I just wanted to vent for a moment about how frustrated I am about how difficult it is to get my husband's Romanian passport renewed (it expired last January.) Originally we sent paperwork to his sister to renew it for us, but were not able to do it because the power-of-attorney allowing her to do it for him was notarized, but did not have an apostille on it (apparently this is a stamp that you can get from the Secretary of State so that a notarized document can be recognized in other countries. Paul thought that the notary stamp was the same thing as the apostille.) So then we sent the passport to the Romanian embassy to be renewed (and were told it would take about six months) but they sent all the forms and documents back WITH NO EXPLANATION. When he called them, it turns out we have to register ourselves as married in Romania before he can renew his passport. The lady told him that he could do a power-of-attorney for that as well and get his sister to do it. Then he called back yesterday to ask a different question and another woman told him a power-of-attorney cannot be done to register a marriage. Supposedly he has to go to D.C. to register our marriage!!! When he explained that we had been told otherwise, she said that maybe he wasn't talking to the consular section the first time.

Anyway, does anyone know what the real deal is with registering marriage in Romania? Do you really have to appear at the embassy in person?

I don't know. It seems strange that you need to register a marriage in order to get his passport renewed. Can you get the apostille? I hate to bash otherwise lovely countries, but I do know that if the Romanian embassy is even a little bit as miserable and incompetent as the Bulgarian embassy in DC, you're in for a lot of breathtaking lies, ignorance, and all-around grief. In my experience, it is much better to find out the law in the country - for instance, if your husband's sister can talk to the Romanian foreign ministry and discover what the laws are for registering foreign marriages, you'll probably get far more reliable information than the embassy will give you. If you do have to go to DC, be sure you have a specific appointment with someone at the embassy and CONFIRM it the day before.

I'm sorry that you have so much trouble. I dont really know how it is in romania but for germany you have to register your marriage first as well, if you have changed your name. Before you can not renew your passport.
Did you check on the webpage of the romanian consulate?? Maybe you can get some information there and do the registering online.
I know for germany thats possible.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you find a solution!

Susanne

Unfortunately....the website DOES say that you have to come in person but we didn't think that was accurate because when he called the first time they had said that we could use the power-of-attorney. We are going to get his sister to call and find out what they will actually accept in Romania. Hopefully we can bypass the embassy altogether. Thanks for the info that the Bulgarian embassy is not much different. That actually does make me feel a little better. I guess I always had this idea that embassies were supposed to be on the side of their fellow citizens and be really helpful. When I was in Italy, I heard of a few different stories about Americans who had really good experiences with the American embassy in Italy.

My husband and I are now joking that he might be able to get American citizenship and an American passport before he will be able to get his Romanian one renewed!

Susanne--You said that for Germany you have to register the marriage only if you change your name. Unfortunately, they are telling us that he has to register our marriage even though I changed my name to his! I think that is really odd, especially because a passport doesn't even mention marital status. What are they afraid of? That he has another wife and kids back in Romania?! I forgot to mention that the lady was also really nosy. She wanted to know why he wanted to go back to Romania and how long his passport had been expired. Ummm, because he has FAMILY back there and would like to visit them. And what does it matter how long the passport has been expired if it is expired now? Whew. Thanks for listening to my rant.

You're welcome. It's a shame, but some countries have evil, lazy, wretched staff in their embassies. The Bulgarian embassy in DC's website posted incorrect information. They just never bothered to update it. AND they gave me incorrect info when I called. Several times. On several topics that they really should have known about! Had I followed their advice, I could well be paying some hefty fines or even in a Bulgarian jail right now. They actually had me weeping in rage and despair at one point. But their foreign ministry website was much better and although my fiance breaks into a cold sweat every time we need to deal with an office or ministry here in Bulgaria, they are always SO NICE and absolutely helpful. So by all means, bypass that embassy if you can!

So....he got his sister to go to the office in Romania today and they said that he CAN use power-of-attorney to register the marriage. So we will try it and hopefully it will work!

I hope it goes well.

Dear Annabelle, indeed you need to have your marriage recorded in Romania first before your husband can apply for the renewal of his expired passport. You just have to send your sister-in-law a Power-of-Attorney in this respect and a certified copy of your marriage certificate. She then needs to have them translated into Romanian (by a sworn translator) and notarized. Having that accomplished, the next step she needs to take is to go to the Civil Status Division of your husband's former town of residence in Romania and they will have your marriage recorded. God bless!

Forgive me, Annabelle, I was in a bit of a hurry when I wrote the reply to your post, I may have been unclear about the translations of the Power of Attorney and certificate of marriage, so it's them that have to be notarized, the translations...Good luck!

Hi Annabelle,
I am a Romanian here in Germany and last year I registered my marriage in Romania. The fastest way to do it is for him to go to Romania, register the marriage and get the new passport (using emergency reason)...and is cheaper.
I didn't have time to go back to my town in Romania so I sent a power of attorney (i made it at the Romanian Consulate in Bonn) and my marriage certificate to my sister and she took care of everything. but the process takes like 3 months. be careful to state in the power of attorney that includes the power to summit all the papers, to sign and to receive the romanian certificate .after that he can change his passport at the embassy, then again it can take a few months. so....
as I said, the fastest way is to go back to Romania.

Best wishes

If your husband will get soon US passport don’t bother with the Romanian one.
Citizens of the European Union can enter and exit any country of the EU with their national ID card.