What "remote" actually means
"100% remote formation" is the standard pitch from every Romanian formation provider. In 2026 it is mostly true — but the framing oversells it. Three steps still occasionally require physical presence, and the realistic answer for any specific founder depends on their nationality, their bank choice, and whether their home jurisdiction is a signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention.
This piece sets out exactly where remote works, where it does not, and how to plan around the exceptions. It is the operational complement to our SRL formation guide.
Where remote works (the Trade Register stack)
The full Trade Register dossier can be filed remotely with no founder ever setting foot in Romania:
- The act constitutiv (articles of association) can be drafted bilingually and signed via qualified e-signature under eIDAS Regulation (EU) 910/2014.
- The specimen signature notarisation can be done at any Hague-Convention-signatory country's notary; the apostilled version is accepted directly by ONRC.
- The director declarations under Article 6 of Law 31/1990 are signed remotely and apostilled.
- The registered office documentation (lease, contract de comodat) is signed by the property provider on the Romanian side; the founder signs remotely.
- The capital deposit confirmation is issued by the chosen Romanian bank to the temporary capital deposit account; some banks accept fully remote opening for this stage.
From dossier complete to CUI issued by ONRC: 5–10 working days. No travel.
Where remote partially works (banking)
Bank onboarding is the most common stumbling block. Three of the six main commercial banks accept fully remote opening for clean non-resident dossiers:
- Banca Transilvania — fully remote for the majority of EU and OECD-resident founders.
- Libra Internet Bank — fully remote for fintech-friendly business activities; AML-conservative on crypto-adjacent files.
- Raiffeisen Bank Romania — case-by-case; remote works for founders relocating from Germany/Austria/Switzerland with origin-bank statements.
The other three — ING, OTP, BCR — typically require an in-branch visit by at least one director. A single half-day in Bucharest is enough; founders schedule it to coincide with notary appointments or other in-person formalities. Detailed bank-by-bank profile in our non-resident banking guide.
Where remote does not work
Three edge cases force at least one Romanian visit, sometimes more:
- ANAF in-person verification — rare in 2026 but possible for non-EU founders or for SRLs with sectoral licensing. ANAF may require a director to appear at a fiscal office for identity verification before issuing certain certificates.
- Apostille from non-Hague countries — if you are signing from a country that is not a signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention (a small list including, in 2026, Eritrea, Iraq, and a handful of others), full legalisation at the Romanian embassy in your country is required. This adds 2–4 weeks and sometimes a personal embassy visit.
- Sectoral authorisations — ONJN gambling licences, ASF financial-firm authorisations, and certain BNR-regulated activities may require an in-person interview with the regulator. This is post-formation, not at SRL setup, but it is a real category.
For ordinary founders forming an ordinary SRL with no licensing dimension, the apostille question is the only one that materially matters in practice.
The eIDAS qualified e-signature requirement
Remote formation hinges on a qualified e-signature (QES) — not the basic checkbox-style e-signature most founders are familiar with from DocuSign. A QES is issued under eIDAS Regulation (EU) 910/2014 by a qualified trust service provider, supported by a qualified certificate tied to the signatory's verified identity.
Founders signing from abroad have two practical paths:
- Romanian QES provider issuing a remote certificate after a video identity verification call. Several providers (CertSign, DigiSign, Trans Sped) offer this in English. Cost: €30–€80 per certificate, valid 1–3 years.
- Home-jurisdiction QES (e.g. Belgian itsme, Swedish BankID, Italian SPID) where the founder is already enrolled. Romanian institutions accept any EU-issued QES under eIDAS Article 25, but in practice non-Romanian QES occasionally trigger administrative friction; the Romanian-issued certificate is the path of least resistance.
