Romanian-French Translation in Charleroi: Guide for the Romanian Community

Since Romania joined the European Union in 2007, the Romanian community of Charleroi and Hainaut has grown considerably. Construction sector workers, health professionals, families settled durably: all regularly need a Romanian-French translation in Charleroi for their administrative procedures. Our agency supports the Romanian community of Hainaut with sworn translations accepted by all the Belgian administrations.

The Romanian community of Charleroi since 2007

The accession of Romania to the European Union on 1 January 2007 opened the way to a significant migration towards Belgium and notably towards Hainaut. Charleroi, with its industrial basin in reconversion and its labour needs in construction, cleaning and personal services, has attracted many Romanian workers who have founded a dynamic and constantly expanding community there.

The Romanian community of Charleroi is distinguished by its diversity: there are construction workers who work on the large Walloon construction sites, nurses and care assistants recruited by the hospitals and rest homes of Hainaut, shopkeepers who have opened Romanian grocery stores and restaurants, lorry drivers and specialised technicians. This diversity of profiles brings about a diversity of translation needs.

The districts of Marchienne-au-Pont, Couillet and Jumet, as well as the municipalities of Châtelet, Farciennes and Fleurus, concentrate an important part of the Romanian community of the Charleroi basin. Like all foreign residents in the province of Hainaut, the Romanians must register in the population register of their municipality and provide documents translated into French for their administrative procedures.

Civil status procedures and municipal registration

The registration in the population register of a municipality of Hainaut is the first procedure of every new Romanian resident. It requires the presentation of a valid Romanian identity card, but also sometimes a birth record (certificat de nastere) or a marriage record (certificat de casatorie) translated into French to establish the complete civil status of the applicant.

For the Romanian families who wish to celebrate their marriage in Charleroi or have a marriage celebrated in Romania recognised, the Charleroi civil status office requires documents translated by a sworn translator. Similarly, for the paternity recognitions and the birth declarations of children born to Romanian parents, the translation of Romanian documents may prove necessary.

For the Belgian naturalisation dossiers, the translation of the Romanian criminal record (cazier judiciar) is an essential document. This document issued by the Ministry of Justice of Romania must be translated by a sworn translator recognised by a court of appeal in Belgium to be accepted by the SPF Justice.

Romanian workers and employment dossiers

The construction sector is the first employer of Romanian workers in Hainaut. Many of them work under the posting regime, which generates needs for the translation of employment contracts, employment attestations and social security documents. In the event of a workplace accident or a dispute before the Labour Court of Charleroi, Romanian documents may have to be translated.

The Romanian health professionals (nurses, physicians, physiotherapists, care assistants) who wish to work in Belgium must have their diplomas recognised by the competent bodies. This recognition requires the sworn translation of the Romanian diplomas, the continuing education attestations and sometimes the certificates of good conduct issued by the Romanian professional bodies.

For the academic recognition by the NARIC service of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the Romanian students and graduates must provide the certified translation of their university diplomas and their transcripts. Our translators know the Romanian education system and its Belgian equivalences well.

The most translated Romanian documents in Charleroi

The diversity of the situations of the Romanian community of Hainaut is reflected in the variety of the documents that our sworn translators handle daily. Here are the documents most frequently requested:

• Certificat de nastere (Romanian birth record): required for the registration in the population register, the paternity recognitions, the marriages in Charleroi and the dossiers of naturalisation or family reunification.
• Certificat de casatorie (Romanian marriage record): indispensable for the recognition of a marriage celebrated in Romania, the family reunifications and the notarial procedures involving Romanian spouses.
• Cazier judiciar (Romanian criminal record): mandatory document for the Belgian naturalisation dossiers, certain regulated jobs and the applications for long-term residence permit.
• Diploma si foaie matricola (diploma and transcript): for the recognition of Romanian diplomas by NARIC or the Belgian professional bodies. Concerns notably physicians, nurses and other regulated professions.
• Contract individual de munca (Romanian employment contract): for the posted workers and the dossiers before the Labour Court of Charleroi or the ONSS services of the province of Hainaut.
• Certificat de deces (Romanian death record): required for the international successions and the procedures with the notaries of Hainaut when the deceased or their property is located in Romania.

Ordering your Romanian-French translation from Charleroi

Whether you live in Charleroi, Montignies-sur-Sambre, Châtelet, La Louvière or Mons, you can order your sworn Romanian-French translation entirely online, without travelling.

1. Scan or photograph your Romanian document: all the pages must be legible, including the Romanian diacritics (a, a, î, s, t with cedilla or comma). A photo with a smartphone generally suffices.
2. Submit your request online: indicate the source language (Romanian), the target language (French), the type of document and the recipient Hainaut administration.
3. Receive your quote in less than 1h: firm rate, with no surprise. VAT not applicable in accordance with article 44 §3 of the Belgian VAT Code.
4. Payment by bank transfer: IBAN details communicated with the quote. The translation begins as soon as the transfer is received.
5. Delivery by email or registered mail: certified PDF by email or paper copy with the original stamp and signature of the sworn translator, depending on the requirements of your administration.