Author
The main criteria for naturalisation are laid down in Article 8(1) of the Act on Romanian Citizenship.[1] The applicant must:
- Have legally resided in Romania continuously for at least 8 years, or at least 5 years since the day of marriage to a Romanian national;
- Prove, through behaviour, actions and attitude, loyalty to the Romanian State, and not undertake or support actions against the rule of law or national security and declare that they have not taken such actions in the past;
- Have reached the age of 18;
- Have legal means for a decent existence in Romania, under the conditions established by the legislation on the regime of foreigners;
- Be known for good behaviour and have not been convicted in the country or abroad for an offense that makes them unworthy of being a Romanian citizen;
- Know Romanian language and possess basic notions of Romanian culture and civilisation, sufficient to integrate into the social life.
The minimum period of residence prior to the naturalisation application is shorter for a number of categories of applicants treated preferentially.[2] Recognised refugees are one of the categories required to have resided in Romania continuously for a period of at least 4 years prior to the submission of the application. Therefore, the aforementioned provision clarifies the distinction between refugee status and subsidiary protection, which means that preferential treatment is afforded only to those bearing refugee status, while persons with subsidiary protection need to fulfil the condition of living 8 years prior to submitting the application. A legislation change that would set out identical conditions for both refugees and subsidiary protection beneficiaries has been announced but not yet published in the Romanian Official Gazette. Another change would concern reacquisition of Romanian citizenship, requiring them to prove their knowledge of the Romanian language through a certificate, which could be relevant for beneficiaries of international protection coming from Ukraine where there are ethnic Romanian communities.[3]
However, the Act on Romanian Citizenship has introduced two additional articles which extend the right to apply for nationality to stateless persons or foreigners who have “particularly contributed to the protection and promotion of Romanian culture, civilization and spirituality”[4] or “who can significantly promote the image of Romania through outstanding performance in sports”.[5] The Romanian Government considered these amendments “necessary” and found that “not adopting them urgently will significantly affect the nationality acquisition and reacquisition process”.[6]
The competent authority is the National Authority for Citizenship (NAC).[7]
CNRR mentioned that several issues with regard to the citizenship acquisition process are still the same, as reported in 2021, and even became more severe in 2022, such as the lack of a separate procedure for beneficiaries of international protection. Given the high volume of applications, there are long delays in scheduling the interview and there are situations in which officials of the NAC request civil status documents, which would involve contacting the authorities of the country of origin by beneficiaries. The request for documents from the authorities of the country of origin may be considered as voluntarily re-availing themselves of the protection of the country of nationality, a ground for cessation of refugee status or subsidiary protection.[8] Furthermore, it was acknowledged that there is a lack of an adequate procedure for vulnerable persons. All applicants (regardless of their status) must go through an interview to test their knowledge of the Romanian language, Romanian History, Romanian Geography, Romanian Culture and Constitution. Although the beneficiaries did not express their dissatisfaction with the difficulty of the test, there are people who for objective reasons (illness, the elderly, those with a disability, etc.) cannot pass the interview, although they meet all the substantive conditions. For example, a person with severe Down syndrome cannot pass the interview, and there is no exception or special procedure for such cases. [9] CNRR added that there is no separate procedure for beneficiaries of international protection who would like to obtain Romanian citizenship, requests are processed under the legal provision for foreigners with legal residence.[10]
In 2023, CNRR[11] highlighted again that under Article 8 of Law 21/1991, beneficiaries of international protection have the right to apply for Romanian citizenship. The same article offers more favourable conditions to persons with refugee status, with the possibility of shortening the eligibility period from 8 years of residence to 4 years. However, in the case of persons with subsidiary protection, this shortened period does not apply. Moreover, there is a lack of clear procedure stipulated in the legislation regarding access to Romanian citizenship for certain vulnerable categories, such as disabled or elderly people, as well as stateless persons. Vulnerable persons have to take the interview for which they must acquire a thorough knowledge of history, geography, culture and knowledge of the Romanian Constitution. For example, a person suffering from dementia or Down’s syndrome is unable to take the interview due to their condition, yet the interview is foreseen by law as a compulsory step in the procedure to obtain Romanian citizenship. In 2023, CNRR organized a citizenship course for beneficiaries of international protection, divided into 4 modules related to the topics addressed in the specific interview (history of Romania, geography of Romania, culture of Romania and the Constitution of Romania); the course was attended by 40 people.
AIDRom reported two to three persons who applied in 2022 for Romanian citizenship were rejected as they failed the general knowledge test. It was reported by an AIDRom representative that the tests are difficult, even for a Romanian citizen.
Galaţi: one beneficiary was granted Romanian citizenship in 2022, the JRS representative was not aware when the request was made. In 2023, applications for citizenship were submitted; BIPs reported long waiting times to receive a response.[12]
Rădăuţi: the legal counsellor reported that there was one request and it is still pending in 2022.
Şomcuta Mare: LADO/ASSOC was not aware of any requests in 2022.[13]
Bucharest: In 2022, IOM Romania assisted around 15 persons interested in obtaining Romanian citizenship. In general, these were new beneficiaries of international protection. 3 persons obtained citizenship in 2021. The main difficulty reported by IOM Romania was obtaining the required documents. Some of the beneficiaries are unemployed or cannot prove their financial means over the last 3 years.[14]
IGI-DAI does not keep statistics on citizenship granted to beneficiaries of international protection.[15]
[1] Act 21/1991 of 1 March 1991, available in Romanian at: http://bit.ly/2xafo6v.
[2] Article 8(2) Act on Romanian Citizenship.
[3] Ministry of Justice, ‘Update 26.04.2024 – Proiect de Lege pentru modificarea și completarea Legii cetățeniei române nr. 21/1991, precum şi pentru modificarea şi completarea altor acte normative’, 26 April 2024, available in Romanian here.
[4] Article 8^1Act on Romanian Citizenship, as amended by Government Emergency Ordinance No. 37/2015 of 15 September 2015.
[5] Article 8^2Act on Romanian Citizenship, as amended by Government Emergency Ordinance No. 37/2015 of 15 September 2015.
[6] Government Emergency Ordinance No. 37/2015 of 15 September 2015.
[7] For further details, see European Statelessness Network, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A case study on Romania, 2015, available at: http://bit.ly/2DxDsiz.
[8] Information provided by CNRR, 15 February 2022.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Information provided by CNRR, 7 February 2023.
[11] Information provided by CNRR , 16 January 2024.
[12] Experience based observation by JRS Romania, April 2024.
[13] Information provided by LADO/ASSOC, 20 February 2023.
[14] Information provided by IOM Romania, 19 February 2022.
[15] Information provided by IGI-DAI, 20 February 2020.