Romania joined the EU in 2007 and its passport has become very popular among people with Romanian roots. A person whose parents or grandparents were born in Romania is entitled to receive citizenship according to the law in the country. The law also applies to the descendants of those born in Moldova or Ukraine before 1940, when the states were under Romanian rule. The potential meaning is that thousands of people are entitled to a Romanian passport. Accepting citizenship is not conditional on the parents or grandparents being alive, but it must be shown that they were alive – they had the right to citizenship.
At the end of the citizenship process, the applicant arrives at the consulate and has to recite a short oath in Romanian: “I swear to be loyal to the Romanian state and its people, to protect the national rights and interests, and the laws of Romania.”
Until now, the applicants had learned this text by heart without having to learn Romanian.
But, recently, in Israeli press (https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5144866,00.html) was published an article, who affirm the decision of the Romanian state to toughening the condition on the way to obtain Romanian citizenship and Romanian EU passport.
“Romaniancitizenship.ro” has translated, in English, for his clients a part of the content of this article:
“Some 4,000 Israelis receive Romanian citizenship every year, but recently the Eastern European country has toughened the conditions on the way to obtaining the passport. The latest decree concerns a 75-year-old Israeli citizen, a Romanian citizen, who erred in one of the words at the swearing-in ceremony before receiving the Romanian citizenship before the Consul. As a result, he was informed that his application for citizenship had been revoked and that he had to start the process all over again.
Sources involved in the process of issuing the Romanian citizenship say that the toughening of conditions is not directed against Israelis in particular, but is global, and is intended, inter alia, to make it difficult for citizens who were deported from Romania, including many Jews, to demand their pension.
Attorney Eyal Barkan, who specializes in the issue of Romanian citizenship, confirms that in recent months there has been a significant tightening of conditions for obtaining Romanian citizenship, which began with a decision forbidding those seeking citizenship to come to the Romanian consulate accompanied by lawyers.
“In the past, we could go into the consulate with the customers and explain them or accompany them in the process,” Barkan explains. “They do not know the law and the procedures that exist at the Romanian consulate in Ramat Gan, which change every time a new consul or consul arrives… ”
In the past, anyone who applied for Romanian citizenship had to turn his birth certificate and Israeli marriage certificate into a Romanian format. By January 18 this year, all lawyers involved in the matter could file a formal application for registration documents for their clients through a power of attorney.
“We would prepare thousands of such certificates on the basis of a power of attorney, but they also toughened up and said that it is no longer possible to register documents with an attorney or a representative – and that the applicant will come himself,” says Barkan, “but the consulate is not prepared to accept the clients. It is absurd that the applicant cannot register documents and we have to send our customers to Romania for this nonsense…”
The third hardening came surprisingly this week: At the end of the citizenship process, the applicant arrives at the consulate and has to recite a short oath in Romanian: “I swear to be loyal to the Romanian state and its people, to protect the national rights and interests, and the laws of Romania.”
Until now, the Israelis had learned this text by heart without having to learn Romanian. In the past few days, however, a 75-year-old Israeli citizen, who was born in Romania and immigrated to Israel at an early age, was disqualified. In his home they did not speak Romanian but Hungarian, so he did not speak the language at all. He was informed that his application for citizenship had been revoked and that he had to file the application again – and go through the whole process again.
You can read the article here: https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5144866,00.html