07/20/2007

Romania recently published two emergency ordinances, making several revisions of its immigration system. Emergency Ordinance 55/2007 established a new central authority to handle immigration matters and introduced a new type of immigration identification document. Emergency Ordinance 56/2007 revised procedures and requirements for work permits, including those for foreign nationals being seconded to Romania.

New Immigration Agency and Ordinance 55/2007

The Romanian Office for Immigration is now responsible for the implementation of Romania's immigration policies and asylum laws and for the integration of foreign nationals into the Romanian community. The Office for Immigration replaces the Authority for Foreign Citizens, the Romanian National Office for Refugees, and the Office for Foreign Force Migration. The creation of the Office for Immigration became effective with the publishing of Ordinance 55/2007 on June 26, 2007, but the new Office has until July 26, 2007 to appoint its management and finalize its organizational structure.

Effective June 26, 2007, Emergency Ordinance 55/2007 also introduced a new type of immigration identification document. The new "Residence Permit for Working Purposes" will combine and replace the work permit and the temporary residence permit.

Work Authorization and Ordinance 56/2007

Effective June 26, 2007, citizens of EU or EEA member states will no longer require authorization to work in Romania.

Also effective June 26, Emergency Ordinance 56/2007 made several changes to Romania's work permit scheme. First, it changed the name of the official document allowing foreign nationals to work in Romania from "Work Permit" to "Work Authorization" ("Autorizatie de Munca"). Work Authorization will be issued for the following purposes:
 

• Indefinite employment – A foreign national may be employed by a Romanian entity based on an individual employment contract. The employment contract can be for a predetermined temporary period of time or can be of an indeterminate duration.
• Transfers – A foreign national may be seconded to Romania by their employer for a maximum period of one year within a five-year period.
  o Note that this time limitation will not apply to foreign nationals that have a direct and necessary impact on ongoing projects in Romania that contribute to the development or improvement of the economic infrastructure of the country.

Ordinance 56/2007 also revised the categories of people who are exempt from the work authorization requirements. These are:

• Foreign nationals who have obtained permanent residence status in Romania.
• Foreign nationals who perform activities in Romania under the terms and conditions of a bilateral agreement or convention between Romania and another country.
• Foreign nationals who are the head of a branch office, a representative office, or a subsidiary of a foreign company operating in Romania.
• Foreign nationals who are family members of Romanian citizens.
• Non-EU or -EEA citizens legally employed by a company based in a EU or EEA member state and seconded to Romania, provided they have valid work and residency permits in the EU or EEA country from which their employer sends them. Third country nationals seconded to Romania by a EU or EEA company may only work in Romania for one year within a five-year period. After that time, they must be sponsored by a Romanian entity for work authorization.
• Foreign nationals being seconded to Romania to provide services for less than 60 days. The Office for Immigration has yet to issue guidance on what procedures short-term seconded foreign nationals will have to follow before working Romania. In all likelihood, the Office will require a "letter of secondment" and a copy of the seconded employee's employment contract.

New Penalties

Effective July 26, 2007, Romania will impose new penalties on business that employ foreign nationals without the proper authorization. These new penalties range from 1,500 RON (approximately US$660) to 6,000 RON (US$2,640) for each foreign national employee who is not authorized to work in Romania, not to exceed 100,000 RON (US$44,000). Foreign nationals who violate Romanian immigration laws may be fined or removed from Romania and barred from reentering for up to fifteen years.

In preparing this article, Fragomen has worked closely with the firm of Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen (Bucharest). The content of this article is provided for informational purposes only.

If you have any questions regarding this article, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Global Immigration Services or send an email to the appropriate regional mailbox: canada@fragomen.com, lar@fragomen.com (for Latin America), asiapac@fragomen.com, or emea@fragomen.com (for Europe, Middle East and Africa).


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