# Romania Citizenship Requirements Romania's ordinary naturalisation rules require qualifying residence and a settled residence right, means and good conduct, plus an interview assessing Romanian language and civic knowledge. Scope: Selected adult Article 8 ordinary naturalisation rules as amended from 15 March 2025. Earlier pending applications retain the substantive eligibility rules applicable when filed; restoration and descent under Articles 10-11 are separate. Jurisdiction: Romania: Romanian citizenship. Sources reviewed 2026-09-17; review due 2026-12-16. General information, not legal advice or a finding of eligibility. Requirements depend on the route, applicant and filing date. Verify the official instructions before applying. ## Eight years plus a settled residence right An applicant aged at least 18 must hold long-term or permanent residence rights when applying and have at least eight years of lawful residence. The married route instead requires at least five years of lawful residence since marriage while married to and living with a Romanian citizen, still with the required residence rights. Evidence: conditional. [Ministry of Justice of Romania / Legislative Portal: Law No. 14 of 12 March 2025 amending citizenship legislation, updated printable text](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/FormaPrintabila/00000G0KHSLJJS3ZF3E1VI903USA7FW0). Source location: Law 14/2025 Article I point 3 replacing Act Article 8(1)(a), (c); Article XIV transitional rule. Effective from 2025-03-15. ## Absences and reductions are qualified An absence exceeding six months in a year excludes that year. The eight-year period can be reduced by up to three years for qualifying EU/EEA/Swiss or Romania-born applicants only with the statutory participation or contribution conditions; recognised refugees need the separate exceptional-integration assessment. These are not automatic nationality discounts. Evidence: conditional. [Ministry of Justice of Romania / Legislative Portal: Law No. 14 of 12 March 2025 amending citizenship legislation, updated printable text](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/FormaPrintabila/00000G0KHSLJJS3ZF3E1VI903USA7FW0). Source location: Law 14/2025 Article I point 3: replacement Article 8(2)-(4), including qualifying birth and integration conditions. ## Means, loyalty and good conduct Applicants must show lawful means for a decent living, loyalty to the Romanian state and constitutional values, and good conduct. Conduct or convictions incompatible with citizenship, undermining the legal order or national-security concerns can prevent admission. Evidence: conditional. [Ministry of Justice of Romania / Legislative Portal: Law No. 14 of 12 March 2025 amending citizenship legislation, updated printable text](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/FormaPrintabila/00000G0KHSLJJS3ZF3E1VI903USA7FW0). Source location: Law 14/2025 Article I point 3 replacing Act Article 8(1)(b), (d)-(e). ## Romanian language and civic interview The ordinary interview assesses reading, writing and oral Romanian alongside history, geography, culture, the Constitution and anthem. A mean mark of at least 5 out of 10 is required. The procedure provides disability adaptations; applicants under the specified court protective measures are exempt from the interview. Evidence: conditional. [National Authority for Citizenship / Ministry of Justice Legislative Portal: Interview procedure of 11 April 2025 under Order No. 84/2025](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/FormaPrintabila/00000G0R1OYGDGF04B21DE5HPI9T9Y3G). Source location: Procedure sections 2, 3.1.3-3.1.4, 3.3.2 and 3.4.1-3.4.9. ## Ordinary-route CEFR level not established The reviewed Article 8 interview rules do not establish a general CEFR level. The B1 certificate provisions for Article 10 or 11 restoration and descendant applications must not be presented as the universal ordinary-naturalisation requirement. Evidence: not established. [Ministry of Justice of Romania / Legislative Portal: Law No. 14 of 12 March 2025 amending citizenship legislation, updated printable text](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/FormaPrintabila/00000G0KHSLJJS3ZF3E1VI903USA7FW0); [National Authority for Citizenship / Ministry of Justice Legislative Portal: Interview procedure of 11 April 2025 under Order No. 84/2025](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/FormaPrintabila/00000G0R1OYGDGF04B21DE5HPI9T9Y3G). Source location: Law 14/2025 Article I points 3 and 16: Act Article 8(1)(f)-(g) versus Article 15^1(4); interview procedure without CEFR mapping. ## No Article 8 renunciation condition; oath matters Article 8 does not list surrendering another citizenship as an admission condition. Another country's law may nevertheless remove that nationality. Meeting the Romanian conditions does not create an automatic entitlement; citizenship is normally acquired on taking the allegiance oath after approval. Evidence: conditional. [Ministry of Justice of Romania / Legislative Portal: Law No. 14 of 12 March 2025 amending citizenship legislation, updated printable text](https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/FormaPrintabila/00000G0KHSLJJS3ZF3E1VI903USA7FW0). Source location: Law 14/2025 Article I points 1, 3, 8, 22-23 replacing Act Articles 4(2), 8, 12 and 20(1), subject to the exceptional Article 21 arrangements. ## Scope and limitations - For the Romania-born reduced-period cohort, at least one parent must have been lawfully resident when the applicant was born. Reduction also requires the specified active economic participation, relevant educational achievement or exceptional contribution; it is not available merely because a person was born in Romania. - The 2025 substantive rules are not retroactively imposed on every pending application. Law 14/2025 Article XIV preserves the filing-date eligibility rules for earlier pending cases; procedural provisions have their own transition rules. - No processing-time promise, universal B1 rule or restoration-by-descent entitlement is inferred. Future electronic-filing provisions and the 2026 certificate-deadline changes for Articles 10-11 are not ordinary-route eligibility changes. ## Explore this passport - [Passport rank and travel access](https://multipassrank.com/passport/romania) - [Tax residence & income](https://multipassrank.com/passport/romania/taxes) - [Country-profile JSON, including sources and scoped requirements](https://multipassrank.com/api/v1/country-profiles/RO) - [Multiple-citizenship policy guide](https://multipassrank.com/dual-citizenship-countries) [Canonical page](https://multipassrank.com/passport/romania/citizenship)