time to publish your, and your spouses, names and birthdays either online or on a local bulletin board with the information that you two intend to wed. This allows anyone who has an objection to your marriage (such as a secret spouse) to object to the marriage. Objections rarely if ever happen.

Step 7 – The Civil Ceremony

After the 10-day wedding period, you have 4 days to show up at the city hall to conduct the civil marriage ceremony and be legally married. The civil ceremony is straight-forward, you will need to show up with identity documents and 2 legal witnesses. The witness can be anyone 18 years and older.

The process will go as follows:

• You and your future spouse enter a designated room at the city hall with any accompanying friends and family you invite, along with your 2 witnesses.
• You, the future spouse, and the two witnesses will provide your identification documents.
• The mayor or deputy will ask of you and your partner if you freely, not by force, wish to enter into the marriage with the other person (if you don’t speak Romanian the interpreter will translate the words to you).
• You and your spouse (or through the interpreter) will say your “I Dos”
• The mayor will then read off the appropriate section of the Romanian constitution and civil code dealing with marriages and family life.
• The mayor will then proclaim you officially married.
• You, your spouse, and the witnesses will then sign the marriage register and you will be issued your marriage certificate.
• If the Romanian citizen in the marriage changed their surname, their identification card will then be destroyed by being cut with scissors.
• Typically after the issuance of the marriage certificate, the guests are served with pastries and soda (if you and your spouse paid for and brought them to the ceremony to pass out to guests) it is also customary to leave soda and pastries for staff members in the city hall.

Step 8 – The Religious Ceremony

Romania is a country with a diverse amount of religious and churches. Odds are that if you plan on getting married to a Romanian citizen that they will want to have a religious ceremony in their church after the civil marriage.

Although this is a complete guide on how to get married in Romania, because each religion and each individual prefers to have their religious ceremony conducted in their own way, this guide will not provide details of the very many options, rules, and customs that are possible in this regard. It is up to you and your spouse to discuss this step and decide on how your wedding will play out.

We thank you for reading and wish you the best of luck in your marriage plans and future with your new spouse. As always, if you have any questions after reading this guide, leave us a comment and we will help clarify or point you in the direction of further information.

Best Wishes!

How to Get Married in Romania – Resources

For more information on marriage in Romania visit the below resources.

U.S. Embassy in Romania – Info
CR1 or IR1 Spouse Visa Guide
K-1 Fiance Visa Guide