Romanian Citizenship: How to Get It, Requirements and Timeline

Citizenship is the deepest form of belonging a country can offer. If you have built a career, a family or a life in Romania, becoming a citizen turns a permit that must be renewed into a status that is yours for good — the right to live, work and vote without asking permission. This guide sets out who qualifies, the routes open to you, what naturalisation actually requires, how long it takes, and what it means in practice for foreign workers and professional drivers.

How Romanian citizenship law works

Romanian citizenship is governed mainly by the Romanian Citizenship Law (No. 21/1991), and applications are handled by the National Authority for Citizenship. Like most of Europe, Romania follows the principle of jus sanguinis — citizenship passes primarily through parentage rather than place of birth — so the two most common ways to be a citizen are to be born to a Romanian parent, or to naturalise after a period of lawful residence.

Becoming a citizen changes your legal standing for good. It brings the right to a Romanian passport, the vote in national elections, and an end to the permit renewals that shape life as a foreign resident. It also carries the full weight of EU citizenship: the freedom to live, work and study in any member state, and consular protection abroad.

The ways to become a Romanian citizen

There are several doors into Romanian citizenship, and the right one depends on your ancestry, your family and how long you have lived here:

• By birth or descent — People who lost Romanian citizenship for reasons not their own, and their descendants to the third degree, have a restoration route.
• By naturalisation — after eight years of lawful residence, meeting the language, means and good-character conditions.
• By marriage — a shorter route for the spouse of a Romanian citizen.
• Through the diaspora — people of Romanian origin often face easier terms.

Citizenship by naturalisation — the requirements

The standard route is naturalisation, and it rests on time spent lawfully in the country. In Romania, the ordinary requirement is eight years of legal residence, and alongside that you will normally need to show:

• a period of continuous, lawful residence, usually with the most recent years unbroken;
• knowledge of Romanian and of basic civics and culture;
• stable, lawful means of support without reliance on social assistance;
• a clean criminal record and good character;
• proof of your identity and current nationality.

The residence that counts is lawful — time spent in the country on a valid permit, not as a visitor. Gaps, long absences or periods without status can reset or interrupt the clock, so keeping your residence unbroken and well documented matters as much as reaching the total. Restoration of citizenship for former citizens and their descendants (notably in Moldova) is the dominant route, far more common than ordinary naturalisation.

When the eight years can be shorter

The headline figure is not the only path. The residence period is often greatly reduced for those restoring citizenship lost by former citizens and their descendants, which is the busiest route. Where you fit one of these categories, the wait can be far shorter than the ordinary rule suggests, so it is always worth checking your own position against the specific provisions before assuming you face the full term.

The documents you will need

Paperwork makes or breaks a citizenship file, and a set returned for missing items usually goes to the back of the queue. Expect to gather:

• a valid passport and your residence permit or card;
• your birth certificate, and marriage certificate where relevant, legalised or apostilled and officially translated;
• proof of your address and the length of your residence;
• evidence of income, employment or other lawful means;
• a police clearance or certificate of good conduct, sometimes from every country you have lived in;
• your language and, where required, civics-test results.

The application process, step by step

Every case differs, but the route through the National Authority for Citizenship generally runs like this:

1. Confirm you meet the residence period and the other conditions.
2. Gather your documents and have foreign ones legalised or apostilled and translated.
3. Sit any required language or civics test and obtain the certificate.
4. Submit the application to the National Authority for Citizenship and pay the fee.
5. Attend an interview or provide biometrics if you are asked to.
6. Wait for the decision, which can take many months to over a year.
7. If approved, take any oath or pledge and collect your certificate, then apply for your passport.

Fees

Citizenship carries an application fee, and there are usually smaller costs for document translation, legalisation, language testing and certificates. Fees are generally non-refundable whether or not the application succeeds, and they can change, so confirm the current amount with the National Authority for Citizenship before you pay. It is wise to budget for the surrounding costs as well as the headline fee.

Citizenship by marriage

Marriage to a Romanian citizen opens a shorter path. In Romania, the spouse of a citizen can typically apply after around five years, provided the marriage is genuine and subsisting, and the couple live together. The other conditions — language, means, good character — still apply, and the authorities look closely at whether the relationship is real rather than one entered into for a passport. Keep evidence of a shared life, from a joint address to everyday records, in case you are asked to prove it.

Dual citizenship in Romania

Good news for most applicants: Romania permits dual citizenship. That means you can add a Romanian passport to the one you already hold, keeping your original nationality — though you should also check that your other country permits dual citizenship, since some states withdraw their nationality when you take another. Where both countries allow it, you keep every right of your birth nationality and gain a second one.

