Approximately 850,000 Moldovans have been granted Romanian citizenship to date.
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Romania has seen a significant wave of Moldovans obtaining citizenship over the past three decades, with approximately 1 million Moldovans gaining Romanian citizenship between 1991 and 2024. This trend reflects deep historical and cultural ties between the two countries.
The process of gaining Romanian citizenship for Moldovans has been ongoing since at least 1991, with over 773,413 people being reinstated in their identity rights to gain Romanian citizenship between 1991 and 2024. The Romanian National Citizenship Authority has maintained a relatively consistent pace in processing these applications, with approximately 3 years being the average waiting time for a decision on a citizenship application.
In recent years, the Romanian government has been working on modernizing the process of granting citizenship to Moldovan citizens through digitalization. The Ministry of Justice in Bucharest launched a digitalization project, funded through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), with an investment of RON 8.89 million (EUR 1.75 million).
The digitalization project aims to respond to citizenship applications more quickly and improve file management efficiency. This includes introducing online platforms to submit and track applications, reducing paperwork and in-person visits. Streamlining document verification and communication procedures, enhancing cooperation between Romanian authorities and Moldovan institutions to facilitate verification of ancestral documents, and employing modern IT systems to handle the increased volume of applications more effectively are some of the modernization efforts being implemented.
These efforts reflect Romania's commitment to facilitating integration and maintaining close ties with Moldova. As of 2024, more than 150,000 applications for Romanian citizenship from Moldovan citizens are pending.
The data provided in this article was sourced from the Romanian National Citizenship Authority and the Ministry of Justice in Bucharest, as well as official reports from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The average waiting time for a decision on a citizenship application from the Romanian National Citizenship Authority is approximately 3 years. By 2024, over 850,000 citizens from the Republic of Moldova had gained Romanian citizenship.
The two countries, once separate, now have a special relationship due to a rich common culture, history, and language. Numerous Moldovans, including President Maia Sandu, hold Romanian citizenship. The process of gaining Romanian citizenship for Moldovans has been ongoing since at least 1991, with 85,500 people benefiting from a simplified procedure to gain Romanian citizenship between 1991 and 2002.
Since 2003, the Romanian National Citizenship Authority has solved 7 cases of citizenship applications submitted by Moldovan citizens. By 2011, the number of cases solved by the Romanian National Citizenship Authority for Moldovan citizens had increased to over 81,000. The Republic of Moldova has a population of approximately 2.4 million people.
These modernization efforts are expected to reduce processing times and bureaucratic hurdles for Moldovans seeking Romanian citizenship, making the process more efficient and accessible for those seeking to integrate with Romania.
- The policy-and-legislation surrounding the process of obtaining Romanian citizenship for Moldovans, facilitated by digitalization, is a key part of the politics shaping the general news about the relationship between Romania and Moldova.
- The modernization of the Romanian citizenship process, as seen in the digitalization project, is a significant piece of legislation that has substantial implications for the integration of Moldovans into Romania, reflecting the ongoing political efforts to maintain close ties between the two countries.
