RO · Citizenship by descent

Romanian citizenship by descent

Reaches a great-grandparent. Every answer on this page is what Postern’s rulebook returns, word for word, with the law it cites. The free check runs the same rules.

Last verified 25 September 202610 sourcesNot legal advice

RO · PARENTLIKELYThrough a parentReacquisition (Art. 11)RO · GRANDPARENTLIKELYThrough a grandparentReacquisition (Art. 11)RO · GREAT-GRANDPARENTLIKELYThrough a great-grandparentReacquisition (Art. 11)
Routes
Reacquisition by descendants of former citizens (Art. 11)
Dual citizenship
Kept on every open route
Language
Romanian: B1 or better, by certificate or three years of schooling in Romanian (Law 21/1991 as amended by Law 14/2025)
Comes with
EU citizenship: the right to live and work in 27 countries

The stamps assume no one in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born. What changes each answer is below.

On this page
  1. 01Who qualifies
  2. 02Dates that matter
  3. 03Mothers’ lines
  4. 04Keeping your citizenship
  5. 05The routes and the law
  6. 06The documents
  7. 07What it takes
  8. 08Where the records live
  9. 09Former places
  10. 10Law changes
  11. 11Other doors
  12. 12Sources

01Who qualifies

Who qualifies, generation by generation

LIKELY

Can you claim Romanian citizenship through a parent?

Reacquisition (Art. 11)

Descendants of former Romanian citizens who lost citizenship before 1989, down to great-grandchildren, can reacquire it without living in Romania and keep their other citizenship.

What changes the answer

  • POSSIBLE
    If you have a criminal conviction or charges pending

    Article 11 applies the good-conduct condition: the applicant must be known for good conduct and not convicted, in Romania or abroad, of an offence that makes them unworthy of Romanian citizenship. Romanian Citizenship Law (Law 21/1991), Art. 11: reacquisition by former citizens and their descendants to the third degree, Art. 11(1) with Art. 8(1)(e)

  • POSSIBLE
    If you can’t pass the Romanian language requirement

    Descendants of former Romanian citizens, down to great-grandchildren, can reacquire citizenship and keep their own, but since March 2025 only with a B1 Romanian certificate; until then the route is closed to you.

  • POSSIBLE
    If your ancestor left Romania before 1918

    Whether an ancestor who left before 1918 was ever a Romanian citizen depends on where they lived: the Old Kingdom (Wallachia, Moldavia) had Romanian citizenship; Transylvania, Bukovina and the Banat did not join Romania until 1918.

LIKELY

Can you claim Romanian citizenship through a grandparent?

Reacquisition (Art. 11)

Descendants of former Romanian citizens who lost citizenship before 1989, down to great-grandchildren, can reacquire it without living in Romania and keep their other citizenship.

What changes the answer

  • POSSIBLE
    If you have a criminal conviction or charges pending

    Article 11 applies the good-conduct condition: the applicant must be known for good conduct and not convicted, in Romania or abroad, of an offence that makes them unworthy of Romanian citizenship. Romanian Citizenship Law (Law 21/1991), Art. 11: reacquisition by former citizens and their descendants to the third degree, Art. 11(1) with Art. 8(1)(e)

  • POSSIBLE
    If you can’t pass the Romanian language requirement

    Descendants of former Romanian citizens, down to great-grandchildren, can reacquire citizenship and keep their own, but since March 2025 only with a B1 Romanian certificate; until then the route is closed to you.

  • POSSIBLE
    If your ancestor left Romania before 1918

    Whether an ancestor who left before 1918 was ever a Romanian citizen depends on where they lived: the Old Kingdom (Wallachia, Moldavia) had Romanian citizenship; Transylvania, Bukovina and the Banat did not join Romania until 1918.

LIKELY

Can you claim Romanian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Reacquisition (Art. 11)

Descendants of former Romanian citizens who lost citizenship before 1989, down to great-grandchildren, can reacquire it without living in Romania and keep their other citizenship.

