Everyday Life

Romania is a state situated in the South-East of Central Europe, on the Noth-East shore of the Black Sea. Danube’s surface is almost entirely situated on the country’s territory; and also the Southern and Central component of the Carpathian Mountains. It has borders with Bulgaria in the South, Serbia in South-West, Hungary in North-West, Ukraine in the North and East and the Republic of Moldova in South-East.

Bucharest is both the largest city and the capital of Romania.

In Romania there are 5 more cities with a numerous population that also register in the rank of the cities with the greatest population in the EU. These are: Iași, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Constanța and Craiova. Other big cities are: Galați, Brașov, Ploiești, Oradea.

Romania’s climate is determined first of all by its position on the globe, but also by its geographical position on the European continent. These particularities offer the climate a temperate-continental character with nuances of transition, and moderate rainfall.

The main ethnic group in Romania is represented by Romanians, and the following important ethnic community is the Hungarian one, but on the state’s territory there are also other minority groups: Roma, German, Slovak, Turkish etc.

In Romania, religion is based on the principle of freedom of choice of religious beliefs, principle that is also enshrined in Romania’s Constitution, together with freedom of thought and freedom of opinion. Romania does not have a national religion officially, and respects the principle of secularization: public authorities are obliged to be neutral regarding associations and religious cults. The predominant declared religion of the population is Christian Orthodoxy.

The official language is Romanian, belonging to the group of eastern Romanic languages and it is related to Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese and, in general, with most of the European languages.

The form of governance is a semi-presidential republic. The state is organized in conformity with the principle of separation and equilibrium of powers – legislative, executive and judicial – in the framework of a constitutional democracy. The president is elected by universal, equal, direct, secret and free suffrage.

Romania has a unique culture due to its geographical position and of its distinct historical evolution. It is fundamentally defined as a meeting point of 3 regions: Central Europe, Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe, but it cannot be completely included in any of them.

The Romanian “Leu”, or simple “Leu”, or RON is the official currency of Romania and the only one that can be used when purchasing by paying in cash. It is sub-divided in 100 bani (coins).

The banknotes are of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 200 și 500 lei/RON. Coins fall into categories of 1, 5, 10, 50 bani.

The exchange rate between RON/Leu and any other currency can be followed on: Cursul de schimb BNR

For traveling by train, the main railway company is CFR or Căile Ferate Române, which has national coverage. Their website can be used in order to see trains’ routes, their schedule and their price: https://www.cfrcalatori.ro/.

The public transport (bus, tram, etc) differs depending on the city; the main ones are:

• București
• Iași
• Cluj-Napoca
• Oradea
• Timișoara
• Suceava

What are my rights and responsibilities?

TCNs have the following rights:

• may move freely and settle their residence / domicile anywhere on the territory of Romania, as long as they are legally resident
• may temporarily leave the Romanian state and have the right to re-enter during the validity period of the residence permit, in accordance with the law
• nationals who reside in Romania benefit from the same social protection measures as Romanian citizens
• nationals in the education system of all grades have access without restriction to school and training activities in society
• can benefit from tax deductions on global income and tax exemptions

Among the obligations of nationals are:

• to be subject to border control, control of police and other relevant public authorities
• during the stay in Romania, they are required to declare within 30 days to the territorial formation of the General Inspectorate for Immigration, which has granted them the right of residence: any change in the personal situation (change of residence, birth of a family member, etc.); employment; prolonging the validity or changing the document of crossing the state border
• in the case of the theft or loss of the border crossing documents, the competent territorial police body shall be notified within 48 hours.
• to respect the purpose for which they were granted and, as the case may be, not to remain in the territory of the country beyond the period for which their residence was approved and to make every effort to take from Romania until the expiration of this period

It is granted on request to aliens who prove that they have been legally resident in Romania for at least 8 years or for at least 5 years (if they are married to Romanian citizens) and have the means to support themselves.

In order to obtain Romanian citizenship, you will have to promote certain tests of knowledge of Romanian language, history, geography as well as the Romanian Constitution.

Requests for acquiring / regaining citizenship, together with a series of supporting documents, are filed at the Citizenship Commission office of the Ministry of Justice.