Translation of Education Documents for Romania

How a CNRED file is read

CNRED is the authority competent for the recognition of foreign education documents in Romania. It examines foreign documents at every level from upper secondary school to doctorate and issues the recognition decision. That decision is in most cases compulsory for university enrolment; institutions ask the candidate for the CNRED decision at the enrolment stage. Recognition in Romania is therefore not a formality to be completed once a place has been offered but a precondition of enrolment, and the calendar has to be built around it.

The examination looks at whether the institution that issued the document is recognised in the country of origin, and at the length and the workload of the programme. At upper secondary level a year-by-year equivalence is worked out, which is why results broken down by school year are asked for with school documents. The scope of the document set changes markedly with the level of study being aimed at.

What each document does

The diploma shows the degree; the academic transcript, with its breakdown of courses and credits, is the basis for comparison. In upper secondary applications the end-of-year pass certificates are what make the year-by-year equivalence possible. A student certificate shows an enrolment still in progress. A language proficiency certificate is a threshold of its own on programmes taught in Romanian, while an English certificate is looked for on programmes run in English. Course contents are asked for where a subject match has to be made.

Step	Carried out by
Attestation of the document	The competent authority in Türkiye
Translation	Authorised translator
Attestation of the translation	Notary
Recognition decision	CNRED

The problem met most often

Translation in Romania comes in two layers: first the translation by a translator authorised by the Ministry of Justice, then the notarisation. The commonest mistake is to skip the second step; a translation by an authorised translator is not regarded as sufficient on its own and the file counts as incomplete. The second frequent problem is that documents broken down by school year are not sent with upper secondary applications. The third is the recognition decision not arriving by the enrolment date, because the application was made late and the calendar no longer holds.

The order of translation and attestation

The sequence: the original documents are gathered, the attestation step in Türkiye is completed, the authorised translator makes the translation, a notary attests it, and only then is the CNRED application opened. A two-layer structure means extra time, so the planning has to run backwards from the enrolment date. You will find the levels of approval document by document on our document pages, and what each country does in practice in our country guide.

The calendar of a two-layer approval

In Romania the translation being made by an authorised translator and then attested by a notary means two separate procedures and two separate periods of time. Every link in the chain carries a calendar of its own, and laid end to end they come to markedly more than in countries with a single step. The commonest mistake made by candidates trying to catch an enrolment date is to take the two steps for one procedure and to plan on that footing.

One way to shorten the chain is to put the documents through as a single batch. Where the diploma, the academic transcript and the upper secondary documents are translated together rather than one at a time and attested at the same appointment, the repeated waiting periods fall away. Preparing in the same round any copies that may be needed later also does away with a second visit to the notary. Since additional documents may be asked for on programmes in the health field, it is worth keeping the scope wide.

• Plan the translation and the notarial steps as separate periods of time.
• Put the documents through as a single batch.
• Have the extra copies prepared in the same round.
• Complete the upper secondary documents year by year.

Medicine and dentistry programmes in Romania are heavily preferred among candidates coming from Türkiye, and on those programmes the file is examined in more detail. The hours of the science subjects on the upper secondary transcript, the entrance examination result and the secondary school graduation record are read together. This information has to be plainly visible on the document; where it is not, a letter setting out the course hours should be requested from the school.

Whether the documents can be verified matters as well. Because the issuing institution may be approached during the assessment, the diploma number, the student number and the date of graduation are expected to be legible and to be carried across unchanged in the translation. Altering the format of a number means the record cannot be found and the file waits.

The number of copies should also be settled at the outset; it is perfectly normal for the notarised translation to be asked for separately at the recognition application and again at enrolment.

It is worth reckoning with how long these documents will stay in use in Romania. A process that starts with student status brings the same documents back into play at the professional registration and residence stages after graduation. Given the two-layer chain of approval, keeping digital and printed copies of the translation and the attestations prepared in the first round is a clear saving of time. Keeping a record of the terminology also means that documents added later stay consistent with the first set. And because the originals may be asked for at enrolment, having the documents with you is the simplest way to be ready for a request that surfaces at the last minute.

Since the recognition decision is a precondition of enrolment, starting early is what decides the outcome. You can look at our pricing page and upload your documents to request a quotation.

The information on this page gives the general framework; the authority you apply to may ask for further documents or a different format. For the conditions in force, consult the institution’s current list of paperwork.