The Romanian passport and travel access

A citizen holds an EU passport with full free movement and visa-free access to well over 170 countries. Because Romania is a member of the European Union, a Romanian passport is far more than a travel document: it carries the right to live, work, study and retire in any EU or EEA country, plus Switzerland, without a visa or permit.

For a family, that is the real prize — a single passport that opens an entire continent of work and study to your children as well as to you.

Citizenship by exceptional contribution

Romania does not sell citizenship. There is no route to a Romanian passport through investment alone, and citizenship for exceptional service — where it exists at all — is a rare, discretionary honour reserved for people who have made an outstanding contribution to the country. For almost everyone, the realistic routes are residence, descent and marriage.

Renouncing Romanian citizenship

Citizenship can also be given up — usually because another country requires it before it will naturalise you. Renouncing Romanian citizenship is a formal process handled by the authorities, and it is generally only approved once you already hold, or are guaranteed, another nationality, so that you are not left stateless. It is a serious step and, in most cases, difficult to reverse, so take advice before starting it.

Romanian citizenship for the diaspora

Restoration of citizenship for former citizens and their descendants (notably in Moldova) is the dominant route, far more common than ordinary naturalisation.

If that describes your family, the diaspora route can be dramatically faster than ordinary naturalisation, sometimes without any residence requirement at all. The practical work is genealogical: tracing the ancestor, then gathering the birth, marriage and citizenship records that prove an unbroken line back to them. Start early, because civil records from decades ago can take time to locate and legalise.

For professional drivers building a career in Romania

For a professional driver, citizenship is the far end of a road that starts with a work permit and a first contract. The years you spend driving lawfully in Romania — on a valid permit, paying your contributions, with a clean record — are exactly the years that count toward naturalisation. Transport work tends to be steady and documented, which is precisely what the residence requirement rewards.

The practical path is to keep your residence lawful and continuous, hold on to the paperwork that proves each year, and meet the language and means tests along the way. And the prize is real: a Romanian passport would let you live and work across the EU and drive throughout the bloc without a further permit. You can browse driver vacancies in Romania and set up a driver profile while you build toward it.

• Browse driver vacancies in Romania.
• Register a driver profile.
• For employers — recruitment and compliance support

Building your residence by region

Romania is divided into 41 counties (județe) plus the capital municipality of Bucharest. Each has its own page with local details for this topic, and each is a place where professional drivers are based and hired.

Alba

Alba is a county of Romania, with its seat at Alba Iulia. Driver jobs in Alba.

Arad

Arad is a county of Romania, with its seat at Arad. Driver jobs in Arad.

Argeș

Argeș is a county of Romania, with its seat at Pitești. Driver jobs in Argeș.

Bacău

Bacău is a county of Romania, with its seat at Bacău. Driver jobs in Bacău.

Bihor

Bihor is a county of Romania, with its seat at Oradea. Driver jobs in Bihor.

Bistrița-Năsăud

Bistrița-Năsăud is a county of Romania, with its seat at Bistrița. Driver jobs in Bistrița-Năsăud.

Botoșani

Botoșani is a county of Romania, with its seat at Botoșani. Driver jobs in Botoșani.

Brăila

Brăila is a county of Romania, with its seat at Brăila. Driver jobs in Brăila.

Brașov

Brașov is a county of Romania, with its seat at Brașov. Driver jobs in Brașov.

Buzău

Buzău is a county of Romania, with its seat at Buzău. Driver jobs in Buzău.

Călărași

Călărași is a county of Romania, with its seat at Călărași. Driver jobs in Călărași.

Caraș-Severin

Caraș-Severin is a county of Romania, with its seat at Reșița. Driver jobs in Caraș-Severin.

Cluj

Cluj is a county of Romania, with its seat at Cluj-Napoca. Driver jobs in Cluj.

Constanța

Constanța is a county of Romania, with its seat at Constanța. Driver jobs in Constanța.

Covasna

Covasna is a county of Romania, with its seat at Sfântu Gheorghe. Driver jobs in Covasna.

Dâmbovița

Dâmbovița is a county of Romania, with its seat at Târgoviște. Driver jobs in Dâmbovița.

Dolj

Dolj is a county of Romania, with its seat at Craiova. Driver jobs in Dolj.

Galați

Galați is a county of Romania, with its seat at Galați. Driver jobs in Galați.

Giurgiu

Giurgiu is a county of Romania, with its seat at Giurgiu. Driver jobs in Giurgiu.

Gorj

Gorj is a county of Romania, with its seat at Târgu Jiu. Driver jobs in Gorj.

