The first Romanian ID card at 14: what do you need, and by when?

What to bring

For an electronic ID card requested when the child turns 14, the official booking page (hub.mai.gov.ro) lists:

• The child's birth certificate, the original
• The identity document of one parent or of the legal representative, the original; it also serves as proof of the home address
• The parents' marriage certificate, the original; if the parents are divorced, the divorce certificate together with the parental agreement, or the final court ruling on the divorce, as the case may be
• Proof of payment for the identity document, where applicable

The child comes accompanied by one parent or, as the case may be, by the legal representative.

Where a court ruling entrusted the child to one parent but the child lives permanently with the other, the consent statement of the parent to whom the child was entrusted is also required.

This list is written for the electronic card. For the plain ID card, ask the population records office for your home or residence address what it requires.

The deadline

From the age of 14, Romanian citizens are issued identity documents, and the application has to be made within 15 days of turning 14 (Emergency Ordinance 97/2005, art. 12).

For the electronic ID card, the application can also be filed up to 30 days before the 14th birthday; the card is then issued with the validity of the next age group, that is, 5 years (art. 16). The plain ID card is not issued to children who have not turned 14. If you want to apply before the birthday, ask the population records office who has to come and which documents are required.

Missing the 15-day deadline is an offence punished with a fine (art. 43).

The amount of the fine is in the law; we don't list it here, because it changes.

Where to apply and how to book

• The electronic ID card can be requested at any population records office (serviciu public comunitar de evidență a persoanelor), whatever the home or residence address (since 1 August 2025).
• The plain ID card can only be requested in Romania, at the population records office for your home (domiciliu) or residence (reședință) address: that is what the law (Emergency Ordinance 97/2005, art. 14) and the service page on hub.mai.gov.ro say. The carteadeidentitate.gov.ro portal, however, says “only at the offices for the home address”. If you want to apply at your residence address, ask the office there first.
• You book online, on hub.mai.gov.ro. Appointments are not made by phone or email, and the appointment has to be confirmed within 30 minutes.
• How long it takes: here the official pages do not say the same thing. The service page on hub.mai.gov.ro gives, for the electronic card, an average time of 5 calendar days and a maximum of 30; for the plain card, an average of 30 calendar days and a maximum of 45. The General Directorate for Population Records (DGEP), however, writes that, depending on how many applications each office has, the electronic card can be issued “within a minimum of 5 days” of the application being filed. So count on 5 days or more.

• Book an ID card appointment: MAI Hub (Ministry of Internal Affairs) — online booking, by county

Electronic card or plain card?

From 14, a child can get either the electronic ID card or the plain ID card. For ages 14 to 18, both are valid for 5 years (Emergency Ordinance 97/2005, art. 16).

From the age of 12, the electronic card is issued with fingerprints. Between 14 and 18, fingerprints are only taken with the express consent of one parent or of the legal representative.

Does it cost anything?

Under Government Decision no. 1335/2023, people over 14 do not pay for the electronic ID card at the first application filed within a 5-year period, and the age condition counts as met 30 days before the 14th birthday.

The official pages, however, do not all say the same thing. The booking page on hub.mai.gov.ro says the first electronic ID card is issued free of charge from the age of 14, with no end date. The service page on hub.mai.gov.ro and the carteadeidentitate.gov.ro portal still mention 30 June 2026, a date that has now passed. So ask at the counter before you pay anything.

The plain ID card is not free.

Who collects the card

Here too the sources differ. The law says the card can be collected by the holder or by the person who accompanied them when the application was filed (Emergency Ordinance 97/2005, art. 14); the service page on hub.mai.gov.ro says the same. The electronic ID card portal (carteadeidentitate.gov.ro) asks the holder to come in person, because that is when they set the two PIN codes. The safest course is for both of you to go.

What you need

• ID card (buletin)Romanian ID card (buletin) renewal: what you need

See also

• Romanian passport for a child: what do you need, and who has to come?
• How long are Romanian ID cards, passports and driving licences valid?
• Expired Romanian ID card: what should you do?
• How do you renew a Romanian passport or ID card from abroad?