How to Register a Car in Romania

Registering a car in Romania is one of the most annoying and difficult processes you will have to deal with if you decide to purchase and own a car in the country. From the consistently changing laws and regulations to the long wait periods and bureaucratic nightmares to the rude and uninformed individuals you will deal with, the whole process is a complete disaster.

In fact, the process is so difficult and requires so much bureaucracy that it even sprouted a new market for car registration assistance businesses. The bad news is that since the registration process isn’t the same throughout the country, and things are always changing, even employees of these services don’t always know what is required. If you’re not careful they will mislead you.

Your best bet in successfully registering a car in Romania is to first read this guide from start to finish and then, armed with knowledge, proceed with the outlined steps. It’s worth mentioning that any time during the registration process when dealing with a private business, always be ready to find an alternative if the employees are rude towards you.

Who can Register a Car in Romania?

Anyone is allowed to buy a car in Romania, and many citizens of other EU countries do, but only Romanian citizens or EU citizens with normal residence in Romania can register and own a car in the country. That leaves temporary visitors with a limited amount of options when it comes to vehicle ownership.

An expat living in Romania who wants to own a car in the country can do so through one of two ways. The first option, the expat can go through the process of obtaining Romanian Citizenship or residency, or second, he can have the car registered in the name of a trusted Romanian citizen, such as a friend or spouse.

Although car registration in Romania is limited to citizens and residents, there is some good news. Those living in the Schengen Area can legally drive their Schengen registered car in Romania for up to 6 months before they have to register it in the country. Individuals looking to purchase and export a car from Romania can legally drive it within the country for 30 days.

Help Registering a Car in Romania

As mentioned at the start of the article, car registration in Romania can be so difficult that it sprung up a whole new industry of businesses involved in helping Romanians register their cars. The firms go by the names of “Acte Auto” (auto documents) or inmatriculari auto (auto registration). Many insurance brokers now also bundle Acte Auto services into their offerings.

Acte Auto – Car Registration Help in Romania

Since messing up at a stage in the car registration process by not having a required document, or having documents incorrectly filled out can be costly, the use of an Acte Auto service can be beneficial. To find a business that deals with car registration assistance in your city just search engine the term Acte Auto and city name. Example, Acte Auto Suceava.

The job of an Acte Auto associate is to; review and make sure you have all the required documents, verify that they are properly filled out, find or sell you insurance, and schedule your registration appointment. Unfortunately, not all Acte Auto services are professional and some should be avoided. If you feel the associate you are dealing with is incompetent, you should use a different location.

Step 1 – Obtain Documents from Seller

After reading our car buying guide and finding your perfect vehicle, your next steps are to make the purchase and collect the required documents from the seller. Make sure that seller is willing and ready to provide every document you ask for, ideally, the seller should outline everything they will provide you before you even ask. If for some reason the seller won’t tell you what documents they’ll provide you, you need to ask them.

Romanian Car Registration Documents

The good news is that when you purchase a new or used car from an authorized dealership, the chances that you won’t receive all required documents are virtually non-existent. The bad news is that if you purchase a used car from a private seller if you don’t receive all the documents required for registration, you won’t be able to register it. Even worse, you might have been scammed.

Obtain These Documents from Car Seller in Romania

• Tax Certificate (Certificatul Fiscal) – The certificatul fiscal is a document that states that the seller doesn’t have any debts or lien’s taken out on the car. The certificate is obtained by the seller from the tax office in the jurisdiction where the car is registered.

The certificate must be officially stamped by the tax office, mention that the reason for its request is for the “vanzare auto catre …” (sell of an auto towards buyer’s name), and show that the seller has 0 debts on the car. Make sure the date on the certificate is also current since they’re typically only valid for 30 days from issuance.

• Sales Contract (contractul de vanzare-cumparare auto) – The sales contract will be filled out with information pertaining to the seller, the buyer, and the car. It will contain the seller and buyer’s CNP numbers and addresses, and the car’s brand, year, vin, motor, ID number and sales price.

The contract needs to be signed by both seller and buyer. The contract will state that the seller now leaves the car in your possession (instraineaza masina).

• Certificate of Registration (certificate de inmatriculare, or talon) – The Registration Certificate contains information about the car and the owner. It needs to be signed on the back by the seller. You will provide it with the other documents when registering your car and a new one will be issued to you in the mail.

• Car Identity Card (cartea de identitate a vehiculului) – This document contains information about the car as well as it lists all the previous owners and registration dates. Your information, as the buyer, will be added to the card when you go to register the car.

• Car Alienation Certificate (fisa de inmatriculare auto) – This document will contain more information about the buyer, the seller, and the car. The seller will need the buyer’s information to fill out this document.

The seller will then submit his copy to his city hall in order to remove the car from under his registration. You will also need a copy in order to register the car at your jurisdiction’s city hall or tax office. The copies need to be stamped by the seller’s tax office to be valid.

