Notaries Public

The U.S Embassy in Bucharest provides notarial services by appointment for documents that will be used in the United States. Please email ACSBucharest@state.gov to make an appointment. Your email must contain your name, your telephone number and your passport or ID number. You may also like to consider Remote Online Notarization (RON) as a resource. U.S. Embassies and/or Consulates do not provide remote notarial services. However, this method of notarization currently is permitted in some form in many U.S. states. Refer to your specific State Notary Handbook (generally available online) for more information. Remote Online Notarization allows notarial acts to be completed using audio-video communication with notaries public from the United States, including acts where the signer is located outside the state in which the notary is authorized to operate. Many states have put into place emergency measures to allow for RON. Contact your state’s public notary authority for more information on RON.

For us to notarize your document, you must:

Bring the document(s) to be notarized.
Understand your document, as we are not allowed to explain the contents to you.
Don’t sign it; you’ll sign it at the Embassy in front of the notary.
Bring a government-issued photo ID, e.g. a passport. If the name on the document to be notarized does not match the name on your photo ID, you should also bring official proof of name change.
If your document requires the presence of witnesses in addition to the notarization, you must supply these witnesses. Our staff cannot act as witnesses.
The fee is $50 for each notarial seal. We accept cash payments in US dollars or Romanian lei. We cannot accept checks, but we do accept credit cards. You may pay using your VISA, Mastercard, Discover, Diners Club or American Express card. Please be advised that due to intermittent network connection issues we are sometimes unable to process credit card payments. There are no ATMs on site. To avoid potential delays in service, we encourage you to bring sufficient cash with you in the event that we are unable to process your payment via credit card.

Please be aware that the consular officer may refuse a notarial service when:

The host country does not authorize the performance of the service.
The document will be used in transactions that may be prohibited by U.S. law.
The officer believes that the document will be used for a purpose that is unlawful, improper, or inimical to the best interests of the United States.
The officer believes the customer does not understand the document to be notarized, due to language or any other reason.

Authentication/Apostille

We cannot authenticate U.S. documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, death certificates, etc. Under the Hague Convention, an Apostille certificate from a State Secretary or Governor of the state where the document was issued certifies the authenticity of a U.S. document. A list of authorities who can affix an apostille to a U.S. document is available on the website of the Hague Convention at: US Authorities, under the heading “Officers of the Individual States”.

Please note that we cannot authenticate any academic credentials.

Signature Guarantees

U.S. banks or mutual fund companies often require signature guarantees. Unfortunately, we cannot legally perform a signature guarantee. Please check with your bank or stock company, here or in the U.S., for additional information.

Information on Romanian Notaries

ACS encourages clients who require Romanian notarials for documents to visit the website (look for the English button on the front of the home page) of the National Union of Notaries Public from Romania for more information about types of notarials, fees and locations of notary offices.

Non-U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents requesting notarials on documents to be used outside of the United States (i.e., Romania or elsewhere) should request such services from their home government/embassy and/or as specified by the relevant procedures.