Removal under escort from Romania involves the accompanying by specialized personnel of the General Inspectorate for Immigration to the border or to a third country (the country of origin, transit or destination) of the following categories of foreigners:
a) who did not voluntarily execute the obligation to return from the territory of Romania, after the term for voluntary departure expired;
b) who present a risk of evading the voluntary execution of the return obligation, even before the term for voluntary departure expires, namely those who:
c) have crossed or tried to illegally cross the state border of Romania;
d) entered Romania during a previously ordered entry ban;
e) whose identity could not be established;
f) whose conduct gives rise to the reasonable suspicion that they intend to evade the voluntary execution of the return obligation;
g) who have been declared undesirable;
h) who are subject to expulsion, i.e. against whom the complementary penalty of prohibition of the right to be on the territory of Romania was ordered under the Criminal Code (expulsion is carried out by removal under escort).
For foreigners declared undesirable or presenting a risk of evading voluntary return (letters b)-g)), the return decision itself orders removal under escort.
The return decision ordering removal under escort can be appealed within 10 days from the date of communication to the court of appeal in whose area the structure of the General Inspectorate for Immigration that issued the decision is located or, if the foreigner has been taken into public custody, to the court of appeal in whose area the accommodation center is located. The court decides within 5 days, the decision being final. The challenge suspends the execution of the return obligation, unless the foreigner was declared undesirable or requested the return decision before being found with illegal stay.
The challenge of the return decision made by foreigners taken into public custody does not suspend the measure of being taken into public custody.
When there are strong indications that removal under escort cannot be done within 24 hours, the General Inspectorate for Immigration examines the case and either grants tolerance of stay or asks for the foreigner to be taken into public custody. Public custody is ordered by the designated prosecutor for 30 days and can be extended by the court of appeal; it cannot exceed 6 months, which may exceptionally be extended by a further period of up to 12 months. Foreigners taken into public custody are housed in closed centers, specially arranged. In Romania, two centers are set up, located in Otopeni and Arad. The centers are built and organized to provide adequate accommodation, feeding, medical care and personal hygiene for the foreigners accommodated there. They work based on a regulation approved by Order of the Minister of Internal Affairs no. 121 of 30 July 2014 for the approval of the Regulation of accommodation centers of aliens taken into public custody (as amended by Order no. 152/2020).
The expenses occasioned by the removal from the territory of Romania of the foreigners who have financial means are borne by them.
Simultaneously with the implementation of the measure of removal under escort, the General Inspectorate for Immigration may, under the law, also prohibit the entry into Romania for a certain period.
The measure of return of foreigners is forbidden in the following cases:
a) the foreigner is a minor, and his parents have the right to stay in Romania;
b) the foreigner is the parent of a minor who has Romanian citizenship, if the minor is in his maintenance or if there is an obligation to pay the alimony, an obligation that the foreigner fulfills regularly;
c) the foreigner is married to a Romanian citizen or to a foreigner who has a long-term right to stay in the territory of Romania, and the marriage is not convenient;
d) the foreigner has exceeded the age of 65 years;
The mentioned persons may be granted or, as the case may be, extend the right of residence in Romania by the General Inspectorate for Immigration, for one of the purposes and in the conditions of the law, without having to obtain a long stay visa in advance.
The obligation to return is suspended during the period when the General Inspectorate for Immigration finds the incidence of the following situations:
a) removal under escort can only be done to a state for which there are justified fears that the foreigner’s life is endangered or that he will be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment;
b) the state of health of the foreigner makes impossible the removal under escort;
c) the alien is the parent of a minor who attends the courses of a state or private educational institution, accredited or provisionally authorized according to the law, and the school year is in progress;
d) the foreigner is married to another foreigner who has the right of temporary residence or permission to stay on the territory of Romania, and the marriage is not for convenience;
e) the foreigner is in one of the situations in which, according to the criminal law, he is not allowed to leave Romania.
Exceptions to these provisions are foreigners who constitute a danger to public order, national security or who suffer from a disease that threatens public health and refuses to comply with the measures. established by the medical authorities.