After you’ve obtained all the above documents you can pay the seller. You then have 30 days to register the car. Unfortunately, the waiting times for appointments at car registration offices can have waiting periods of up to a few months. The good news is that if you carry proof (printed out sheet) of your scheduled appointment for the car registration, you won’t be penalized if you’re stopped by the police.

Step 2 – Declare the Car to your Tax Authority

After you purchase the car and receive the above-mentioned documents from the seller, your next step is to declare the car under your authority at your local tax office. The local tax office means the tax office of the county you have domicile or residence in and where the car will be registered. The tax offices are usually located within your area’s city hall (Primăria).

You have 30 days after the purchase of the car to declare it to the tax authorities or else you can face a steep fine. Take with you all the documents you received from the seller and provide them to the associate you are appointed to. The associate will stamp the Car Alienation Certificate (fisa de inmatriculare auto) and register the car tax requirement under your name.

Step 3 – Purchase Car Insurance

In Romania, car liability insurance (asigurare RCA) is required by law on all vehicles. Unlike some other countries, car insurance in Romania is made on the car using the VIN number (sasiu), not the driver of the car. That means once the car is insured, no matter who drives it, the insurance still covers the driver as long as the car remains insured. A car insurance policy must be for a minimum of 30 days.

RCA Car Insurance Broker in Romania

In order to register your newly purchased car, you must obtain insurance under your name for the car. Car insurance agencies are found all over cities in the country, you can search engine “asigurare masina” to find the ones nearest to you. Prices of car insurance vary by various factors including car type, car age, the age of the driver, driving record in Romania, etc. Big discounts are offered for buying 6 month or yearly plans.

Step 4 – Pay Car Registration Tax

Like just about every other bureaucracy in Romania, you have to pay for the privilege of being able to go through the tortures process. Car registration isn’t any different and you have to pay a fee of about 40 lei (40 Euro) as a tax for your registration certificate (taxa pentru certificatul de inmatriculare auto).

The tax must be paid to either the state treasury in your area (Trezoreriei Statului) or to the vehicle registration and licensing department (DRPCIV) in your area. After you pay the tax you will be issued a receipt that you need to present with all the other documents required to register your car.

Step 5 – Schedule Appointment with the DRPCIV

Your next step is to schedule an online appointment with your county’s General Directorate for Driving Licenses and Car Registration (DRPCIV) office. The website where the appointment is made is based on the county you are in. To find the website where you need to make the appointment you can search engine the terms “DRPCIV” and your city name, as well as, “inmatricularea auto” and city name.

For example, the search engine term “inmatricularea auto suceava” provides me with the city of Suceava’s prefecture website for auto registration appointments. At the time of this writing, I can see that available spots are open 90 days from today. Your best bet is to make an appointment ASAP. DRPCIV offices are often, but not always, located inside city malls.

An alternate way to make an appointment for registering your car with the DRPCIV is on their official website’s booking section. You select your county, and then the service you need. In our case, depending on our need, we would either select “transcriere vehicul inmatriculata in Romania” (transferring car already registered in Romania) or inmatriculare vehicul neinmatriculat in Romania (register car for first time in Romania).

After you make the appointment make sure you print out the confirmation page as you will need to bring it with you when you go to register the car. You should also keep the confirmation page in your car at all times in case you are pulled over and asked why you haven’t registered the car 30 days from purchasing it.

Another way of registering your car is to visit the DRPCIV on your free time and wait in line to see if they will process non-appointments on that day. Many DRPCIV offices do already scheduled appointments up until the last working hours, then they process some non-appointments on a first come first serve basis. Be warned however, I personally waited 9hrs in line to have my registration processed.

Step 6 – Gather All Required Documents

After you’ve made the appointment with your county’s DRPCIV office, your next step is to gather all the required documents you will need to bring in order to successfully register your car. It’s critical that you follow this step carefully and gather all, and double check, that you have all the documents and that they’re accurately filled out. It’s best to keep them all organized together in a folder.

If you are missing a required document and show up to your DRPCIV appointment without everything required you’re out of luck. You won’t be able to register your car that day and will have to reschedule your appointment which can be for months in advance. That’s why using a service mentioned in our Help Registering a Car in Romania section can be so beneficial.

Here is the list of all the documents you will need to bring with you to your DRPCIV appointment in order to successfully register a car in Romania.

