Family Reunification Romania

The family reunification visa in Romania is available to both Romanian citizens and foreigners who meet the eligibility criteria. Romanian citizens can use this process to reunite with their family members who are foreign nationals. We will help you with more details and procedures for immigrating to Romania.

Family reunification visa in Romania for foreigners

Foreigners can request family reunification for their family members who are not currently in the country.

Sponsor in possession of a one-year temporary residence permit, an EU Blue Card, an ICT permit, a mobile ICT permit, a long-term residence permit, or beneficiary of refugee status or subsidiary protection may request family reunification for:

• – husband or wife;
• – unmarried minor children of the sponsor and the spouse, including the adopted;
• – the unmarried minor children of the sponsor, including the adopted ones, who are dependent on him and over whom – the sponsor exercises parental rights.

NOTE: Foreigners holding a residence permit to carry out scientific research and foreigners holding an EU Blue Card, an ICT permit, or a “mobile ICT” permit may apply for family reunification even if the temporary residence permit is valid for less than one year.

The acronym “ICT” is used for “person transferred within the same company” (intra-corporate transfer), according to Directive 2014/66 / EU.

If parental rights are exercised jointly, the consent of the other holder of parental rights regarding the family reunification requested by the sponsor is also required;

• – the unmarried minor children of the spouse, including the adopted ones who are dependent on him / her and over whom the spouse exercises parental rights. If the parental rights are exercised jointly, the consent of the other holder of the parental rights regarding the family reunification requested by the sponsor is also required.

The sponsor is defined as the foreigner, holder of a residence permit, other than that for the purpose of family reunification, or of a Blue Card of the European Union issued by the General Inspectorate for Immigration – Ministry of Internal Affairs. The foreigner who entered Romania for the purpose of family reunification cannot, in turn, have the quality of sponsor and cannot invite other family members for the same purpose.

The General Inspectorate for Immigration may approve, if the conditions provided by law are met, family reunification for the following categories:

• – first-degree relatives in ascending line of the sponsor or of the spouse, if they cannot support themselves and do not enjoy adequate family support in the country of origin;
• – unmarried adult children of the sponsor or spouse, if they cannot support themselves for medical reasons.

Unaccompanied minors, beneficiaries of refugee status or subsidiary protection, may request family reunification for:

• – first-degree relatives in the ascending line or legal guardian;
• – when they do not exist or cannot be identified, any other relative of his.

Foreigners, holders of a residence permit for scientific research and foreigners holding an EU Blue Card may apply for family reunification even if the residence permit is valid for less than one year.

The EU Blue Card holders who, after 12 months of legal residence in the first Member State, move to Romania for the purpose of highly qualified employment, may request family reunification for family members with the obligation to present their permit of residence issued by the first Member State.

The standard application is submitted to the territorial formation of the General Inspectorate for Immigration, within the radius of which the applicant resides legally and will be accompanied by the documents provided by law.

The application must be accompanied by the following documents:

a. request;

b. marriage certificate / birth certificate or, as the case may be, proof of family ties issued by competent authorities, translated and legalized or apostilled under the law;

c. a statement in authentic form showing that family members will live with you;

d. a copy of the document attesting your right of residence on the territory of Romania;

e. proof of the legal possession of the living space for a dwelling declared as normal for a similar family in Romania;

f. proof of means of maintenance;

g. proof of insurance in your social health insurance system;

h. the written statement of the person holding jointly with the sponsor the joint custody of the minor child for whom the family reunification is requested, from which the consent to live with the sponsor on the territory of Romania;

i. a copy of the travel document of the family member for whom family reunification is requested;

The application for family reunification is approved if the following conditions are met:

a) there is no state of bigamia or polygamy;

b) the applicant has a living space considered normal for a similar family in Romania;

c) the applicant has means of support, in addition to those required for his / her own maintenance according to the law, in the amount corresponding to the national gross minimum basic salary guaranteed for each member of the family, for a period of 3 months;

d) the person for whom family reunification is requested must fulfill the following conditions:

– have a valid state border crossing document, which is accepted by the Romanian state;

– not be included in the category of persons against whom the measure prohibiting entry into Romania has been instituted or which have been declared undesirable;

– do not pose a threat to national defense and security, public order, health or morals.

The standard application will be resolved within a maximum of 3 months from the date of submission.

Approval of the application shall be communicated in writing to the applicant for transmission to interested family members, who shall submit it to the diplomatic mission or consular post within 60 days of the date of issue, together with the application for the corresponding long-stay visa. If the application is rejected, the reasons will be communicated to the alien in writing.

The visa is issued by the diplomatic missions or consular offices of Romania in the country where the family members have their residence or domicile.

The visa application must be accompanied by the following documents:

• – communication with the General Inspectorate for Immigration;
• – proof of medical insurance during the validity of the visa;
• – criminal record certificate or other document of the same legal value, issued by the authorities of the country of residence or residence and, as the case may be, apostille or superlegalised.

The consular visa fee is paid in the state where you apply.

The long-stay visa is granted for a period of 90 days, with one or more trips.

Family reunification visa for refugees or subsidiary protection

Individuals who have been granted refugee status or subsidiary protection in Romania can request family reunification for their family members who are not currently in Romanian territory. Our immigration lawyers in Romania will assist with these special cases as well.

