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Asylum and Transit Romania

 
Romania Asylum and Transit Requirements in Brief (read in Ukrainian here)

If you have further questions on asylum and transit through Romania, please write to us at [email protected].

Useful External Links: 



  • ---------- Do you need help with transportation for NGOs, volunteers assisting: se here. 

 

  • ----------  A useful leaflet on the Asylum procedure: here





Filing an asylum application 

3 June 2021 – source: MAI, Romania

For more useful information, also see here (info also in Ukrainian, with contacts to help organisations)

Who can apply for asylum? 

The asylum application can be submitted by any foreigner, on Romanian territory or at a border crossing point. 

A person is considered to be an asylum seeker from the moment he/she expresses his/her will, in writing or orally, to the competent authorities, showing that he/she is seeking the protection of the Romanian State. 


How can I apply for asylum? 

Asylum applications are submitted in person by aliens on Romanian territory or at a border crossing control point. 

In the case of minor aliens, asylum applications may be lodged by their legal representative. 

Minors who have reached the age of 14 can apply for asylum on their own behalf. 

If a foreigner submits an application/memorial/petition stating that he/she wants a form of protection in Romania, he/she is informed in writing that he/she must personally go to the competent authorities to receive such applications. 

Asylum applications submitted outside the territory of Romania are not admitted. 

The authorities competent to receive an asylum application are: 

  • (a) the structures of the General Inspectorate for Immigration;
  • (b) Romanian Border Police structures;
  • (c) police units in which remand and pre-trial detention centres are established and operating;
  • (d) the structures of the National Administration of Penitentiaries of the Ministry of Justice.
 

Territorial competence for the reception, registration and processing of asylum applications lies with the regional centres for procedures and accommodation of asylum seekers under the Directorate for Asylum and Integration, namely the Bucharest Centre, Timioara Centre, Galați Centre, Radăuți Centre, Maramureș Centre and Giurgiu Centre. The competent authorities may not refuse to accept an asylum application on the grounds that it was lodged late. 

 
Standard form Cerere de azil (also here) can be completed by: 

  • (a) the asylum seeker with the support of his/her official,
  • (b) the official designated to receive the application, if the asylum seeker cannot write, according to his/her oral statements.

How to register an asylum seeker? 
After receiving the asylum application, the applicant will complete a preliminary interview in order to establish his/her personal data and those of his/her family members, the route from the country of origin to Romania, data on any asylum applications lodged in other third countries or in a Member State of the European Union, as well as identity or travel documents in his/her possession. 
The preliminary interview is completed in the presence of an IGI official and a translator. The translation will be into a language that the applicant knows or may reasonably be presumed to know. 
When the asylum application is lodged, the staff of the General Inspectorate for Immigration or other competent authorities shall take fingerprints of the asylum seeker who, according to the identity data proved or declared, has reached the age of 14. The fingerprints will be transmitted to the EURODAC system and stored in paper format in the General Inspectorate for Immigration's file cabinet and in electronic format in the national AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Matching System) database. The asylum seeker is informed in writing of the above operations. The taking and transmission of fingerprints of asylum seekers shall be carried out in compliance with the provisions relating to the principle of confidentiality and protection of personal data. 
The specialised staff of the IAD carries out specific checks and activities in order to establish the real identity of asylum seekers without identity documents. 
The asylum seeker is obliged to submit all the documents he/she has at his/her disposal that are relevant to his/her personal situation, as well as the document for crossing the state border, and will receive the temporary identity document for asylum seekers issued by the General Inspectorate for Immigration. 
Contact 

General Inspectorate for Immigration 

Address Bucharest, 15A Lt. Col. Marinescu C-tin Street, Sector 5 

021.410.75.13 

Fax: 021.410.75.01 

Public relations IGI Headquarters: 021.410.99.40 

E-mail: [email protected] (for inter-institutional communication only) 


Conditions under which foreign citizens can transit the territory of Romania and travel to Romania without a visa 


Citizens of third countries, subject to the visa requirement under Regulation (EC) No 539/2001, may transit Romania for a period not exceeding 5 days and have the right of residence on the territory of Romania for a period not exceeding 90 days in any period of 180 days, without first obtaining a Romanian visa, if: 
  • (a) are holders of one of the following documents issued by the Member States of the European Union applying the Schengen acquis in full (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, Hungary, as well as Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway):
  • (b) a uniform visa, as defined in Article 2(3) of the Visa Code, valid for two or more entries;
  • (c) a long-stay visa, referred to in Article 18 of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement;
  • (d) a residence permit as defined in Article 2(15) of Regulation (EC) No 562/2006;
  • (e) hold a valid national short-stay visa, national long-stay visa or residence permit issued by Bulgaria, Cyprus and Croatia;

Conditions for exemption from the Romanian visa requirement: 
  • (a) The validity period of the mentioned documents must cover the duration of the transit or stay in Romania.
  • (b) The citizens in question are exempted from the obligation to obtain a Romanian visa, but must still meet the entry conditions set out in Article 5 (1) of Regulation 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 - Schengen Borders Code (valid document for crossing the border, documents justifying the purpose and conditions of travel, proof of sufficient means of subsistence).
  • (c) For a uniform visa, a national visa or a residence permit to be equivalent to a Romanian transit visa, it is necessary that the transit through the territory of Romania is part of a natural route to the country that issued the visa or to return to the country of nationality or residence.
  • (d) Holders of a one-journey visa, which has been exhausted in terms of right of residence, will be allowed to transit only during the validity period of the visa.
  • Travel conditions
  • Foreign nationals
  • Travel conditions for citizens of EU and EEA member states.
  • Travel conditions for citizens of non-EU and non-EEA countries.
  • Transiting Romania and travelling to Romania without a visa
 (note: links to Romanian language text)
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