Romanian Archives
Romania (historically Erdély / Transylvania, plus Bánát and Partium) is a moderately complex archive system. Email requests work, and several community members have successfully obtained documents this way — but you need to know which county archive to contact.
Which County Archive Holds Your Records
Romanian civil and church records are held in county archives (Serviciul Județean al Arhivelor Naționale). The county corresponds to the historical Hungarian county where the village was located.
Common counties for Hungarian citizenship applicants:
| Historical Hungarian county | Romanian county | Archive city |
|---|---|---|
| Bihar | Bihor | Oradea |
| Kolozs | Cluj | Cluj-Napoca |
| Szatmár | Satu Mare | Satu Mare |
| Maros | Mureș | Târgu Mureș |
| Háromszék / Kovászna | Covasna | Sfântu Gheorghe |
| Temes | Timiș | Timișoara |
| Arad | Arad | Arad |
| Krassó-Szörény | Caraș-Severin | Reșița |
To find the right county: first identify the village, then look up which historical Hungarian county it belonged to, then find the corresponding Romanian county archive.
How to Contact Romanian Archives
Email is the primary method. Romanian county archives generally respond to written requests and have successfully provided documents to applicants from the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and other countries.
What to include in your email:
- Name of the ancestor (Romanian and Hungarian versions if available)
- Approximate year of birth/marriage/death
- Village name (Romanian and historical Hungarian)
- Type of document requested (birth, marriage, death certificate)
- Your relationship to the ancestor
- Purpose (Hungarian citizenship application)
- Your mailing address for the certified copy
Language: Write in Romanian if possible. English requests are sometimes answered but response is less reliable. If you cannot write in Romanian, a simple, clearly formatted email in English is worth trying.
Church Records in Romania
Before 1895, records were kept by religious parishes. In Transylvania, the dominant denominations were:
- Reformed (Calvinist) — large Hungarian-speaking population
- Catholic (Roman and Greek Catholic)
- Lutheran
- Unitarian — specifically strong in Transylvania
- Orthodox — predominantly Romanian-speaking parishes
Some Transylvanian church records have been digitized:
- Matricula Online — partial coverage of Catholic records
- FamilySearch — significant collection, especially Reformed records from Transylvania
FamilySearch has a particularly strong collection of Reformed (Calvinist) records from Transylvania. If your ancestors were Reformed, check FamilySearch before contacting the archive — you may be able to identify the exact record first.
Practical Timeline
Romanian archives are generally more responsive than Slovak archives. Community experience suggests responses within 4–12 weeks, though this varies significantly by county and current workload.
Costs
County archives charge a fee for certified copies. The exact amount varies by archive and number of pages. Budget approximately €10–30 per document.
Payment methods vary — some archives require wire transfer to a Romanian bank account, others accept postal money orders. Ask about payment when you make the initial request.
What If Records Are in a Difficult Region
Applicants from Transylvania with Jewish or minority-denomination ancestors (and those from areas with significant wartime destruction) may encounter genuinely missing records. In some cases, genealogists specializing in Transylvanian research can help locate records that are not in the main archive system — held instead in church depositories or private collections.
If the archive cannot find a record, request written confirmation of the negative search.