Lately, several clients have reported to us the concern that arose as a result of the alarmist rumors published on certain clandestine websites in Romania regarding the amendment of the Romanian citizenship law no. 21/1991. We were invited to express our legal opinion on the following aspects:
Has the citizenship law been amended or not? What is the impact of these changes on the persons eligible to acquire the Romanian citizenship under “jus sanguinis”? Is a standard of knowledge of the Romanian language introduced for people who intend to acquire Romanian citizenship by descent?
As a result of the legislative changes, are the descendants of the 2nd degree no longer eligible to acquire Romanian citizenship?
Here are some questions that we will be answering throughout this article. In the spirit of loyalty, good commercial practices and legal professionalism, with which we have accustomed our clients, we will present the legal status of the legislative changes that affect the Romanian citizenship.
- The premises for amending the Romanian Citizenship Law.
- On 23.02.2024, the Ministry of Justice put up for public debate the draft law for amending and supplementing the Romanian Citizenship Law no. 21/1991 and specified that the revision of the citizenship law is a necessary step for Romania to adhere to the VISA WAIVER.
In other words, according to the claims of the Ministry of Justice, the amendment of the citizenship law will allow Romanian citizens to travel more easily to the United States of America, once the risks of illegally acquiring Romanian citizenship are eliminated, in the context in which “Between October 2022 and today (February 2024) suspicions of forgery have been confirmed in almost 1,000 citizenship files”. PRESS ARTICLE LINK
(ii) The Minister of Justice specified that “In a broader sense, a legislative intervention is more than necessary to adapt the legal norms to the current realities. It will be a law that will give respect to every person who wants to become a Romanian citizen. But, very importantly, it will also be a law that will ensure the integrity of the process of acquiring Romanian citizenship and the elimination of possible frauds.” By revising the law, the Ministry of Justice says that the risk of corruption regarding the acquisition of Romanian citizenship by immigrants from/and outside the European Union will be eliminated. PRESS ARTICLE LINK
- Current legislative status of the draft amendment of the citizenship law.
(i) The Romanian Parliament in its two legislative chambers (Senate and later the Chamber of Deputies) adopted the draft law for amending and supplementing the Romanian Citizenship Law no. 21/1991, on June 26, 2024.
During the debates in Parliament, criticism of the draft law was made, including the fact that it facilitates access to Romanian citizenship for “Ukrainians, French, Israelis, Americans, Austrians”, and that it disadvantages Romanians. PRESS ARTICLE LINK
- On June 27, 2024, The High Court of Cassation and Justice decided to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court of Romania for constitutional review, prior to promulgation, regarding the Law on the amendment and completion of the Romanian Citizenship Law no. 21/1991, as well as for the modification and completion of other normative acts in relation to the constitutional provisions of art. 1 para. (3) and (5) on the principle of the rule of law and legality, in its component regarding the quality, predictability and accessibility of the law, as well as art. 4 para. (2) in conjunction with Article 53 of the Constitution regarding the unity of the people and equality between citizens and the proportionality of the measure with the purpose pursued.
The official press release of the High Court of Cassation and Justice can be viewed by accessing the following links: Comunicate/informări de presă – Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție a României (iccj.ro) regarding Hotarare-SU-nr.-5-2024.pdf (iccj.ro)
Therefore, at the time of writing this article:
– The Romanian Parliament adopted the Law on the amendment of the Romanian Citizenship Law;
– The High Court of Cassation and Justice invoked several exceptions of unconstitutionality of the Law amending the normative act on Romanian citizenship;
– The Constitutional Court of Romania is to rule on the exceptions of constitutionality invoked by the High Court of Cassation and Justice;
In other words, the legislative amendments to the citizenship law have not entered into force, and are to be verified within the constitutionality review exercised by the Constitutional Court of Romania. The final form of the legislative amendments adopted by the Romanian Parliament before the constitutionality review can be accessed here. LINK
- Are the legislative changes introducing the obligation to know the Romanian language?
(i) First of all, we must emphasize that our analysis refers strictly to the persons eligible to regain Romanian citizenship based on Articles 10 and 11 of the Romanian Citizenship Law.
The premise situation from which these cases are based is that the applicant had Romanian citizenship, which he/she lost, for various reasons. In the situation of art. 10 of Law no. 21/1991 is eligible to regain Romanian citizenship both the person who has lost it and his descendants up to the second degree inclusive, and in the case of art. 11 of Law no. 21/1991 both the person who lost the Romanian citizenship and his descendants up to the third degree inclusive.
(ii) Secondly, as we have informed our clients, since 2018 (https://romaniancitizenship.ro/it-is-now-harder-to-obtain-romanian-citizenship) , the Romanian Authority for Citizenship, as well as the Romanian Consulates request from the persons, who have been approved the application for regaining Romanian citizenship (i.e. at the end of the legal procedure WHILE TAKING THE OATH) based on art. 10 and art. 11 of Law no. 21/1991, to know the Romanian language at a conversational level (B1) at the time of taking the oath of allegiance to Romania.
In contrast, according to the current legislation, persons who have not lost Romanian citizenship and their descendants up to the second degree inclusive, are NOT required to know the Romanian language, when requesting the recognition of the quality of Romanian citizen by applying for the issuance of the Romanian European passport, the assignment of the personal numerical code(CNP) or the transcription of the foreign birth certificate.
(iii) Regarding the standard of knowledge of the Romanian language introduced by the draft amendment of the citizenship law.
The draft amendment of the citizenship law affirms the standard of knowledge of the Romanian language applicable at this time in the practice of the Romanian Authority for Citizenship and the Romanian Consulates.
The draft expressly mentions that the granting of Romanian citizenship under art. 10 and 11 is conditional on the applicant’s knowledge of the Romanian language at a conversational level.
The proof of knowledge of the Romanian language is made by the applicant by:
- certificate of linguistic competence issued by the higher education institutions in Romania accredited for the study program “Preparatory Year of Romanian Language”, by the Institute of the Romanian Language, by the Romanian Cultural Institute or by the Romanian cultural institutes abroad, which certifies the knowledge of the Romanian language at a level not lower than level B I of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – CEFR;
- a certified copy of the transcript issued by high school education units or higher education institutions in the state of citizenship or residence, certifying the study for at least 3 years in Romanian.
On the other hand, exceptions to the rule of knowledge of the Romanian language are also established:
- persons who have been Romanian citizens and who apply for the re-acquisition of citizenship according to art. 10 or 11;
- persons who have reached the age of 65 on the date of submission of the application and who apply for the granting of Romanian citizenship according to art. 10 or 11.
In order to remove any doubt, we reiterate that the draft amendment of the Citizenship Law does not require in any way the persons who have NOT lost the Romanian citizenship and their descendants up to the second degree to know the Romanian language when applying for the issuance of the Romanian European passport.
The procedure for issuing the Romanian European passport based on your descent of a Romanian citizen, it is a complex process, which can become easy if you will choose our legal services. We will review your documents. and we will inform you in detail about the steps you need to take to become a European citizen. First step – filling in the eligibility form: LINK.