Renewing a Romanian passport or ID card from abroad: what the consulate can do

Romanian passport renewal at a consulate: what to bring

You file the application in person, at the Romanian diplomatic mission or consular office in the country you are in (Law 248/2005, art. 15). You have to come yourself, because your photo, signature and fingerprints are taken there; the passport cannot be requested by empowering someone in Romania.

For an adult whose domicile is in Romania, the official list asks for:

The ID card, the provisional ID card or, as the case may be, the old-style identity booklet, within its validity period, the original. A provisional ID card must come with the birth certificate, the original.
Proof that the passport was paid for. The cost of the passport is paid at the consulate where you apply; the amount is on the official pages.
The previous passport, if there is one.

The application form is printed by the system and you sign it there. The consulate does not make the passport: it sends your data to Romania, where the passport is produced and from where it is sent back to the consulate.

The Romanian Consulate General in London writes that the ID card must be valid both when you apply and when you collect the passport. Check the page of your own consulate.

You can apply for a new passport while the old one is still valid; the old passport is cancelled and returned to its holder. The validity of a passport cannot be extended: only a new one is issued.

For children, the child must be present at the consulate, and fingerprints are taken from the age of 12. The documents depend on the child's age (under 14 or from 14) and on the parents' situation: take the full list from the official page.

Booking a consulate appointment (econsulat.ro)

You book on econsulat.ro, the consular services portal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Under “Documente de călătorie” (travel documents) it lists the electronic passport, the temporary passport, the travel document (titlu de călătorie) and the first ID card.

The rule “by appointment only” is written by each consulate on its own page; we read it on the pages of the consulates in London and Seville. Check the page of your own consulate before you travel.

For the status of a passport, the consular portal and the General Directorate of Passports point to a page on hub.mai.gov.ro.

How long a Romanian passport takes from abroad

The time limits run from the date the application is filed and cannot exceed:

45 working days, for applications filed at Romanian diplomatic missions and consular offices in member states of the European Union
60 working days, for applications filed at those in states outside the European Union
15 working days, if you apply abroad but choose to collect the passport from a passport office in Romania
45 or 60 working days, if you apply in Romania but choose to collect the passport from a diplomatic mission or consular office (inside or outside the European Union, respectively)
15 working days, for applications filed in Romania

For applications filed in Romania and collected in Romania, the General Directorate of Passports writes that, at present, it takes up to 5 working days, and up to 10 in very busy periods.

The electronic passport is not issued under an urgent procedure (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

pasapoarte.mai.gov.ro — how long a passport takes to issue

The temporary passport: when it is issued and how long it is valid

The temporary passport (pașaport simplu temporar) is valid for 12 months and is issued within 3 working days of the application at most. It can also be requested at diplomatic missions and consular offices. It is not issued for tourism, only in the situations set out in the law (Law 248/2005, art. 17^1):

A minor is about to travel abroad for studies, for official competitions or for medical treatment without which their life or health is in danger, and there is no time to obtain the other parent's consent.
You are abroad, no longer hold valid travel documents and declare that it is necessary and urgent to continue your journey abroad or to regularise your stay or legal situation in a state. To continue the journey you must present documents proving the necessity and the urgency.
You are in an objective and urgent situation in which you need to be in another state, and there is no time for the electronic passport to be issued or it has been lodged for visas. The situation must be proved with documents showing that the trip is necessary; purely tourist reasons do not count.

For an adult whose domicile is in Romania, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs page asks here too for the identity document within its validity period, the original (a provisional ID card together with the birth certificate). So the temporary passport also needs a valid ID card. The full list is on the ministry page.

No fingerprints are taken for the temporary passport, and abroad you collect it from the diplomatic mission or consular office where you applied. The consular portal warns that temporary passports are not recognised by all states.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs — the temporary passport (in Romanian)

The travel document (titlu de călătorie) for returning to Romania

The travel document (titlu de călătorie) is issued by diplomatic missions and consular offices to Romanian citizens abroad who no longer hold a valid travel document (and whose right to free movement is not suspended), so that they can return to Romania (Law 248/2005, art. 22). It is valid for 30 days at most, and its validity ends on the date you enter Romania (art. 23).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes that the travel document serves exclusively for returning to Romania and that, to travel abroad again, you have to get a new passport while you are in the country.

