Opening your book…
Reaches a great-grandparent.
Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.
Citizen by descent (Art. 11)
A child of a Moldovan citizen is a citizen by birth.
Recognition for pre-1940 residents and descendants (Art. 12(2))
If your ancestor was born in Moldova, or lived in Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, Herța or the Moldavian ASSR before 28 June 1940, you can be recognised as a Moldovan citizen and keep your other citizenship; since December 2025 you must pass a Romanian language and Constitution test.
What would settle itWhether someone in the family will pass the Romanian language and Constitution test, and whether the archives document your ancestor’s birth or pre-1940 residence.
Applications pending on 24 December 2025 are examined under the law in force when they were filed, whose recognition option had no language condition. Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova No. 253 of 10 July 2025 (Official Gazette 24 September 2025, in force 24 December 2025), Art. 44; Law 1024/2000 Art. 12(2)
Recognition is refused to anyone with an unexpunged criminal record, a prison sentence to serve, or a criminal prosecution or trial under way. Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova No. 253 of 10 July 2025 (Official Gazette 24 September 2025, in force 24 December 2025), Art. 10(5) with Art. 19(c)
Descent from someone born in Moldova, or who lived in Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, Herța or the Moldavian ASSR before June 1940, opens recognition, but since December 2025 only after a Romanian language and Constitution test; until then the option is closed to you.
Recognition for pre-1940 residents and descendants (Art. 12(2))
If your ancestor was born in Moldova, or lived in Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, Herța or the Moldavian ASSR before 28 June 1940, you can be recognised as a Moldovan citizen and keep your other citizenship; since December 2025 you must pass a Romanian language and Constitution test.
What would settle itWhether someone in the family will pass the Romanian language and Constitution test, and whether the archives document your ancestor’s birth or pre-1940 residence.
Applications pending on 24 December 2025 are examined under the law in force when they were filed, whose recognition option had no language condition. Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova No. 253 of 10 July 2025 (Official Gazette 24 September 2025, in force 24 December 2025), Art. 44; Law 1024/2000 Art. 12(2)
Recognition is refused to anyone with an unexpunged criminal record, a prison sentence to serve, or a criminal prosecution or trial under way. Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova No. 253 of 10 July 2025 (Official Gazette 24 September 2025, in force 24 December 2025), Art. 10(5) with Art. 19(c)
Descent from someone born in Moldova, or who lived in Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, Herța or the Moldavian ASSR before June 1940, opens recognition, but since December 2025 only after a Romanian language and Constitution test; until then the option is closed to you.
An adult is recognised as a citizen on request if born abroad with a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Moldova’s territory, or if they descend from a person born and domiciled before 28 June 1940 in Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, Herța or the Moldavian ASSR, or from a person deported or displaced from 28 June 1940. Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova No. 253 of 10 July 2025 (Official Gazette 24 September 2025, in force 24 December 2025), Art. 10(1)(b)-(d)
Since 24 December 2025 recognition requires knowledge of the Romanian language and the Constitution, assessed as the Government sets (children under 14 and people with severe disabilities are exempt). Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova No. 253 of 10 July 2025 (Official Gazette 24 September 2025, in force 24 December 2025), Art. 10(1) and Art. 15
Applications pending on 24 December 2025 are examined under the law in force when they were filed, whose recognition option had no language condition. Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova No. 253 of 10 July 2025 (Official Gazette 24 September 2025, in force 24 December 2025), Art. 44; Law 1024/2000 Art. 12(2)
What counts as having applied by 24 December 2025: A recognition application already pending when Law 253/2025 entered into force on 24 December 2025 (Art. 44).
Moldova’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.
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.
Open to you through a parent
Open to you through a grandparent or a great-grandparent
Through a parent
Through a grandparent or great-grandparent
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.
Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.
National Archives Agency (Agenția Națională a Arhivelor): Bessarabian parish (metrical) registers and censuses
One national archive for today’s Moldova. Northern Bukovina and Herța records are in the Chernivtsi oblast archive (Ukraine); left-bank (MASSR) and southern Bessarabian (Budjak) records may be in Ukrainian archives (Odesa).
National Archives Agency (interwar Romanian-era records, censuses, household lists) and the Public Services Agency’s civil-status archive for acts under 100 years
The recognition file needs an attestation of domicile before 28 June 1940 from the archives; ask the National Archives Agency first, then the civil-status archive of the Public Services Agency for 1925–1940 civil acts.
Public Services Agency (Agenția Servicii Publice), civil-status service: birth, marriage and death acts; foreign events of citizens are transcribed through embassies
Any ASP civil-status office or a Moldovan embassy can request a repeat certificate for an act registered in Moldova.
The Washington embassy wants U.S. certificates apostilled, translated into Romanian, the translation notarised, and the notarised translation apostilled too. EU multilingual extracts need neither.
If your family’s records name one of these, Moldova’s law may be the one that applies. The town decides.
We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Moldova.
We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.
One residence program leads to Moldova without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.
1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.
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.
Tell us about one parent or grandparent. We’ll answer in about a minute, and show you the law behind it.
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