In the current geo-political context, citizenship of EU member states has become more desirable in the eyes of foreigners. More than before, when the advantage sought was to grant a free path within the European space, through an European passport, that eliminates the need to obtain entry visas in each such member state, the advantages that attract at this moment are those related to social and financial living conditions.
Amid a trend of an ever-increasing migration and an accentuated relocation tendency in recent months, Romania has become a sought-after immigration destination, both due to the living conditions and the tax treatment practiced.
Thus, in the recent law practice of Costaș, Negru & Asociații, we have encountered a series of different situations regarding the status of Romanian citizenship and the appropriate procedures to follow for each individual situation.
Preliminarily, we show the fact that Romanian citizenship is acquired in three ways, by birth, by adoption or by request.
A first thing that we would like to indicate is the fact that a significant part of those who want to immigrate to Romania have at least one connection with it, for example: either they have parents or ancestors of Romanian origin or they were born in Romania and emigrated shortly after.
Romanian citizenship is acquired by birth in the following cases:
– by a person born in Romania from one or both Romanian parents;
– by a person born abroad from one or both Romanian parents.
Considering the application of the ius sangvinis principle and the fact that it is considered that that person already holds Romanian citizenship, nor the procedure for acquiring nor reacquiring Romanian citizenship before the National Citizenship Authority shall be followed, but another procedure is applicable depending on case.
Thus, for those born in Romania from one or both Romanian parents, it will be possible to apply directly for a Romanian passport or identity document, based on the Romanian birth certificate. In order to obtain a Romanian passport, a procedure that lasts a maximum of 30 days, the interested person will be able to apply both in Romania and at the Romanian Consulates in the country of residence (in this case the term is max. 60 days), and personal presence is mandatory.
For those born abroad from one or two Romanian parents, a simplified, fast procedure shall be followed before a local authority, namely the procedure for the transcription of the foreign birth certificate. Following this procedure, which lasts a maximum of 60 days, a Romanian certificate will be obtained, attesting the Romanian citizenship of that person. Personal presence in this case is not mandatory, it can be conducted by a lawyer.
A second often encountered situation is that of people who wish to obtain Romanian citizenship based on the fact that they have ancestors of Romanian origin, who either have Romanian citizenship, or had it at the time of their birth, and lost it later, or by waiver or withdrawal.
In these cases, the same procedure will be followed, i.e. obtaining Romanian citizenship upon request. The procedure is carried out before the National Authority for Citizenship, and shall be around 12 months long, from the date of submission of the complete application, and ends with taking the faith oath to Romania. Submission of the file and the oath requires the personal presence of the applicants.
In addition to the application for granting of Romanian citizenship, all documents certifying the identity of the applicant and the ascendants, as well as documents proving kinship relationships shall be submitted, most of the documents issued by other states will be submitted in translated and legalized form, bearing the issuing authority’s apostille.
A situation also present in multiple cases is that of former Romanian citizens, respectively:
– people who emigrated from Romania during communism period and were forced to waive their Romanian citizenship;
– the situation of former Romanian citizens from the “Quadrilater”.
The term “Quadrilater” represents the Romanian name of the southern part of Dobrogea, bordered by the Danube to the northwest, the Beli Lom and Kamchiya rivers to the south and the Black Sea to the east, which between August 10, 1913 and September 7, 1940 was within Romania’s borders – currently, this territory is part of Bulgaria. Therefore, the people who were born or lived in “Quadrilater” between August 10, 1913 and September 7, 1940 were Romanian citizens.
All these individuals will be able to request the reacquisition of Romanian citizenship.
As in the previous case, the procedure is carried out before the National Authority for Citizenship, lasts around 12 months from the date of submission the complete documentation, and ends with the submission of the oath of allegiance to Romania. Submission of the file and the oath requires the personal presence of the applicants.
In all the cases presented above it is not necessary to fulfill other conditions, such as knowledge of the Romanian language or fulfillment of a duration of 8 and 5 years of residence in Romania.
One last situation that we propose to reach is the situation of foreign citizens who do not qualify into any of the situations above, but who wish to obtain Romanian citizenship.
In this case, it is necessary that the applicant fulfills several concurrent conditions, among which:
– has reached the age of 18;
– resides in Romania for at least 8 years or, if married and cohabiting with a Romanian citizen, for at least 5 years from the date of marriage;
– knows the Romanian language and basic notions of Romanian culture and civilization (in this sense, an interview will be held in the form of a test);
– knows the provisions of the Romanian Constitution and the national anthem.
For citizens of EU member states, for legal residents and for people who have invested in Romania over 1,000,0000 euros, the 8 and 5 year terms are reduced by half.
This article was prepared for the blog of the law firm Costaș, Negru & Asociații by Ms. 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 17 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.