Apostille deep dive: country-by-country
The Hague Apostille Convention is the single procedural lever that makes remote Romanian formation possible at scale. 123 countries are parties to the Convention as of 2026. Apostilling a document — a passport copy, a notarised specimen signature, a director's clean-record certificate — replaces the traditional legalisation chain (signature authentication → foreign-affairs ministry → Romanian embassy) with a single official stamp recognised directly by the Trade Register (ONRC).
The country-by-country picture for Incorpore's typical founder profile:
European Union and EFTA — straightforward
All 27 EU member states plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein are Convention parties. Apostilles issued in any of these countries are accepted directly at ONRC. Typical turnaround: same-day to 5 working days at the issuing notary or apostille office. Cost: €10–€40 per document. For EU-resident founders, the Romanian formation runs as the textbook fully-remote case described above.
North America
United States — Convention party; apostille issued by the Secretary of State of the originating state. Turnaround: 3–10 working days depending on the state (California is fast, New York and Florida slower). Cost: $10–$50 per document. Canada — joined the Convention in January 2024, with apostilles issued by Global Affairs Canada and provincial authorities. Turnaround: 5–15 working days. Cost: CA$25–CA$50. Both jurisdictions clear the Romanian formation cleanly.
Middle East and Asia
United Arab Emirates — Convention party; apostille issued by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Turnaround: 3–7 working days, cost AED 150 per document. Israel — Convention party; apostille issued by Israeli courts and the Ministry of Justice. Turnaround: 3–10 working days. Saudi Arabia joined the Convention in December 2022 but practical implementation has been uneven — we still occasionally see embassy legalisation requests for Saudi documents in 2026. Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and most other major Asian jurisdictions are parties. China's mainland accession in November 2023 materially simplified Chinese-founder formations — previously full embassy legalisation was the only route.
Non-Convention countries
A small list of jurisdictions remains outside the Convention: Eritrea, Iraq, Yemen, parts of central Africa, and a handful of Pacific island states. For founders signing from these countries, full legalisation at the Romanian embassy in the originating country is required. The chain typically runs: local notary → foreign-affairs ministry → Romanian embassy. Turnaround: 2–4 weeks, sometimes a personal embassy visit, and the cost can run €80–€200 per document. We support legalisation routes through the Bespoke formation tier.
The practical rule: for the overwhelming majority of Incorpore founders, apostille is a routine 5–10 working-day step that adds negligible cost to the formation envelope. For the small minority of founders signing from non-Convention countries, planning the legalisation chain in advance prevents 3–6 weeks of unexpected delay.
The power-of-attorney route
For founders unable to obtain a qualified e-signature under eIDAS Regulation (EU) 910/2014 — typically because their home jurisdiction lacks accessible QES providers or because the founder's identity cannot be verified remotely against the providers' standards — the power-of-attorney route is the standard fallback. The mechanics:
The founder issues a notarised, apostilled power of attorney in their home country, granting authority to a designated Romanian agent (typically a Romanian lawyer or formation specialist) to sign the act constitutiv, attend the Trade Register filing, and execute the formation dossier on the founder's behalf. The PoA is a one-document instrument; it must be specific (it cannot grant general powers — it must enumerate the actions covered) and it must be time-bound (typically 6–12 months).
The standard PoA scope for a Romanian SRL formation covers: signing the act constitutiv, opening the temporary capital deposit account, filing the dossier at ONRC, collecting the CUI and certificat de înregistrare, applying for VAT registration at ANAF if required, and submitting the microenterprise election if applicable. The PoA explicitly excludes ongoing director powers — it is a formation-only instrument; once the SRL is registered, the director takes over by direct authority.
Cost and timeline: notarising and apostilling the PoA in the home country runs €80–€250 depending on jurisdiction. Translation into Romanian by a sworn translator adds €60–€100. The Romanian formation agent's fee is €200–€400 above the standard formation envelope. Total elapsed time from PoA issuance to operational SRL: 15–25 working days (vs 10–25 for direct e-signature) — slightly slower because the PoA itself requires apostilling.