Family members eligible for this type of visa include:

• – The husband or wife of the beneficiary of international protection;
• – The minor children of the beneficiary of international protection or the minor children of the beneficiary’s spouse. This applies regardless of whether the children were born within the marriage or outside it or adopted according to the national legislation of the country of origin;
• – The father or mother of the beneficiary of refugee status or subsidiary protection, or another adult person responsible for him/her under Romanian law, if the beneficiary is a minor and unmarried.

An interview with the beneficiary of international protection may be conducted to obtain additional information about family ties and clarify other relevant issues related to this visa application.

Please note that the approval may take as long as 9 months from the filing date. However, if further investigation is necessary, this timeframe may be extended by an additional 6 months. Our team will try to minimize this timeframe and even obtain you Romanian residency if you desire.

Family reunification visa for Romanian citizens

Family members of Romanian citizens can apply for a long-stay visa for family reunification directly at the diplomatic missions and consular offices of Romania in the country where they reside. The following individuals can apply for this visa:

• 1. foreigners married to Romanian citizens;
• 2. unmarried foreigners living with unmarried Romanian citizens, if they have at least one child together, hereinafter referred to as partners;
• 3. children of the Romanian citizen, of the spouse or of the partner, including the adopted ones, who:
• – have not reached the age of 21;
• – are continuing their studies and have not exceeded the age of 26;
• – although they are adults, they cannot support themselves for medical reasons;
• 4. first degree relatives in ascending line of the Romanian citizen or of his / her spouse;
• 5. the foreign parent of the Romanian minor citizen, if he/she proves that the minor is in maintenance.

If you plan to move to Romania on this visa, you will also need to provide these documents:

• – Marriage certificate issued by the Romanian government or registered in compliance with legal requirements;
• – Proof of kinship or partnership;
• – Proof of medical insurance during the validity of the visa;
• – The criminal record certificate or other document with the same legal value, issued by the authorities of the country of residence of the foreigner.

Applicants who can prove they are registered with the right of residence in another EU Member State as family members of Romanian citizens also need to provide documentation to support their claim.

The granting of this long-stay visa may be refused in certain situations. For example, if the marriage is determined to be a marriage of convenience, or if bigamy or polygamy is discovered, the visa will be refused.

Residence permit after entering Romania

After entering Romania you must obtain a residence permit. It attests your right to stay in Romania and you can obtain it from the territorial formations of the General Inspectorate for Immigration from the county in which you live. In order to obtain the residence permit you will personally submit a series of documents at least 30 days before the expiration of the residence permit granted by the visa. You can also submit documents via the online application, available at https://portaligi.mai.gov.ro/portaligi/

The residence permit as a family member of a Romanian citizen is renewed at least 30 days before the expiration of the previous ones.

The request for the granting or extension of the residence permit for the family members of non-EU / EEA citizens will be resolved within 30 days from the date of its submission. In cases where further checks are required, the deadline for solving the request may be extended by a maximum of 15 days; when the extension is requested on the basis of marriage and additional checks on the marriage are needed, the term may be extended up to a maximum of 90 days, the right of residence being extended by law until the decision.

The right of temporary residence is extended individually, for each family member, for the same period for which the right of residence was granted to the sponsor.

The spouse and family members of a Romanian citizen or the sponsor holding a long-term right of residence may extend their right of temporary residence for periods of up to 5 years.

The family member of the Romanian citizen residing abroad shall be entitled to a temporary residence for a period not exceeding the period of validity of the provisional identity card of the Romanian citizen.

The residence permit independently will have a validity of 6 months, during which time the applicant will be able to point to another purpose of the stay in Romania.

If the information or documents provided, on which the request for the extension of the right of residence is based, are inadequate or incomplete, the General Inspectorate for Immigration shall communicate to the applicant the additional information requested and establish a reasonable time limit for sending them, but no more than 30 of days. The 30-day term for solving the application is suspended until the General Inspectorate for Immigration receives the necessary additional information or documents. If no additional information or documents have been provided by the deadline, the request may be rejected.

Extension of the right of residence is not granted when it is found:

a. the existence of a state of bigamy or polygamy;

b. that the two spouses no longer have a conjugal relationship or an effective family relationship, on the Romanian territory;

c. that the foreigner has recognized the affiliation of a Romanian child exclusively for the purpose of obtaining the right of residence

Statistics about Romanian immigration

Foreigners interested in learning more about how to immigrate to Romania and the immigration status in the country can find the following information useful:

• – In 2019, there were 202,422 immigrants in Romania, according to the National Institute of Statistics Romania;
• – A significant majority (80%) of the immigrants who arrived in the country in 2019 were already Romanian citizens;
• – 40,792 immigrants in 2019 were foreign citizens;
• – 0,7% of the total Romanian population in 2019 were immigrants;
• – In 2025 the international migration balance remained positive: immigrants exceeded emigrants by 102.2 thousand persons, and 58.6% of the immigrants were men (National Institute of Statistics, press release no. 212 of 28 August 2026).

The family reunification permit is not the only one that allows a foreign national to reside in the country. A long-stay visa which can, in time, lead to permanent residency, can be awarded for commercial activities, employment, research activities, or more. You can reach out to us if you wish to apply for a resident permit in Romania for purposes other than reuniting with your family members.

Reuniting with a family member who already lives in Romania is a natural step for many foreign nationals. If you hold a long-term residence right and you and your family have been lawfully living in the country for at least eight years (five years from the marriage for the spouse of a Romanian citizen), you can be eligible for citizenship in Romania. Sufficient language knowledge, and having sufficient income are among the main conditions. The process is different for minor children and, upon request, our team can give you more details.