In the course of its practice regarding Immigration Law, the Costaș, Negru & Asociații team is presenting here a recent interesting development regarding the legal status of foreign nationals residing unlawfully in Romania.
Until the beginning of May 2026, foreign nationals residing in Romania who wished to extend their right of stay were subject to a prior obligation, namely to submit the application for the extension of their right of stay at least 30 days before the expiration date of the initially granted period of stay.
This issue created practical difficulties, given that the right of stay is generally granted for an initial period of 90 days, which is relatively short. Therefore, within a maximum of 60 days from their arrival in Romania, foreign nationals were required to prepare a new administrative file and submit it to the Romanian Immigration Office (IGI) in order to secure the extension of their right of stay, should they decide to prolong their stay.
The largest number of foreign nationals, predominantly from Asia, came to Romania for employment purposes and therefore clearly intended to remain in the country for a longer period of time. Nevertheless, due to the lack of diligence on the part of labor recruitment agencies, an alarmingly high number of these individuals end up losing their right of stay precisely because they fail to comply with the 30-day deadline for submitting the application for extension prior to the expiration of their right of stay.
Consequently, their stay became unlawful and their right to work was effectively restricted, even in situations where they were not identified by the Romanian Immigration Office (IGI) and no return decision was issued, given that they no longer possessed documents attesting their legal stay in Romania, which are mandatory for employment or for maintaining their employment relationship.
Therefore, this excessive formalism raises genuine concerns, as it places these foreign nationals in a situation of unlawful stay merely because they are either unaware of the Romanian legal provision establishing this mandatory 30-day deadline — a requirement that the Romanian Immigration Office (IGI) applies very strictly — or because they rely on the diligence of labor recruitment agencies or employers, who may likewise fail to submit the application for extension of the right of stay within the prescribed time limit.
The novel element introduced by the Romanian Government consists in granting an opportunity to those foreign nationals who either failed or were unaware of the obligation to submit the application for the extension of their right of stay 30 days prior to its expiration, through Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026.
In practical terms, through the adoption of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026, the legislator introduced a measure affecting foreign workers remaining in Romania after the expiration of their right of stay for employment purposes. In the context in which, in practice, numerous foreign nationals have ended up in situations of unlawful stay as a result of the termination of their employment relationships, administrative difficulties, or the impossibility of regularizing their status within a short period of time, the new regulation temporarily creates the possibility of restoring lawful status without the obligation to obtain a long-stay visa for employment purposes.
Article 52 para. (1) of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 provides as follows: “Foreign nationals remaining on the territory of Romania after the expiration of their right of stay established by a long-stay visa for employment purposes or by a single permit, and against whom no return obligation has been ordered, may apply, until 31 December 2026, for the extension of their temporary right of stay for employment purposes, without the obligation to obtain a long-stay visa for employment purposes, with the corresponding application of the procedure provided under Article 56 paras. (10) and (11) of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 194/2002, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented.”
Thus, the aforementioned provisions establish a transitional regularization mechanism for foreign workers who legally entered Romania for employment purposes, but subsequently lost their right of stay and have not yet been issued a return decision.
Furthermore, Article 52 para. (2) of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 provides as follows: “In order to benefit from the provisions of para. (1), foreign nationals are required to appear, within 60 days from the entry into force of this emergency ordinance, before any territorial unit of the General Inspectorate for Immigration in order to declare the address at which they effectively reside on the territory of Romania.”
Therefore, in order to benefit from this measure, the persons concerned must appear before the Romanian Immigration Office (IGI) within 60 days from the entry into force of the ordinance, namely from 27 April 2026. Consequently, the deadline for appearing before the authorities is 29 June 2026.
Furthermore, from the perspective of the practical effects of the new regulation, we consider that the application of Article 52 para. (1) of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 leads to the distinction between two separate legal situations, depending on whether or not a return decision has been issued by the General Inspectorate for Immigration.
Under the first scenario, namely where no return decision has been issued against the foreign national, the individual may benefit from the transitional mechanism established by the ordinance and may directly apply for the extension of the temporary right of stay for employment purposes, without the need to obtain a new long-stay visa. Thus, the legislator allows persons who remained on the territory of Romania after the expiration of their right of stay to restore their lawful status, granting them the possibility to continue their professional activity and to avoid the consequences associated with unlawful stay.
Under the second scenario, namely where the General Inspectorate for Immigration has already issued a return decision, the foreign national is excluded from the application of this mechanism, even though their factual situation is identical to that of persons falling within the first category. In other words, the mere existence of a return obligation prevents the submission of an application for the extension of the right of stay pursuant to Article 52 para. (1).
From this perspective, the provision raises certain concerns regarding fairness, as the difference in legal treatment is not necessarily determined by the conduct of the foreign national, but rather by the moment at which the administrative authority identified the situation of unlawful stay and issued the return measure. Consequently, two individuals in similar circumstances may ultimately benefit from entirely different legal solutions solely depending on the stage of the administrative procedures carried out by the Romanian Immigration Office (IGI).
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In conclusion, the provisions of Article 52 para. (1) may represent an important opportunity for foreign workers residing unlawfully in Romania to regularize their status before a return decision is issued by the Romanian Immigration Office (IGI). For this reason, individuals who have remained on the territory of Romania after the expiration of their right of stay, but against whom no return measure has yet been ordered, are advised to submit the relevant application as promptly as possible.
As part of our practice, the team at Costaș, Negru & Asociații provides legal assistance in the field of immigration, including obtaining and extending temporary residence permits, obtaining long-term residence rights, changing the purpose of stay, as well as assisting with other formalities and procedures carried out before the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI).
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This article was prepared for the blog of the law firm Costaș, Negru & Asociații by Rovena Fetico, from the Cluj Bar Association and Clara Dohotar, from the Bucharest Bar Association.
Costaș, Negru & Asociații is a law firm with offices in Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest and Arad, which provides assistance, legal representation and advice in several practice areas through a team of 16 lawyers and consultants. Details of the legal services and the composition of the team can be found at https://www.costas-negru.ro. All rights for materials published on the company’s website and via social media belong to Costaș, Negru & Asociații, reproduction is permitted for information purposes only and with full and correct citation of the source.
