Citizenship | Romania (2007) | bpb.de

One of the major novelties introduced by the 1991 Law on Citizenship was that it allowed for dual citizenship and made it for individuals (and their children) who lost or were forced to give up their Romanian citizenship under different historical circumstances to reacquire it.

This measure paved the way for the repatriation of a variety of groups, like former legal and irregular emigrants who voluntarily renounced their citizenship and former Romanian citizens who were stripped of their citizenship due to the redrawing of borders. What makes this procedure interesting is not just the fact that those who qualify may retain the citizenship they hold prior to repatriation, but that they are exempted from the permanent residence requirement that otherwise applies to citizenship applicants. In other words, those reacquiring citizenship are not required to be legal residents in Romania in order to apply.

In the case of foreigners who wish to obtain Romanian citizenship by naturalising, sustained residence is a key requirement. Persons married to Romanian citizens must have resided in Romania continuously for five years prior to application; all others must have eight years of uninterrupted residency. Exceptions are made in the case of entrepreneurs who make a significant investment in Romania.

The latest reports by the Ministry of Justice, which is in charge of issues related to acquiring and reacquiring Romanian citizenship, show that the number of applications for reacquisition and naturalisation has declined. This is especially true of applications for naturalisation since 2000.