Document Recognition for Romania: CNRED, Apostille and Translations

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

To start a bachelor's degree in Romania you need a school-leaving certificate that gives access to university in the country where it was issued. Who checks it, and how, depends on your citizenship. The national authority is the National Centre for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas (CNRED), part of the Ministry of Education and Romania's ENIC-NARIC centre.

Two procedures

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens (and their family members) have their certificate recognised by CNRED, usually as part of enrolment.
• Non-EU citizens send their documents to the university with the admission file. The university checks them, and the Ministry reviews them before it issues the letter of acceptance to studies.

EU, EEA and Swiss applicants: CNRED recognition

A school-leaving certificate from another EU or EEA country or Switzerland is recognised automatically at its level, without extra exams. It gives access to continuing your studies in Romania. CNRED works with the universities on the specific admission criteria of each programme.

How it works:

1. The application is filed online on ROePAS, the Ministry's electronic platform, either by you or by the university on your behalf. It can also be posted to the Ministry's registry in Bucharest.
2. You attach the application form, a copy of your certificate, any other relevant document (for Spain, for example, the university entrance test result) and a copy of your passport or ID card.
3. You pay an assessment fee of 100 lei (about €19). From abroad you can pay in euro by bank transfer.
4. CNRED decides within 30 working days of receiving a complete file, longer if it needs extra checks.

Documents in Romanian, English, French, Spanish or Italian need no translation. Others need a certified translation into Romanian. Ask your university whether it files the application for you, and in time for its enrolment deadline.

Non-EU applicants: the university and the Ministry

There is no separate recognition step before you apply. Your file for the university, which also serves for the letter of acceptance, contains copies of:

• your school-leaving certificate, or a certificate of passing the final exam if you graduate this year
• your transcripts for each year of secondary school
• birth certificate and passport
• a medical certificate
• a Romanian language certificate or preparatory year certificate, for programmes taught in Romanian

Each document goes with a certified translation into Romanian, English or French. The university must check that the documents are genuine, by writing to the school or authority that issued them with your consent, and decides which year you can enrol in. The Ministry keeps a list, by country, of the certificates that give access to bachelor's studies in Romania and updates it each year; ask the university whether yours is on it. Study in Romania notes that non-EU documents go through CNRED's standard recognition process.

Apostille or legalisation

• Hague Apostille Convention countries: your school documents must carry the apostille from the issuing country.
• Other countries: documents need superlegalisation (by the foreign ministry of the issuing country and the Romanian embassy, among others), or a certificate of authenticity from the competent authority.
• EU countries: CNRED asks for an apostille only on documents from Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus; other EU countries are exempt.
• Moldova: no apostille or legalisation, but diplomas issued before 2008, or that cannot be checked online, need a certificate of authenticity from the Moldovan Ministry of Education.

How this works in practice is explained in apostille and legalisation of documents.

Translations

Romanian rules ask for a legalised (certified) translation; a translation you make yourself does not count. Ask the university or CNRED which translations they accept, and send a copy of the original with it. See sworn translations.

IB and other international diplomas

International diplomas go through the same procedures as national ones. For the IB, see IB diploma: university admission in Romania.

Step by step

1. Check that your certificate gives access to university in your own country.
2. Get the apostille or legalisation early.
3. Order certified translations into Romanian, English or French.
4. EU applicants: file for CNRED recognition online or through the university. Non-EU applicants: send the file to the university by its deadline.
5. After the letter of acceptance, apply for the visa. See student visa for Romania.

Where to look next

• How to get into a university in Romania
• How much it costs to study in Romania
• Student visa for Romania
• Student housing in Romania
• All programmes in Romania

Official sources

• CNRED: Pre-university studies: recognition and automatic recognition (in Romanian)
• CNRED: Recognition for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens applying to bachelor's studies (in Romanian)
• Study in Romania: Recognition: Ministry of Education portal
• Order 5655/2024 on the admission of foreign citizens: file contents (in Romanian)

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.