Admission Requirements & Documents
1Basic Admission Documents
- Official letter of acceptance from an accredited Romanian university (endorsed by the Ministry of Education).
- Proof of financial means and a receipt for at least one year's tuition fee (if not on scholarship).
- Valid health insurance for the entire stay, a police clearance certificate, and two passport photos.
2General Procedure
- First, you must enroll and be accepted by an educational institution; then apply for a long-stay study visa at the Romanian embassy/consulate in your country of residence.
- This must be verified based on current regulations and individual circumstances.
3Official Guide Source
- The General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) publishes the complete and updated list of required documents for each level of study (bachelor's, master's, PhD, exchange programs).
- This must be verified based on current regulations and individual circumstances.
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🇮🇷Iran-Specific: No Apostille — Full Consular Legalization Is Required
This is a fact most generic "study in Romania" guides skip entirely, because it doesn't apply to citizens of countries party to the 1961 Hague Convention. Iran is not a party to that Convention (per the official Hague Conference on Private International Law / HCCH status table); so your academic documents cannot simply be "apostilled" — they must go through the full, multi-step consular legalization chain instead:
The document must be authenticated by the competent Iranian authority (Ministry of Justice / Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
The Romanian Embassy/Consular Section in Tehran legalizes the document; the Romanian mission in Tehran is currently active.
Once the document is in Romania, the "Supralegalizare" step happens at the Romanian MFA's Document Legalization Bureau in Bucharest — this step is free and typically completed same-day.
Translation must be done by a translator specifically authorized by the Romanian Ministry of Justice (not any translator); for university-level degrees, the National Center for Recognition and Equivalence of Diplomas (CNRED) accepts this same chain for equivalence review.
The full chain typically takes several weeks, and cost varies per step (the Romania-side step is free; the Iran-side and embassy steps carry fees) — confirm exact hours and costs directly with the Romanian Embassy in Tehran and CNRED before traveling or applying. Source: HCCH, Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mae.ro), CNRED (cnred.edu.ro).
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is IELTS/TOEFL strictly required?
It depends on the university and program; some accept a certificate of English proficiency from your previous school or conduct their own online interview.
Do I need to translate all my high school transcripts?
Yes, all academic transcripts must be officially translated. For Iranian applicants specifically, since Iran is not an Apostille Convention member, a simple apostille is not possible — the full consular legalization chain must be followed instead (see the box above).
Is the Romanian Embassy in Tehran operating?
Yes, per official Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs information, the Romanian Embassy in Tehran is active; however, confirm current opening hours and appointment capacity directly with the embassy before visiting in person.
Will my Romanian university's degree be recognized in Iran?
This depends on your field, and you need to check with two separate official Iranian authorities, not a single generic list: — For non-medical fields: the authority is the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, and the list of approved universities is published by the Organization for Students Affairs (SAORG) at grad.saorg.ir. That list has three tiers — Group A (excellent), Group B (good), Group C (average) — and the tier has direct consequences: for a doctorate you must enrol only at a Group A or Group B university, and degrees from Group C universities can be evaluated only up to master's level. — For Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy: a separate authority, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (the "Movahed" system); medical universities do not appear on the SAORG list at all, because that list covers only fields within the Ministry of Science's remit — so their absence from it does not mean they are unapproved. Three rules that have cost the most for people who did not know them: (1) what counts is the university's standing at the time you start your studies, and the list is republished every year in Esfand; (2) the check must happen before you accept an offer, because the same office states that any request to review a university's standing during your studies or after you graduate is not possible under any circumstances; (3) a main campus being approved does not mean its branches in other countries are approved. One last point: the common rule is that you must complete the majority of your programme at the approved university itself, not split mostly elsewhere.
If I study medicine, dentistry or pharmacy, will I need to sit an exam in Iran?
Yes — and it is something many people learn too late. According to the official FAQ of the Ministry of Health's educational services centre, evaluating these three degrees involves an examination in Iran: the pre-internship exam for general medicine, the evaluation exam for pharmacy, and the national exam for general dentistry, usually held twice a year. The same source says some applicants are exempt but refers the conditions to the evaluation regulation; we have not read that regulation directly and say nothing about exemptions. In pharmacy, even with an exemption from the exam, 8 credits of pharmacy internship are required. Two further rules matter before you choose a university: at least half of the programme must be completed at an approved university, and distance or correspondence study is not evaluated at all. For your own situation the authority is mohed.behdasht.gov.ir/Assessment.
Can I change my university or program after being accepted?
Yes, it's possible, but it's a formal bureaucratic process, not a simple administrative switch. For non-EU students, this transfer typically must go through Romania's Ministry of Education international-relations directorate, requires at least one completed semester at the original university, and must be requested about 90 days before the new academic year starts. At some universities (e.g. UTCB), any change to the original acceptance requires the Ministry to issue a brand-new official acceptance letter. So if you're unsure, it's best to be fully confident about your university/program choice before your initial enrollment.
📚Related Guides & Next Steps
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This guide is part of the "Study in Romania" collection.