Citizenship in Romania can be acquired by four methods: birth, adoption, repatriation, and request.

Birth: All children born to Romanian citizens acquire citizenship at birth. The child may be born on Romanian territory or abroad and only one parent must be a Romanian citizen. Additionally, any child found on Romanian territory is granted citizenship if neither of the parents are known.

Adoption: Citizenship is granted to any child who is legally adopted by Romanian citizens. If only one foster parent is a Romanian citizen, the child is still eligible for Romanian citizenship and the decision is made by the foster parents. If they are unable to reach a mutual agreement, the qualified court of law will decide. If the child is 14 years of age or older, their consent is necessary.

Repatriation: Any person who has lost Romanian citizenship can regain citizenship if he so wishes.

Additionally, any child or grandchild of someone who has lost their citizenship is entitled to repatriation.

Acquiring by Request: Citizenship may be granted to foreign citizens or a person without citizenship who qualify by inclusion of one of the following three categories:

Ø  Was born in Romania and currently reside there;

Ø  Has resided in Romania for at least eight years; or

Ø  Has resided in Romania and been married to a Romanian citizen for at least five years.

Applicants must also be at least 18 years of age and have a good understanding of the Romanian language and culture.

There are a number of qualifiers that may allow removing up to half of the time-requirements to gain Romanian citizenship, these include:

Ø  the applicant is an internationally recognized personality

Ø  the applicant is the citizen of a European Union Member State

Ø  the applicant has obtained refugee status

Ø  the applicant has invested in Romania amounts exceeding 1.000.000 Euro.