Harghita

Harghita is a county of Romania, with its seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Driver jobs in Harghita.

Hunedoara

Hunedoara is a county of Romania, with its seat at Deva. Driver jobs in Hunedoara.

Ialomița

Ialomița is a county of Romania, with its seat at Slobozia. Driver jobs in Ialomița.

Iași

Iași is a county of Romania, with its seat at Iași. Driver jobs in Iași.

Ilfov

Ilfov is a county of Romania, with its seat at Buftea. Driver jobs in Ilfov.

Maramureș

Maramureș is a county of Romania, with its seat at Baia Mare. Driver jobs in Maramureș.

Mehedinți

Mehedinți is a county of Romania, with its seat at Drobeta-Turnu Severin. Driver jobs in Mehedinți.

Mureș

Mureș is a county of Romania, with its seat at Târgu Mureș. Driver jobs in Mureș.

Neamț

Neamț is a county of Romania, with its seat at Piatra Neamț. Driver jobs in Neamț.

Olt

Olt is a county of Romania, with its seat at Slatina. Driver jobs in Olt.

Prahova

Prahova is a county of Romania, with its seat at Ploiești. Driver jobs in Prahova.

Sălaj

Sălaj is a county of Romania, with its seat at Zălau. Driver jobs in Sălaj.

Satu Mare

Satu Mare is a county of Romania, with its seat at Satu Mare. Driver jobs in Satu Mare.

Sibiu

Sibiu is a county of Romania, with its seat at Sibiu. Driver jobs in Sibiu.

Suceava

Suceava is a county of Romania, with its seat at Suceava. Driver jobs in Suceava.

Teleorman

Teleorman is a county of Romania, with its seat at Alexandria. Driver jobs in Teleorman.

Timiș

Timiș is a county of Romania, with its seat at Timișoara. Driver jobs in Timiș.

Tulcea

Tulcea is a county of Romania, with its seat at Tulcea. Driver jobs in Tulcea.

Vâlcea

Vâlcea is a county of Romania, with its seat at Râmnicu Vâlcea. Driver jobs in Vâlcea.

Vaslui

Vaslui is a county of Romania, with its seat at Vaslui. Driver jobs in Vaslui.

Vrancea

Vrancea is a county of Romania, with its seat at Focșani. Driver jobs in Vrancea.

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital of Romania and a municipality with county-level status. Driver jobs in Bucharest.

What Romanian citizenship gives you

Full Romanian citizenship gives you rights that a residence permit never can. You gain the right to live, work, and study in Romania without needing a permit, to vote in national elections, and to pass Romanian citizenship to your children. The Romanian passport gives you an EU passport with full free movement and visa-free access to well over 170 countries. As Romania is a member of the European Union, citizenship also gives you the right to live, work, and study anywhere in the EU, and to vote in European and local elections across the bloc. Unlike a residence permit, citizenship does not lapse if you spend long periods abroad, which makes it the most stable status you can hold.

How long the process takes

It helps to treat Romanian citizenship as a multi-year plan rather than a single application. Most applicants first build up 8 years of continuous legal residence, then gather their documents, sit any language or integration checks, and submit the file to the National Authority for Citizenship. After filing, a decision usually takes many months, and a formal act or decree often confirms final approval before you can collect your certificate and apply for a passport. Keeping clean, unbroken residence records throughout makes the whole path far smoother.

Common reasons applications are refused

Most refusals of Romanian citizenship come down to a handful of preventable problems. The usual causes are not enough continuous legal residence, missing or inconsistent documents, an unspent criminal record, unpaid taxes, or falling short of the language and integration requirements. Long absences from Romania can also break the residence count without you realising it. Checking each requirement carefully before you apply, and keeping honest, complete records, gives you the best possible chance of approval.

Citizenship or long-term residence: which route fits you?

Citizenship is not the only way to settle in Romania for good. Long-term or permanent residence already lets you live and work there indefinitely, and it is usually faster and simpler to obtain than citizenship. Citizenship makes sense when you want security that cannot be taken away, the right to vote, a Romanian passport, and the ability to pass your status to your children. If you mainly want to work and settle, permanent residence may be enough; if you want to put down roots for life, citizenship is the stronger choice. Many professional drivers start with residence and decide on citizenship later, once they have built up the required years.

Related guides

• Romania work permit
• Romania residence permit
• Romania short-stay visa
• Driver vacancies across Europe

Official government sources

• National Authority for Citizenship.
• Ministry of Justice.
• General Inspectorate for Immigration.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Information only — not legal advice. The final decision rests with the National Authority for Citizenship, and rules, periods and fees can change. Always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before you apply.