Over the time the United Kingdom has been a favorite destination for Romanian immigrants. The small number of Romanians that first arrived in Britain were from Transilvania (including Jews) fleeing persecution during the Second World War.
At the time of the 2001 Census, 7,631 Romanian-born people were residing in the UK. In the 2011 Census, the Romanian-born population grew to 83,168 people throughout the UK. The number of Romanian nationals living in the UK in 2017 was estimated to be 411,000, the largest increase for any country.
Currently, there are more Romanians living in the UK than there are Irish nationals or Indians. Over 140,000 Romanians living and working in the UK have already applied to the European Settlement Scheme to be able to stay in the UK even after a no-deal Brexit, according to a Facebook post of the British Embassy in Bucharest.
But, how the UK Romanians descent can preserve their citizenship rights in order to freely travel, study & work into EU countries?
According with the Romanian Law those descendants (up to second or third generation) need first to collect the documentation related with their Romanian born ancestor (birth certificate, marriage certificate, documents attesting the name changes, etc.), and to prove the family chain.
Then, in order to determine the legal procedure suitable in the case (the restoration process or the transcription procedure of the foreign vital records), it is necessary to check the citizenship status of the Romanian born ancestor.
After a descendant will gain Romanian EU citizenship based on the “jus sanguinis” legal procedure suitable in his/her own case, and will have Romanian documents (Romanian birth & marriage certificates) the applicant shall issue the Romanian EU passport with the competent public authorities.
Most cases encountered in this situation, suppose a simplified legal procedure, as their ancestor can prove the Romanian citizenship through a passport or Romanian Identity card.
Proving the Romanian citizenship of an ancestor can sometimes be a tough legal procedure, since it requires obtaining certificates that prove the ancestor’s birth in Romania and the ancestor’s registration on the Romanian Vital Records or the ancestor′s citizenship status.
During the legal proceedings of obtaining the necessary documents and certificates, a lawyer’s help can be crucial, since he/she has the access to all the necessary Records and Registration Offices.