If your passport or another Romanian identity document was stolen, the ministry says to tell the Romanian embassy or consulate at once; they can issue you a travel document. The loss of a passport can also be declared at the diplomatic mission or consular office; theft is declared only to the local police. When you apply for a new passport after a theft, the ministry asks for the proof issued by the police of the state you are in, together with its translation, made by an authorised translator; the document is apostilled or legalised (supralegalizare) by the diplomatic mission or consular office, as the case may be. A passport declared lost, destroyed or stolen is void by law and can no longer be used, even if you find it.

The list of documents for the travel document is on the ministry page.

Renewing a Romanian ID card (buletin) from abroad: what the official pages say

On 7 October 2026 the official pages we read show that the ID card cannot be renewed at a consulate. They do not all say the same thing, though, so here they are side by side:

The law (Emergency Ordinance 97/2005, art. 14): Romanian citizens abroad can request, at Romanian diplomatic missions or career consular offices, the first identity document for a minor who has turned 14 “or, from the date the necessary technical conditions are in place, an electronic ID card”.
The General Directorate for Population Records, DGEP (FAQ published on 3 December 2025): the mechanism for issuing the electronic ID card to Romanian citizens domiciled in Romania who are temporarily abroad is “being implemented, at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs (statement of 15 July 2026): issuing the electronic ID card through embassies and consular offices requires the service to be made operational in the consular network, “a responsibility that lies with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”. The ministry writes that, on its side, the last functional tests were completed on 3 April 2026.
carteadeidentitate.gov.ro (an undated page): under question 10 it says that “later, on a date that will be publicly announced”, the electronic card can also be requested at diplomatic missions or consular offices. Under question 5, however, the same page says in the present tense that it can be requested at Romanian diplomatic missions and consular offices.
The consulates: the Romanian Embassy in Italy writes “The ID card is issued exclusively in Romania”, and the Consulate General in London that diplomatic missions and consular offices do not issue ID cards. The Consulate General in Milan writes that applying at consulates will be possible “as soon as the necessary technical conditions are met”. The econsulat.ro portal lists only “the first ID card”.

We found no announcement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that consulates already take applications for the electronic ID card. Things are changing: before you make plans, ask your consulate.

The plain ID card and the provisional ID card are not issued outside Romania. For now that leaves two routes: you come to Romania, or you make a special power of attorney at the consulate.

ID card by special power of attorney (procură specială)

At the consulate you make a special power of attorney for a person in Romania, who applies for the ID card on your behalf at the population records office (Emergency Ordinance 97/2005, art. 14); the Consulate General in London writes that the application is made in the town of your domicile. This route gives you the old-type ID card (the 1997 model): the electronic ID card and the plain ID card are not issued on the basis of a special power of attorney.

DGEP announced on 31 July 2026 that from 1 August 2026 the 1997-model ID card is still issued only in the situations expressly provided for; one of them is an application made for an adult through an empowered person, on the basis of a special power of attorney authenticated at Romanian diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad.

For the power of attorney, the page of the Romanian Embassy in Italy asks for:

A valid Romanian identity document: a passport, a travel document or an ID card
The identification details of the person you are empowering: the series and number of their ID card, its date of issue and issuing authority, their address, personal numeric code (CNP), date and place of birth
ID-type photographs; how many differs from one consulate to another, so take the number from the page of your own consulate

The Consulate General in London writes that the law does not allow powers of attorney sent by post, fax or e-mail to be authenticated and that expired documents are not accepted for authentication; a birth certificate, a marriage certificate and a driving licence are not identity documents. If you have neither a valid ID card nor a valid passport, you first ask for a travel document, which you then use to have the power of attorney authenticated.

Which documents the empowered person files in Romania, and how long it takes there, we did not find on a page of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: ask the population records office for your home address in Romania.

