Residence permit

Author

JRS Romania

The duration of residence permits granted for refugee status is 3 years and for subsidiary protection 2 years.[1]

The conditions for issuing a residence permit – in the form of a card – are prescribed by the Asylum Decree.[2] In order to obtain a residence permit, issued free of charge ,the beneficiary of international protection has the obligation to submit a document to IGI-DAI which proves their legal residence. This can be a: title of ownership; lease agreement registered with the fiscal administration; commodity contract concluded in authentic form; or any other documents concluded under the conditions of validity provided by Romanian legislation in force regarding the housing title, which prove the acquisition of some housing rights.[3]

Responsibility for issuing the residence permits lies with IGI-DAI. In practice there are no difficulties in the issuance of the residence permit. However, the AIDRom representative in Timișoara stated that beneficiaries encounter difficulties in obtaining a rental contract fulfilling the conditions required by the authorities. Currently, the landlords do not want to declare to the authorities that they rented out their apartments. The situation was the same for beneficiaries of international protection living in Region 2, but not in the Galati reception centre, in 2023.[4]

The beneficiary of international protection has to fill in a standard form,[5] which is usually filled in together with the officer in charge. The time of issuance of the residence permit card is issued differs from one Regional Centre to another: as of 2022, 1 week or even sooner in Bucharest, three weeks in Timișoara, according to the director of the regional centre of Timișoara, three weeks in Rădăuţi, three weeks in Galaţi (also in 2023),[6] two to three weeks in Giurgiu. As for Şomcuta Mare the director was not aware of the average duration.

Difficulties and delays may arise when the beneficiaries do not understand the procedure and do not bring all the required documents.[7]

As regards the renewal of residence permit, beneficiaries of international protection do not encounter any problems. Before the expiry of the residence permit, they fill in a request of renewal and a new card is issued in the same time frame as mentioned above.

IGI-DAI issued 1,374 residence permits to refugees and 1,798 to subsidiary protection beneficiaries in 2023.[8] These were residence permits issued for the first time; beneficiaries had not held another residence permit in the previous 6 months.

Source: General Inspectorate for Immigration, 18 January 2024.

[1] Article 20(6) Asylum Act.

[2] Article 51 Asylum Decree.

[3] Article 50(3) Asylum Decree.

[4] Practice based observation of JRS Romania, April 2024.

[5] The form is available at: http://bit.ly/2xaDCgJ.

[6] Practice based observation of JRS Romania, April 2024.

[7] Information provided by IOM, 19 February 2022.

[8] Information provided by IGI-DAI, 18 January 2024.