What changes the answer

  • POSSIBLE
    If you have a criminal conviction or charges pending

    Article 11 applies the good-conduct condition: the applicant must be known for good conduct and not convicted, in Romania or abroad, of an offence that makes them unworthy of Romanian citizenship. Romanian Citizenship Law (Law 21/1991), Art. 11: reacquisition by former citizens and their descendants to the third degree, Art. 11(1) with Art. 8(1)(e)

  • POSSIBLE
    If you can’t pass the Romanian language requirement

    Descendants of former Romanian citizens, down to great-grandchildren, can reacquire citizenship and keep their own, but since March 2025 only with a B1 Romanian certificate; until then the route is closed to you.

  • POSSIBLE
    If your ancestor left Romania before 1918

    Whether an ancestor who left before 1918 was ever a Romanian citizen depends on where they lived: the Old Kingdom (Wallachia, Moldavia) had Romanian citizenship; Transylvania, Bukovina and the Banat did not join Romania until 1918.

02Dates that matter

The dates that matter

  1. 1919

    Jews in the Old Kingdom were largely excluded from citizenship before 1919, so even Old Kingdom lines 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)

03Mothers’ lines

How mothers’ lines were treated

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

04Keeping your citizenship

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.

05The routes

Every route, and the law behind it

Reacquisition (Art. 11)

Open through a parent, a grandparent or a great-grandparent

  • LIKELY
    Through a parent
  • POSSIBLE
    Through a parent, if you can’t pass the Romanian language requirement
  • POSSIBLE
    Through a parent, if your ancestor left Romania before 1918

The law

What would settle an unsure case

  • Whether the conviction makes you “unworthy” in the authority's assessment; minor or spent offences usually do not.
  • Whether someone in the family will reach B1 in Romanian; that is now the gate.
  • Which region your ancestor came from, and whether they or a parent who stayed held Romanian citizenship after 1918.

06The documents

The documents, as the rule lists them

Reacquisition (Art. 11)

Through a parent or grandparent or great-grandparent

  • Your ancestor's Romanian birth record and proof of citizenship (passport, census, military record)
  • Evidence of how they lost citizenship (emigration, naturalization abroad)
  • Birth and marriage records for each generation to you
  • A clean criminal record certificate
  • A Romanian language certificate at level B1, unless exempt

Through a parent or grandparent or great-grandparent

  • Your ancestor's birth or residence record
  • Any document of Romanian citizenship
  • Birth and marriage records for each generation to you

Most countries also want proof that no one in the line became a citizen elsewhere before the next birth: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter that none exists.

07What it takes

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

Reacquisition (Art. 11)

Time
2–4 years at the National Authority for Citizenship, largely because of its backlog; deadline for pending files runs to 14 March 2027.
Cost
About $600–1,500: certified copies, apostilles, translations into Romanian and a Romanian language course for the B1 certificate most adults now need.
The hard part
Since Law 14/2025, adult applicants must pass a Romanian language exam at level B1 unless exempt — on top of proving the ancestor was a Romanian citizen who lost it before 1989.
Who decides
The National Authority for Citizenship (ANC) in Bucharest, or a Romanian consulate.
The first record
Your ancestor’s Romanian birth record and proof of citizenship (passport, census or military record), from The Direcția Județeană a Arhivelor Naționale (county branch of the National Archives), or the primărie (town hall) of the birthplace. Write to the county archive branch for the ancestor’s birthplace with the name and approximate date; interwar civil records for Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina may require a request through the National Archives’ central office instead. arhivelenationale.ro

