Romanian citizenship by descent

Who qualifies, generation by generation

The dates that matter

1. 1919

   Jews in the Old Kingdom were largely excluded from citizenship before 1919, so even Old Kingdom families from that era need a document trail. National Authority for Citizenship: reacquisition under Article 11 ↗

2. 1989
   22 December 1989

   Former citizens who lost Romanian citizenship before 22 December 1989 for reasons not attributable to them, and their descendants to the third degree, may reacquire it on request, retaining their foreign citizenship. Romanian Citizenship Law (Law 21/1991), Art. 11: reacquisition by former citizens and their descendants to the third degree, Art. 11 ↗

3. 2025
   15 March 2025

   Since 15 March 2025 descendants applying under Article 11 must prove Romanian at level B1 or better (a certificate from an accredited institution, or three years of secondary or higher education in Romanian); former citizens themselves are exempt. Emergency Ordinance 16/2026 moved the deadline for submitting the certificate to 15 March 2027. Law 14/2025 amending Law 21/1991 (Official Gazette 218, 12 March 2025, in force 15 March 2025) ↗

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Romania’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

• Those who reacquire citizenship under Article 11 may keep their foreign citizenship. Romanian Citizenship Law (Law 21/1991), Art. 11: reacquisition by former citizens and their descendants to the third degree ↗
• Former citizens who lost Romanian citizenship before 22 December 1989 for reasons not attributable to them, and their descendants to the third degree, may reacquire it on request, retaining their foreign citizenship. Romanian Citizenship Law (Law 21/1991), Art. 11: reacquisition by former citizens and their descendants to the third degree, Art. 11 ↗

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The documents, as the rule lists them

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

• birth1926–2026

  The civil status service (starea civilă, at the town hall / SPCLEP) of the place of birth, which keeps registers for about 100 years

  Town hall of the birthplace as it is today. For places in former Bessarabia or Northern Bukovina (now Moldova or Ukraine), the records are in those countries’ registries and archives.

  Ask

  By post, in Romanian

  Takes

  1–6 months

  Good to know (2)›

  • ANC wants original extracts issued within the 2 years before filing; a multilingual extract (Vienna Convention No. 16 format) needs no translation or apostille.
  • From abroad you can file the request at the Romanian consulate, which forwards it, or through a proxy in Romania with a special power of attorney. Town halls issue within 30 days at most; each council sets its own fee.

  source ↗

• birth1831–1925

  The county directorate of the Romanian National Archives (Direcția Județeană a Arhivelor Naționale), which holds civil status registers older than the retention period and parish registers

  The county branch for the birthplace; interwar records for Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina may need a request through the National Archives’ central office or to Moldovan/Ukrainian archives.

  Ask

  By post, in Romanian

  Takes

  3–6 weeks

  Good to know (2)›

  • Send the request by post or email to the county branch’s public relations office, or to secretariat@arhivelenationale.ro or portal.arhivelenationale.ro. Once the record is found you get a payment notice: 90 lei (about $20) to identify it and issue a certified copy. Average 20 days, 45 at most; copies come by post.
  • For Article 11, proof that the ancestor was a Romanian citizen (passport, military record, census, nationality in civil records) matters as much as the birth record; the citizenship commission may ask for ‘certain proof’ of citizenship.

  source ↗

• citizenship

  Evidence the ancestor held Romanian citizenship and lost it before 22 December 1989 for reasons not attributable to them: interwar Romanian passport, military booklet, census or civil records stating citizenship, and the foreign naturalisation or territorial change that ended it

  Ask

  By post, in English · request page ↗

  Takes

  2–12 months

  source ↗

Places on old papers that lead to Romania

If your family’s records name one of these, Romania’s law may be the one that applies. The town decides.

• Austria-Hungary · also Austro-Hungarian Empire, Habsburg

  Austria-Hungary became a dozen countries in 1918. Pick the one the town is in today.

  Today: Austria, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Serbia

• Transylvania · also Siebenbürgen, Erdély

  Transylvania is Romania; Hungary also counts descendants of its pre-1920 citizens.

  Today: Romania, Hungary

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Romania.

Already in the rule

• Since 15 March 2025 descendants applying under Article 11 must prove Romanian at level B1 or better (a certificate from an accredited institution, or three years of secondary or higher education in Romanian); former citizens themselves are exempt. Emergency Ordinance 16/2026 moved the deadline for submitting the certificate to 15 March 2027. Law 14/2025 amending Law 21/1991 (Official Gazette 218, 12 March 2025, in force 15 March 2025) ↗

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

2 residence programs lead to Romania without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

• Remote workDigital nomad long-stay visa

  A visa for remote employees or company owners earning at least three times Romania’s average gross salary, starting at 90 days and extendable to a year, then renewable again.

• Job offerEU Blue Card for highly qualified employment

  A non-EU national with a qualifying offer for highly qualified work in Romania may apply for a residence and work permit. The salary and qualification tests are country-specific.

Every source on this page

4 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

1. LawRomanian Citizenship Law (Law 21/1991), Art. 11: reacquisition by former citizens and their descendants to the third degree · Art. 11; Art. 11(1) with Art. 8(1)(e)
2. LawLaw 14/2025 amending Law 21/1991 (Official Gazette 218, 12 March 2025, in force 15 March 2025)
3. LawConstitutional Court decision 558/2024 (Official Gazette 196, 6 March 2025): objection to the Law 14/2025 amendments rejected
4. LawNational Authority for Citizenship: reacquisition under Article 11
5. RecordsThe Direcția Județeană a Arhivelor Naționale (county branch of the National Archives), or the primărie (town hall) of the birthplace: Your ancestor’s Romanian birth record and proof of citizenship (passport, census or military record)
6. RecordsHow to file: Reacquisition (Art. 11)
7. RecordsCerere de redobândire a cetățeniei române (Art. 11), drafted at the consulate (generated in SIMISC/econsulat.ro)
8. Recordseconsulat.ro (Ghișeul Consular Online), service ‘Redobândirea cetățeniei române (Art. 11)’
9. RecordsBirth records, 1926–2026: The civil status service
10. RecordsBirth records, 1831–1925: The county directorate of the Romanian National Archives
11. RecordsTranslations into Romanian
12. RecordsThe passport: where, the fee and the wait

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.