American Citizen Services

Notarial Services

The U.S. Embassy in Bucharest provides notarial services for a variety of items, but we are limited in the services we can offer. Please confirm that we can notarize your document before you make your appointment.

Hours for Notarial services (by appointment only):
Mondays and Thursdays, 9:00-10:00
Wednesdays 2:00-3:00

Notarial services provided by the Embassy are primarily for the benefit of American citizens and legal permanent residents (i.e. 'Green Card' holders). Foreign nationals may also have documents notarized, but only if the documents will be used in the United States. Please note that we limit the hours during which we notarize documents.

What you'll need to bring along...
For us to notarize your documents, you must:

• Have government-issued photo ID. A passport is your best option.
• Understand your document. We are not allowed to explain the contents to you
• Complete the document with the appropriate names, places, and dates before you arrive (but don't sign it; you'll sign it at the Embassy in front of a Consul);
• Pay the appropriate fee (see below). 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.
  
• If your document requires the presence of witnesses in addition to the notarization, you must supply these witnesses. Our staff cannot act as witnesses.

Types of Notarials:

Power of Attorney

A power of attorney allows you to designate someone to take legal actions on your behalf. A common example of this is empowering someone else to buy or sell property in the U.S. in your name while you are overseas. Since we cannot advise you on the specific language or content of a power of attorney, please consult a lawyer or other appropriate advisor before coming to see us to have your power of attorney notarized.

Please fill out the form before you come to our offices, but do not sign it in advance. You will sign in the presence of a Consul.

Fee: $30.00 for the first Power of Attorney, $20.00 for each additional copy.

Affidavit

An affidavit is a sworn statement. Affadavits may be used in many different situations for many different purposes. You can write out any statement you may wish to make. We cannot attest to the truth or accuracy of the statement. We can only confirm the identity of the person who signed it. Please remember not to sign the form before you come to the office. You will need to sign it in front of the consular officer.

We cannot advise you about the specific language needed in your affidavit, so please consult a lawyer or other advisor for that type of assistance before coming to have the document notarized.

Fee: $30.00 for the first affidavit, $20.00 for each additional copy.

Corporate Affidavits and Acknowledgements

Often, customers include a title, or “corporate identity,” when signing these types of documents. Examples of corporate identities would be “president,” “managing director,” or “representative.” If you wish to sign with a corporate identity, please be prepared to present adequate documentation to prove that identity to the notarial officer. Business cards and letterhead will not be accepted as proof of corporate identity.

Alternatively, you may wish to alter the language of your document to include language such as “who acknowledged himself to be the (TITLE) of (CORPORATION NAME).” or be prepared to cross out references to corporate identities within the document to be notarized.

Acknowledgement of Execution

An Acknowledgement of Execution is a notarials act which verifies that a particular person signed a given document. It is often used for legal agreements, business documents, etc. It is also used when more than two signatures are required on the document but not all of the parties who must sign are present in the same place at the same time. We can notarize (or acknowledge) only the signatures of those who are present to sign in front of us or appear in front of us and verify that they have signed the document.

Fee for acknowledgement: $ 30.00 for the first document, $20.00 for each additional copy.

Certification of True Copies of Documents

Occasionally, we get requests to certify true copies of educational transcripts or diplomas, bank statements, court documents, or other such official records. Unfortunately, our offices cannot ordinarily provide certified true copies of documents. Such requests should usually be addressed to the office which issued the document in question. For example, certified true copies of academic records should be requested from the registrar of the institution that originally issued them. For more information on this subject, please consult the Department of State website.

Signature (or "Medallion") Guarantees

Unfortunately, we cannot legally perform a signature guarantee.

A Medallion Signature Guarantee is not a notarial service but a special procedure related to securities which can only be performed by an authorized representative of a financial institution participating in a medallion program approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). U.S. consular officers are not authorized to provide a signature guarantee/medallion guarantee service.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may be contacted directly via the Internet at http://www.sec.gov, via phone at 1-800-SEC-0330 (investor assistance and complaints), via fax at 202-942-7040, or by mail at Mail Stop 11-2, 450 Fifth Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549.

Information on Romanian Notaries

In some cases, individuals residing in Romania may wish to seek the services of a Romanian notary. ACS encourages clients who require Romanian notarials for documents, such as notarial deeds, authentication of private documents and articles of incorporation, affidavits and the attachment of officially-attested dates, 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. Please note that neither ACS nor the National Union of Notaries Public from Romania has information on which notaries provide services in English.

Non-U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents seeking 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.

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