The PoA route is not a workaround for AML diligence — banks still require the founder's identity verification at account-opening regardless of how the SRL was formed. Banca Transilvania and Libra accept video KYC for founders who used the PoA route at formation; ING and Raiffeisen typically require an in-branch visit by the founder for first account opening even when the SRL was formed via PoA. This narrows the bank shortlist for PoA-route founders to BT or Libra in most cases.
The PoA route is slower and slightly more expensive. It is also bulletproof for jurisdictions where qualified e-signature simply is not practical.
The realistic timeline: remote vs hybrid
For a clean fully-remote formation: 5–10 working days at the Trade Register, 5–15 additional working days for banking. Total elapsed time: 10–25 working days from first call to operational SRL with EUR account.
For a hybrid (one in-branch banking visit): same Trade Register timeline, 4–8 working days for banking with the visit pre-scheduled. Total elapsed time: 9–18 working days — slightly faster than fully remote at the more conservative banks, because the in-person interview clears AML questions in one sitting rather than across multiple email rounds.
Founders who can spare a half-day in Bucharest typically come out ahead. Founders who can't are still well-served by the BT/Libra/Raiffeisen route.
Frequently asked questions
Do I ever need to visit Romania?
For an ordinary SRL formation with banking at Banca Transilvania or Libra: no. For banking at ING, OTP, or BCR: typically one half-day visit to the branch. For sectoral licensing (ONJN, ASF): possibly one regulator interview post-formation. The discovery call confirms which category applies to your situation.
What is a qualified e-signature, and how do I get one?
A qualified e-signature (QES) is the highest-trust category under eIDAS Regulation (EU) 910/2014, supported by a qualified certificate tied to the signatory's verified identity. Romanian providers (CertSign, DigiSign, Trans Sped) issue remote QES certificates after a video identity verification call, in English, for €30–€80 valid 1–3 years.
Can shareholders sign in different countries?
Yes. Each shareholder signs from their own jurisdiction using a QES recognised under eIDAS. Romania accepts any EU-issued QES; non-EU shareholders typically obtain a Romanian QES after a remote video verification. The act constitutiv and the dossier compile signatures from multiple countries cleanly.
What happens if my country is not a Hague Apostille Convention signatory?
Full legalisation at the Romanian embassy in your country is required instead of the simpler apostille route. This adds 2–4 weeks and occasionally requires a personal embassy visit. For founders from Hague-signatory countries (covering most of Europe, North America, and Asia), this is not a concern.
How does the Romanian power-of-attorney route work?
For founders unable to obtain a QES or apostille easily, a notarised, apostilled power of attorney can be issued to a Romanian lawyer or formation agent who then signs on the founder's behalf. This is slower and more expensive than direct QES signing but works as a fallback. Incorpore offers this for cases where direct e-signature is not practical.
Can I open the bank account before forming the SRL?
No. Romanian banks open the operating SRL account against an active CUI. The pre-formation step is a temporary capital deposit account at the chosen bank, used solely to evidence the paid-in capital for the Trade Register. Some banks open this remotely; others require minimal in-person verification at this stage as well.
Talk to us
Whether your formation is fully remote or hybrid with one half-day in Bucharest, we will map the exact path on a 30-minute call. Apostille requirements, eIDAS-compliant qualified e-signature options for your jurisdiction, the right bank for a remote-friendly application, and the realistic timeline given your nationality and activity. Book a discovery call — we respond within one business day and quote in writing before any work begins.
Related guides
- Romanian SRL formation: the complete 2026 guide — the structural pillar — what gets formed and why
- EUR bank accounts in Romania for non-resident founders — which banks accept fully-remote opening
- Cost breakdown: what you actually pay — apostille, translation, and notary line items
- Romanian SRL vs UK Ltd, GmbH, Dutch BV — remote-formation friction across the four jurisdictions
- The 1% microenterprise tax — the fiscal payoff that justifies the e-signature setup