Romanian citizenship for children - Emigration law office

Most those who hold a foreign passport, especially a European one, are interested in passing the foreign citizenship on to their children and grandchildren. Even if we ourselves do not take advantage of all the benefits that come with having a European passport, our children will be able to choose to do so when the time comes, and that is not something that should be taken for granted.

In recent years the demand for Romanian passports has been rising, and thousands of Israelis wish to pass this citizenship on to their children. If you wish to find out about applying for a Romanian passport for yourself, we will be happy to help you in this matter. You can also find some preliminary information in this article on our site. If you are already a Romanian citizen and you wish to pass this citizenship on to your children, we can help you with this matter as well. In this article we provide an overview of how that may be done.

The expert staff in our law offices will be happy to be of service to you every step along the way towards applying for your children’s Romanian passports. More generally, we can help you with the process of applying for Romanian passports as Israelis who have past or present Romanian ancestors.

Romanian passports for children of present-day Romanian citizens

If you already have a Romanian passport and are wondering how to pass it on to your children, it is important to note that although the procedure is not complicated, it does require some familiarity with the process.

The process begins with collecting documents such as birth certificates, guardianship documents, and valid Israeli and Romanian passports. These are then submitted to the Romanian embassy in Israel, and you must wait for your application to be approved. Of course, if you cannot or do not wish to deal with submitting the paperwork, you can seek the assistance of a professional to save your time and energy.

The process of passing one’s existing Romanian citizenship on to one’s children is generally quite simple. However, if someone claims eligibility for a passport based on Romanian ancestors, and those ancestors had their citizenship revoked for any reason, the process becomes more complicated.

Romanian passports for Israelis

The young state of Israel is an immigrant state made up of many generations of exiles. Israelis’ roots reach back not only to Europe, and Romania in particular, but to all the Arab countries, South America, the United States, and many other communities around the world.

This fact allows many Israelis to demand their right to citizenships that were held in the past by their ancestors, who in many cases were banished or suffered harassment and assaults and had their citizenship revoked against their will.

Romanian Jewry was subject to great turmoil between the two world wars (for fascinating information on the history of Romania, check out this comprehensive guide to obtaining a Romanian passport) and over the years many Romanian refugees made their way to Israel and acquired Israeli citizenship, some hailing from countries that were under Romanian sovereignty in the past. Romanian citizenship law has undergone many changes throughout the recent decades, and nowadays the conditions for eligibility are quite lenient.

Under Romanian law, to be eligible for Romanian citizenship you must be over 18 years old and your parents or grandparents must have been Romanian-born citizens who had their citizenship revoked. In addition, children of Romanian immigrants who immigrated to Israel between the years 1950 and early 1952, or from mid-1964 until the end of 1965, are eligible for a passport with no generational limit. Up until recently only children and grandchildren of Romanian immigrants were eligible for a passport, but nowadays even great-grandchildren are eligible for Romanian citizenship. Please note that the above holds true regardless of whether the aforementioned ancestor is still alive or has passed away.

The process of exercising your right to a Romanian passport and citizenship:

Proof of eligibility: In the first stage you must provide proof linking your parents (or grandparents, for that matter) to Romania. This requires finding one or more documents which support your claim, such as a birth certificate, a record of military service, a Romanian marriage certificate, etc. These documents must be submitted to the Romanian embassy for approval. If you receive confirmation that the document is in fact original and valid, you may begin putting together the application file.
Collecting the relevant documents: Putting together the file involves collecting many documents, including a certificate of good conduct from the Israel Police, the applicant’s birth certificate, the applicant’s Israeli passport, etc. Furthermore, in most cases there will be a need for specific documents, such as a certificate of name change from the Ministry of the Interior, if the applicant (or their father/grandfather) has changed his name, as well as other documents that may be needed. Please note that some of the documents must be submitted together with a notarized Romanian translation with an apostille stamp. The application should be submitted only after all the relevant documents have been collected.
Submitting the application and tracking it: At this point you must wait for the Romanian authorities to review the application. You can easily track the application’s progress using the embassy’s website. Naturally, we send our clients updates every step along the way.
Receiving an invitation to a swearing-in ceremony at the embassy and receiving a passport: Once your application is approved, you must go to the Romanian consulate within six months to attend a swearing-in ceremony. After the ceremony, and after having officially completed the process of acquiring citizenship, you are now officially a Romanian citizen and a citizen of the European Union.

If you are wondering about the possibility of obtaining a Romanian passport for your spouse, you should know that it is not an impossible feat, but one which nonetheless is usually complicated and may demand a great deal of effort.

Either way, as soon as you become the bearer of a Romanian passport, you can easily pass it on to your children.

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity. Thanks to the Romanian passport, which is in fact a European Union passport ever since Romania became a member in 2007, your children will be able to live in any country within the European Union as citizens, make a living as hired employees or as independent free-lancers in Europe, study in leading academic institutions, and even take advantage of lighter restrictions on entry to other countries, such as the ability to obtain a three-month tourist visa to the United States automatically. Even if you or your children choose not to make use of these rights, it can’t hurt to have the option to do so.

Contact the experts in our office

As you can see, there are many different processes of varying complexity for acquiring a Romanian passport for children or acquiring one as a descendant of Romanian lineage, and these processes require deep familiarity with the embassy, Romanian authorities, and the relevant Israeli authorities.

Our staff of experts on acquiring European citizenship, and Romanian citizenship in particular, will be happy to help.

For professional guidance, you are welcome to contact us regarding any step in the process of acquiring Romanian citizenship for children. We invite you to schedule a meeting with us in our offices in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.