Romanian Citizenship

The Romanian Citizenship Law (Law #21) legislated in 1991, including its amendments, is the primary law dealing with Romanian citizenships issues, an issue that will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people come January 1st 2007 when Romania joins the European Union. It sets the conditions under which former citizens of Romania can regain their Romanian citizenship.

The Romanian Citizenship Law establishes the right of former Romanian citizens who had to relinquish their citizenship in order to leave the country, to regain their Romanian citizenship, as it declares the annulment process had no legal validity.

Second and Third generation descendants to these Romanian citizens are also entitled to a Romanian Citizenship.
In order to execute this right and apply for a Romanian citizenship, one would first have to re-establish the citizenship status of the parent or grandparent. Only once they are in possession of a valid Romanian Passport of the parent or grand parent they can apply for a Romanian citizenship themselves.
This right is granted to any person, including people holding foreign citizenships. There is no obligation for a person to waive his other citizenships and he may hold several different passports.
The process of applying for a Romanian citizenship involves the retrieval of documents from archives in Romania, dealing with several administrative authorities, and sometimes even involves judicial proceedings. Therefore, it requires the involvement of a person who is both fluent in the native language, and familiar with the local authorities. It is not impossible to complete this process without the aid of a local representative, yet it definitely reduces the chances in borderline cases, and significantly lengthens the period of time.
Hiring a local attorney in your own country to handle the proceedings provides no advantages and is usually significantly more expensive. The local representation in Romania is far more important, so paying for legal representation in both countries is unnecessary.