Continuous residence implies the exercise of the right of residence, under the conditions laid down by law, during the 5 years preceding the decision on the application for permanent residence. Proof of continuous residence is the responsibility of the applicant and may be provided by any means of evidence.
Thus, European Union citizens who have a continuous and legal residence on the territory of Romania for a period of at least 5 years benefit from the right of permanent residence. The same right is also enjoyed by persons who are not European Union citizens and who have continuous residence on the territory of Romania for a period of at least 5 years, as family members of a resident or permanent resident European Union citizen.
Therefore, legal residence implies the exercise of the right of residence on the territory of Romania, under the conditions of the law, without being interrupted by a measure limiting or restricting the right of residence or by a measure of removal from the territory of Romania.
In determining the continuity of the period of residence, no interruptions shall be considered:
- temporary absences from the territory of Romania not exceeding 6 months within a year;
- absence from the territory of Romania for compulsory military service;
- absence from the territory of Romania for justified reasons, such as pregnancy and childbirth, serious illness, participation in education or vocational training programs or moving in the interest of the service to another Member State or to a third country, for a maximum period of 12 consecutive months;
- the period during which a custodial sentence has been served in the territory of Romania for less than 6 months.
However, the right of permanent residence shall be lost in the event of absence from the territory of Romania for more than two consecutive years.
However, by exception, residents are granted permanent residence, prior to the completion of the continuous period of 5 years of residence, when:
- they have the status of worker if, at the time of termination of employment, they have reached the age prescribed by national legislation for retirement on grounds of old age or, if the employment contract is terminated with the right to early retirement under the law, if they have been employed in Romania for at least the last 12 months and have had a continuous residence of more than 3 years on Romanian territory. For residents who are self-employed, the condition relating to retirement age is considered to have been met when they reach the age of 60.
- have the status of worker and a continuous residence on the territory of Romania for a period of more than 2 years and cease working due to the total loss or at least half of the working capacity. If this incapacity is the result of an accident at work or an occupational disease, the condition relating to length of stay does not apply;
- after a period of three years’ residence, they work in another Member State while maintaining their residence in Romania, to which they return regularly every day or at least once a week. For the purposes of entitlement to the rights referred to above, periods of employment spent in the Member State in which the person concerned works shall be considered as having been spent in the territory of Romania.
Periods of unemployment, periods of sick leave or periods of cessation of work due to illness or accident and any other periods of cessation of work for reasons not attributable to the person concerned shall be taken into account in determining the continuity of such periods.
The conditions relating to the duration of residence and employment, and the condition relating to the duration of residence, shall not apply if the person who is employed or self-employed is married to a Romanian citizen.
If the European Union citizen acquires the right of permanent residence, his/her family members, regardless of nationality, have the right of permanent residence only if they live together with him/her in Romania.
If the European Union citizen who had the status of worker dies during the period of activity, but before acquiring the right of permanent residence, the family members who have been living with him/her in Romania may acquire the right of permanent residence if they are in one of the following situations:
- at the date of death, the European Union citizen had a continuous residence of at least 2 years in Romania;
- the death was the result of an accident at work or an occupational disease.
They may also benefit from the right of permanent residence without fulfilling the conditions mentioned above, if they do not represent a real and present threat to public order, national security or public health:
- citizens of the European Union who are of Romanian origin or born in Romania;
- citizens of the European Union whose residence on the territory of Romania is necessary for the fulfilment of an objective falling within the competence of the Parliament, the Presidential Administration, the Government or a specialized central public authority;
- family members accompanying or subsequently joining a citizen of the European Union who belongs to one of the categories referred to in points a) and b).
European Union citizens whose residence in the territory of Romania is necessary for the fulfilment of an objective falling within the competence of the Parliament, the Presidential Administration, the Government or a central specialized public authority shall be granted the right of permanent residence only following an express request by any of these authorities or institutions, addressed to the General Inspectorate for Immigration.
The following categories of persons may also benefit from the right of permanent residence without fulfilling the conditions:
- a minor whose parents hold a right of permanent residence, at the request of both parents;
- a minor who has been entrusted by a final and irrevocable judgment to one of his parents, at the request of the parent to whom he has been entrusted, if the latter has a permanent right of residence;
- a minor in respect of whom one of the parents has sole parental responsibility by virtue of a final and irrevocable judgment or by virtue of a final judgment for proceedings commenced after 15 February 2013, at the request of the parent who exercises parental responsibility alone, if he or she has a permanent right of residence;
- a minor whose legal representative has a permanent right of residence, at the request of the legal representative;
- a minor in respect of whom the parents exercise parental authority jointly, but only one of them has a permanent right of residence, at the request of the parent with a permanent right of residence accompanied by the consent of the other parent, given before the representative of the General Inspectorate for Immigration, at the time of the application or, where appropriate, in authenticated form.
Exceptions to the conditions are also made for European Union citizens who can prove that they have made investments of at least 1,000,000 euros or have created more than 100 full-time jobs and who can be granted the right of permanent residence.
Cristian Badea – attorney at law
