Romania Makes It Mandatory for Citizenship Applicants to Provide Their Biometric Data

The decision comes following the new changes to the Romanian Citizenship Law no. 21/1991, EU Helpers reports.

The National Citizenship authority has said that from September 1, applicants will have to provide their image and two fingerprints.

The same stressed that children over 14 years old are also subject to the new changes, meaning that they also will have to provide both their facial image and fingerprints when planning to acquire or reacquire Romanian citizenship.

For those under the age of 14, included in the parents’ application, only the facial image will be required.

Requests for Acquiring or Requiring Citizenship to Be Submitted in Person

The National Citizenship authority has stressed that starting from September 1, requests for applying or reapplying for Romanian citizenship must be submitted in person, including by all minors included in the parents’ requests.

The presence of minors is also required if the request is made by a parent who has already obtained Romanian citizenship for the child who was not part of the other parents’ initial request.

Romanian citizenship can be granted to foreign nationals or stateless persons who have contributed to the promotion and protection of Romanian culture, for at least three years prior to the request. It can also be requested through marriage and by descent.

Introducing Biometric Data Collection for Citizenship

In July this year, authorities in Romania introduced biometric data collection for applicants planning to become Romanian citizens, announcing that they will begin to replace paper citizenship certificates with electronic cards containing biographic and biometric data.

Furthermore, the regulation also introduced a legal basis for the National Authority for Citizenship in order to acquire biometric data acquisition equipment as well as other IT tools.

Such measures, according to the government, came in a bid to harmonize its procedure with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and accelerate entry into the US Visa Waiver Program.

In December last year, research by the Canadian immigration agency CanadaCIS revealed Romania is among the ten easiest countries to become a citizen. The study was conducted taking into account the data from Eurostat from 2009 to 2021.