Application for Car Registration (cerere de inmatriculare tipizat) – Filled out and completed.
Car Alienation Certificate (fisa de inmatriculare auto) – Signed by you and the seller, and stamped by your, and the seller’s tax office.
Car Identity Card (cartea de identitate a vehiculului) – Original and Copy
Certificate of Registration (certificate de inmatriculare, or talon) – Containing sellers’ information and valid Periodic Technical Inspection (ITP) date.
Sales Contract (contractul de vanzare-cumparare auto) – Original and Copy
Sales Invoice (factura) – Only required for cars purchased from a dealership.
Identification Card of Applicant – Your ID card, copy and original.
Proof of Insurance – Copy of your insurance policy under your name.
Receipt of payment of the Car Registration Tax.
Old License Plates (placutele) – If from a different county, or from the same county but you wish to change the numbers.
Certificate of Authentication (certificatului de autenticitate) – Only for Imported Car Registrations
Lei Currency if paying for different plates (see step 7 below).

Step 7 – The DRPCIV Appointment

On the day of your appointment make sure you show up at the time listed on your confirmation page. There will be others who are appointed on the same date and time as you, but don’t worry, appointments are done in hourly blocks. The DRPCIV staff will try to resolve a certain amount of appointments per hour including yours on the hour you are appointed.

In theory, you should be seen on the hour you are scheduled, in practice, you might be seen many hours later. The key is to show up and be prepared to wait, as, like all other scheduled appointments in Romania, waiting times can be uncertain. A good strategy when dealing with long waiting times is to eat beforehand or bring a snack with you.

When you are called up you will go to the counter where a “police officer” (DRPCIV employee) will review your documents. He will look up and enter information in his computer, and if everything is in accordance, he will ask you what custom number plate combination (if any) you desire (check availability). The price of plates is 40 lei for keeping original, or 85 lei for custom plates.

License plates need to be changed to the county you are registering the car in if they are from a different county. If the plates are from the same county you are living in, you don’t need to change them unless you want to. If you’ll be changing the plates, make sure you have the old ones with you to give the DRPCIV officer.

Step 8 – The Registered Car

When the document review procedure with the DRPCIV officer is completed, he will hand you back your cars identification card, and keep the old seller’s Certificate of Registration (certificate de inmatriculare). The officer will then give you a day and time to return to pick up your new license plates (usually the next day) if you had them exchanged.

You will also be issued by the officer (either the same day or when you return for your number plates) a temporary proof of car registration that is valid for 15 days. Within 15 days of registering your car at the DRPCIV office, you should also receive by mail your new car registration certificate in your name, also known as a talon.

With the talon in your name, the car is now fully transferred and legally belongs to you. You can breathe a sigh of relief that you got through with the hard part. You’re not completely finished though; your next step is to read our guide on car ownership in Romania to make sure you are following every law and regulation in the country.

Registering an Imported Car in Romania

If you’ve imported a car into Romania, either from a different EU country or from a country outside of the EU, then there are a few extra steps for registering it. There are notable registration differences in all of the following scenarios; a new car purchased in the EU, a used car purchased in the EU, a new or used car purchased outside of the EU. I will detail all the relevant requirements below.

You can Register Imported Cars in Romania

RAR Certificate of Authentication

All cars imported into Romania which have never been registered in the country before, regardless if originating in or outside of the EU, must obtain a Certificate of Authentication (certificatului de autenticitate). The Certificate of Authenticity is issued by the Romanian Automobile Register (RAR) and is a required document that must be present for registering an imported car in Romania.

The Certificate of Authenticity is a document issued by the RAR that validates the car’s authenticity. RAR agents check the car’s original registration for validity and accuracy. The car is also physically inspected, including its chassis, body, and engine to make sure they haven’t been tampered or altered.

The cost of a RAR examination and a Certificate of Authenticity is about 450 lei. To obtain the certificate you must make an appointment with an RAR center and then show up on your appointed date with the below-listed documents. If the verification is successful you will be issued the certificate on the spot.

Documents Required at a RAR Appointment

RAR activity request – completed by you.
Registration Documents from the country of origin.
Your ID Card.
Vehicle ID from the country of origin
ITP proof of validity (usually RAR centers also carry out ITP tests)

Register a Car in Romania Imported from Outside the EU

To register a car in Romania that is imported from outside an EU member state you will need almost all the documents mentioned in Step 6, (exception of some) plus the addition of others. You won’t need the Car Alienation Certificate (fisa de inmatriculare auto). You will need proof of customs import formalities (original or legalized copy, plus a simple copy), and a RAR Certificate of Authenticity.

When you import a car from outside the EU into Romania, you will need to pay VAT tax and customs duties (10%). You can request an exemption of customs duty if you have a certificate that states that the car you wish to import originated from within the EU. For information on taxes and requirements for importing cars from outside the EU into Romania visit Romania’s Customs website.

Register a Car in Romania Imported from an EU Country

To register a car in Romania that was purchased from another EU country you will need all the documents mentioned in Step 6 with the exception of the Car Alienation Certificate. If the car is purchased new from a dealer, you will need to provide proof of VAT tax payment. If the car is used, no VAT payment is required. You will also need a RAR Certificate of Authenticity.

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