Your Romanian ID card expired while abroad: what you can and cannot do

You can no longer travel on it: only ID cards within their validity period are a travel document in the member states of the European Union and in the third countries that recognise them (Emergency Ordinance 97/2005, art. 13).
If your domicile is in Romania, you cannot apply for a passport at the consulate, neither the electronic nor the temporary one: for both, the official lists ask for an identity document within its validity period.
You can make the power of attorney for the ID card if your passport is still valid. The Consulate General in London writes that the power of attorney can be requested when the ID card has expired or is due to expire within the next 90 days.
If you no longer have any valid Romanian document, you first need a travel document.
You can return to Romania on a valid passport or, if you do not have one, on a travel document.

The new card should have been applied for at most 180 days before expiry, and no later than 15 days before. For what to do in Romania, see the guide below.

Expired Romanian ID card: what should you do?

Applying in Romania during a visit: the electronic ID card, at any office

You can apply for the electronic ID card at any population records office (serviciu public comunitar de evidență a persoanelor), whatever your home or residence address (Emergency Ordinance 97/2005, art. 14). The application is filed only in your presence and cannot be made through a special power of attorney.

How long it takes: the service page on hub.mai.gov.ro gives, for the electronic card, 5 calendar days on average and 30 at most. DGEP writes that it can be issued in a minimum of 5 days from the application, depending on how many applications the office has. So count on 5 days or more, up to 30.
By when you collect it: on the date you are given, or within 90 days of applying at most.
Who collects it: here the official pages do not say the same thing. carteadeidentitate.gov.ro says you must collect it in person, because that is when you set its two PIN codes. The service page on hub.mai.gov.ro and DGEP say that, if the holder can no longer come, the card can be collected on the basis of an authenticated special power of attorney (authenticated by a Romanian notary public, by Romanian diplomatic missions or career consular offices abroad, or by the competent foreign authorities), only from the office where the application was filed; the power of attorney must state its purpose, that is, collecting and activating the card. After naming the diplomatic missions and the foreign authorities, DGEP adds “once they are made operational”. A power of attorney made before a foreign authority must bear an apostille or be legalised (supralegalizare), as the case may be, and come with a legalised translation into Romanian.

The safest course is to plan your visit so that you collect it yourself. If you cannot, ask at the counter where you apply whether someone else can collect it with a special power of attorney.

Two special cases: a child turning 14 and the card without a domicile in Romania

The law says the first identity document of a minor who has turned 14 can be requested either in Romania or at Romanian diplomatic missions or consular offices (Emergency Ordinance 97/2005, art. 14). It cannot be requested through a power of attorney.

The consulates do not set the same conditions, though. The Romanian Embassy in Italy writes that the application can be filed at the consulate when the minor cannot travel to Romania for objective reasons (studying, following a treatment that cannot be interrupted and the like) and the parents can prove a domicile in Romania. The Consulate General in Seville takes it “in situations justified with documents”. The Consulate General in London writes only that minors who cannot come to Romania can file it at the consulate. Ask your consulate before you travel with the child; the list of documents is on its page too.

The law also provides that a Romanian citizen who lives abroad can request an electronic ID card without a domicile in Romania (Emergency Ordinance 97/2005, art. 28^1). DGEP writes that the mechanism is “being implemented”.

The passport for Romanians domiciled abroad (CRDS)

For those who have settled in another country there is the electronic passport for Romanian citizens domiciled abroad (CRDS). The conditions and the list of documents are on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs page. The General Directorate of Passports writes that when a citizen domiciled in Romania becomes a citizen domiciled abroad, or the other way round, the passport they hold is cancelled and a new one is issued to match the new status.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs — the passport for Romanian citizens domiciled abroad, CRDS (in Romanian)

Do not let the ID card and the passport expire at the same time

This is our own advice, not a quote from an official page, but it follows from the above: someone domiciled in Romania needs a valid ID card for a passport at the consulate, and a valid Romanian document for the power of attorney for the ID card. Anyone who lets both expire first needs a travel document.

What you need

Get reminded in time

The Nu-mă-uita app reminds you in good time before a document expires: add it once and choose how many days ahead you want to be told. No account and no ads.

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The iPhone version is in the works. Once it is in the App Store, the button will appear right here. Until then, you can write to us at numauita.app@gmail.com. We will also announce it on our Facebook page.

How do you renew a Romanian passport or ID card from abroad?