Eligibility for Romanian citizenship: Are you eligible?

The article was written in collaboration with Hershko-Romania

Why is the demand for Romanian citizenship increasing in recent years?

Many Israelis knock on the doors of the Romanian embassy in order to get a Romanian passport. In the last year alone, the number of applications for issuing Romanian passports doubled, which caused the Romanian authorities to tighten the procedural conditions and, as well, to lengthen the bureaucratic processes for obtaining citizenship.

The high demand is a direct product of the significant rights that a Romanian passport grants to its owner and includes, among other things, the following options:

Work in Europe

With the help of Romanian citizenship, you can work in all the countries of the European Union either as employees, as self-employed or as company owners, in addition, a Romanian passport opens doors to various jobs as part of a private or government company.

Residence and execution of real estate transactions in Europe

To purchase a property for investment or residence on European soil, it is recommended to have a European passport. Romanian citizenship opens up to you the possibility of carrying out real estate transactions in the EU countries or living in Europe under optimal conditions with the option of realizing attractive tax benefits.

Low-cost studies for European passport holders

Holders of Romanian citizenship are entitled to study in EU countries with an emphasis on low costs and sometimes no cost at all. In accordance with the fact that in Europe there are some of the most advanced academic institutions in the world, Romanian citizenship opens up to you the opportunity to acquire a degree in a desirable profession at a minimal price.

Freedom of movement between EU countries without the need to stamp a passport

Are you in Europe? With a Romanian passport you are free to move between countries without all the delay that characterizes passport stamping. The short lines you've always looked at? With a Romanian passport you can fit in and find yourself very quickly at your next destination in Europe.

Entry to Canada without a visa

A Romanian passport gives you, as part of the rights, the possibility of entering Canada without the need for a visa, which saves you time, money and bureaucratic exhaustion.

Citizenship that automatically passes to the next generation

For those born to a Romanian citizen, Romanian citizenship is an asset that passes to children and grandchildren automatically and allows them to join the European family and enjoy, just like Romanians by birth, all the rights that come with it. Romanian passport holders and their descendants earn the benefits that only a free economy like in Europe allows its subjects. 

There is no doubt that the security and economic situation in Israel, which is currently unstable, is fertile ground for the high demand for Romanian passports as insurance for the passport holder and his children.

Romanian citizenship - who is eligible?

Eligibility for a Romanian passport for expatriates of Romania and their descendants

The only way to check whether there is Romanian citizenship or eligibility for Romanian citizenship is through the competent authorities in Romania. An application must be submitted to the authorities in order to check citizenship status, as there is no computerized system that performs a quick check in this area. Only an official answer from the competent authorities submitted in writing is sufficient proof of your citizenship status, any other information is nothing more than conjecture.

Division into three eligible groups

Broadly speaking, expatriates from Romania can be divided into three groups:

The process of obtaining citizenship according to eligibility groups

The three groups are entitled to Romanian citizenship, but there is a difference in the process of obtaining citizenship between groups:

1. Expatriates of Romania whose citizenship was preserved - immigrants who came from Romania between the years 1950-1952 and 1965-1967 as well as in part of the 1970s and 1980s. From 1984 or close to that, citizenships of Romanians were not taken away.
2. Expatriates of Romania who were deprived of their citizenship against their request - these are mostly immigrants who fled Romania without a legal visa between the years 1948-1949, as well as expatriates of Romania in the 1930s who are not identified in the Romanian authorities' systems as citizens of the country.
3. Expatriates from Romania who were forced to renounce their citizenship - these immigrants were forced to renounce their citizenship as a condition for approval of aliyah to Israel. Most of these are immigrants who legally immigrated to Israel between 1957-1964.

The process of obtaining citizenship according to eligibility groups

The three groups are entitled to Romanian citizenship, but there is a difference in the process of obtaining citizenship between groups:

• The members of the first group and their descendants are considered citizens of the state of Romania without the need for an additional naturalization process. In order to obtain citizenship, one must go to the authorities and prove that the applicant is indeed a descendant of those who belong to this group. In this group there is no age limit at all.
• The members of the second and third groups and their descendants are also entitled to receive citizenship, but here there is a generation limit and citizenship will be granted up to the generation of grandchildren only (and their minor children). 

Additional requirements for the descendants of the second and third groups

Please note, the descendants of the second and third groups are required to perform two actions in order to obtain Romanian citizenship:

Contact the National Citizenship Authority - "ANC" to restore their citizenship.

Oath of allegiance at the consulate - they must swear allegiance at the Romanian consulate up to six months from the date of the decision on the right to receive citizenship.

Important detail: When applying for Romanian citizenship, you can skip generations. That is, there is no obligation for the grandfather to return citizenship so that you as grandchildren have the right to be considered Romanian citizens. Moreover, even if your grandfather decided to carry out a process of regaining citizenship, you will not benefit from this and will have to carry out the joining process from scratch, this is in accordance with the fact that when you were born, neither your grandfather nor your parents were among the citizens of Romania. Therefore, in the bottom line, there is no obligation that your parents or Your grandfather/grandmother will restore their citizenship in order to enable you to exercise your right to Romanian citizenship, as each generation stands on its own.

Eligibility for descendants of the second and third groups up to the age of 18

It is important to know that the grandchildren of those who belong to the second and third groups are entitled to citizenship until they reach the age of 18. If they reach the age of 18 and citizenship has not been arranged for them, the right to Romanian citizenship will cease for them and their descendants forever. Conversely, if they receive citizenship, their descendants will be defined as natural born citizens.

Eligibility for a Romanian passport for expatriates from Moldova, Ukraine and their descendants

Descendants born in a region in Serbia between 1918-1940 are entitled to Romanian citizenship. Here there is a restriction up to the generation of great-grandchildren. To exercise the right, you must contact the ANC authority and take the oath of allegiance at the consulate.

What documents are required for obtaining Romanian citizenship and a Romanian passport?

Suppose that the grandparent immigrated from Romania. In such a case, the following documents are required:

• Romanian birth certificate/extract of Romanian birth certificate of the grandparent
• Extract of the grandparent's registration including previous names
• Death certificate if deceased
• Extended registration extract of the relevant parent (the descendant of the Romanian grandparent)
• Extended registration summary of the applicant for citizenship
• Birth certificate of the applicant for citizenship
• Marriage certificate of the applicant for citizenship if married
• Birth certificate of the spouse of the applicant for citizenship
• Birth certificates of the children
• In cases where the grandparent's citizenship was revoked - a certificate attesting to the grandparent's Israeli
• citizenship as well as a criminal information certificate of the applicant for Romanian citizenship.

Descendants born in the aforementioned region of Serbia (who were born between the years 1918-1940) are required to additionally issue new birth and marriage certificates with an apostille from the authorities of the Ukraine/Moldova states from the grandparent to the applicant for Romanian citizenship. Want to know more? Enter now the website of lawyer Daniel Hershko - Romanian citizenship publication.

A quick and simple process for issuing Romanian citizenship with attorney Daniel Hershko 

In order to test your eligibility for a Romanian passport, it is necessary to have experience working with the legal authorities in Romania along with knowledge of the exact details of the law. Attorney and notary Daniel Hershko, who was born in Romania and speaks the language, specializes in issuing citizenship to those eligible, including checking eligibility and realizing the possibility of citizenship in the fastest and most convenient way for you.

Take advantage now of your opportunity for a European passport that opens doors and choose a professional from the few in Israel dealing in this field, who will take care of your citizenship personally and take care of the process of issuing the Romanian passport from start to finish. For more details call now: 054-448-1100. 

The article was written in collaboration with Hershko-Romania