Permanent stay right in Romania

Conditions for granting the permanent stay right

1. The permanent stay right is granted to the foreigners if all the following conditions are fulfilled :

• Have had a continuous and legal stay on the Romanian territory within the last 5 years previous to the application submission, as follows :
• • The stay shall be considered continuous, when the period of absence within the Romanian territory is less then 6 consecutive months and does not exceed 10 months in total;
  • The stay shall be considered legal, when no measures regarding leaving the national territory have been disposed against the foreigner;
  • When establishing the continuous and legal stay period of time, half of the stay period of time for studies purposes shall be taken into consideration;
  • When establishing the continuous and legal stay period of time, neither the stay conferred by the diplomatic or business visa shall be taken into consideration, nor the stay obtained for carrying on activities as seasonal worker;
• Have proved to dispose of the necessary means of subsistence reaching the level of the national minimum net salary, except for the foreigners, which are family members of Romanian citizens;
• Have proved to a social health insurance;
• Have proved to legally hold housing space, according to the law (law no. 247 / 12.12.2007)
• Proficiency of the Romanian language at least at a satisfactory level;
• Do not represent a threat for the public order or national security.

2. The foreigners of Romanian origin or borne in Romania, as well as those whose stay is in the interest of the Romanian state, may receive permanent stay right , without fulfilling the conditions foreseen at par. 1 letter a-e.

3. The minors whose parents hold a permanent stay right may receive the same statute, without fulfilling the conditions foreseen at par. 1 in case only one of the parents holds a permanent stay right, the consent of the other parent is needed in authentic form.

4. The foreigners, who prove to have made investments of minimum EUR 1.000.000 or have created over 100 full time places of work, may receive the permanent stay right, without fulfilling the conditions foreseen at par. 1 letter a and b .

Requesting permanent stay right

1. The foreigners foreseen at art. 69 par. 1 have to submit personally to the territorial units of the Authority for foreigners a standard application accompanied by the following documents:

• Document regarding the crossing of the state’s frontier;
• Justifying documents regarding the legal holding of a housing space;
• Justifying documents regarding the means of subsistence;
• Proof regarding the social health insurance;
• Criminal record issued by the Romanian authorities.

2. Together with the application’s submission, the applicants shall sustain an interview in order to establish the proficiency level of the Romanian language.

Approval of the permanent stay right

1. The permanent stay right is granted by the head of Authority of foreigners

2. The applications are analyzed by a specially constituted commission, following the order of the head of the Authority for foreigners, commission that frames justified proposals for each single case.

3. The processing term of the applications is of maximum 6 months from the registration date thereof. In case of well founded reasons the head of the Authority for foreigners may extend such term with 3 more months, subject to the applicant’s notification.

4. The approval is communicated to the applicant in written within 15 working days from the application’s processing.

5. Within 30 days from the notification’s receipt, the foreigner whose permanent stay right in Romania has been approved has the obligation to present himself / herself in front of the territorial unit of the Authority for foreigners where his / her application has been registered, for the issue of the permanent stay permit.

6. The granting of the permanent stay right for foreigners, who are family members of Romanian citizens is exempted from the payment for consular fees.

Equal treatment

The holders of a permanent stay right benefit, according to the law, of equal treatment with the Romanian citizens in respect to :

• access on the labor market, including in respect to employment and work conditions, to independent economic activities and professional activities, subject to the relevant application of the provisions of Law no. 300/2004 regarding authorization of natural persons and family associations, which carry on independent economic activities, as modified and completed, provided that the carried on activity does not imply, even occasionally, the exercising of several prerogatives of the public authority;
• access to all forms and levels of education and professional training including to granting of scholarships;
• validation of studies and recognition of diplomas , certificates, competence attestations and professional qualifications, according to the regulations in force;
• social security, social assistance and protection;
• public health assistance;
• tax deductions on global income and tax exemptions;
• access to public goods and services including obtaining of dwellings;
• freedom to enter into associations, for affiliation and belonging to an union or professional organization.

Establishing of the foreigners’ domicile in Romania

The foreigners, who hold a permanent stay right, have the right to establish or move their domicile on the Romanian territory under the same conditions with the Romanian citizens.