How it’s filed

Where
In person at the Romanian mission for your U.S. state (Embassy Washington, Consulates General in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles; New York covers CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT and Chicago covers IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI per mission pages seen in search; Washington and Los Angeles split the rest), which sends the file to the ANC in Bucharest office list
How
In person; you appear in person
Appointments
econsulat.ro (Ghișeul Consular Online), service 'Redobândirea cetățeniei române (Art. 11)'. Requires creating an account; the Washington Embassy says files are accepted only in person on the booked date, not by mail, fax or email.
Fee
About $21
Decision
12–48 months
What goes in the file (8)
  1. Passport, original and legalised copy (every citizenship's passport if several), with legalised Romanian translation where needed
  2. Identity card from the country of origin, original and legalised copy
  3. Criminal record certificate from every country of citizenship and of legal residence (FBI for U.S.), apostilled, with legalised translation
  4. Original civil-status extracts (issued within 2 years) for your birth, marriage and divorce, apostilled and translated, with legalised copies
  5. Birth, marriage, divorce and death extracts for each ancestor back to the former Romanian citizen (only up to the qualifying ancestor)
  6. For minors: notarised or consular parental consent; consent of children over 14
  7. Proof of Romanian at level B1 (certificate from an accredited university, the Romanian Language Institute or Romanian Cultural Institute) or a transcript showing 3 years of study in Romanian; otherwise a sworn statement undertaking to supply it to ANC by 14 March 2027
  8. Original extracts proving any change of name or place name
What goes wrong (6)
  • Fee: €18.10 (in USD at the monthly rate) for the citizenship card, per applicant and per included minor, since 1 September 2024; consular services to complete the file (legalising copies and translations, authenticating declarations) are free.
  • B1 Romanian is required of descendants; exempt are former citizens reacquiring under Art. 11 themselves and applicants aged 65 or over at filing. Emergency Ordinance 16/2026 extended the deadline for supplying the certificate to 14 March 2027.
  • The consulate issues a receipt (adeverință) that the complete file was filed; the ANC order is sent by registered mail or email within 15 days of issue; a refusal can be challenged within 15 days at the Bucharest Tribunal, and a new application is possible after 6 months.
  • Backlog: families report 2–4 years at the ANC; the statutory processing term was lengthened in 2025.
  • After approval, the oath of allegiance is booked through econsulat.ro ('Depunerea jurământului de credință'); then transcribe your U.S. birth certificate to get a Romanian birth certificate and personal number (CNP) before the passport.
  • From CA/GB/AU/NZ/BR/AR/ZA: same process at the Romanian mission for your residence via econsulat.ro; Portuguese or Spanish documents need a legalised Romanian translation.

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

Estimates are honest ranges from official fee tables and what families report; where a fee or time could not be confirmed, it says so.

08Where the records live

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.
    • A proxy in Romania or the consulate's own services are often faster than writing to a small town hall from abroad (timing unverified).

    Checked 25 September 2026 · 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
    2–8 months
    Good to know (2)
    • The National Archives site (arhivelenationale.ro) returned HTTP 503 to automated fetches in September 2026; contact details must be taken from a browser.
    • 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.

    Checked 25 September 2026 · 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

    Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

Translations

Into
Romanian
Who may translate
A translator on the consulate’s list; the translation itself is legalized
About
$0–$60 a page

Foreign documents need an apostille and a legalised Romanian translation. For the citizenship file, the consulate prepares and legalises translations free of charge ('se prestează cu titlu gratuit'); outside that, use an authorised translator whose signature is legalised by a notary or the consulate. Multilingual Convention No. 16 extracts need neither translation nor apostille.

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

The passport

Where
At the Romanian mission for your U.S. state, by econsulat.ro appointment, after the oath, the transcription of your birth certificate and the assignment of a CNP (passport marked CRDS for citizens domiciled abroad)
Fee
About $60
Time
4–17 weeks

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

09Former places

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.

10Law changes

Recent and pending changes

The legislative watch has no pending bill or recent ruling recorded for Romania.

Already in the rule

The watch re-reads the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person re-checks the rule before anything here moves.

11Other doors

If descent doesn’t reach you

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

12Sources

Every source on this page

4 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing. Records and filing checked 25 September 2026.

  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) · checked 25 September 2026
  7. RecordsCerere de redobândire a cetățeniei române (Art. 11), drafted at the consulate (generated in SIMISC/econsulat.ro) · checked 25 September 2026
  8. Recordseconsulat.ro (Ghișeul Consular Online), service 'Redobândirea cetățeniei române (Art. 11)' · checked 25 September 2026
  9. RecordsTranslations into Romanian · checked 25 September 2026
  10. RecordsThe passport: where, the fee and the wait · checked 25 September 2026

Not legal advice. Postern’s rulebook is written from the statutes and tested against documented cases; where the law is unsettled, the answer says “possible” or “unsure” rather than guess.

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