Jus sanguinis at birth - child of RO citizen

A child acquires Romanian citizenship automatically at birth, by descent (jus sanguinis), where at least one parent is a Romanian citizen, regardless of the place of birth (Legea 21/1991 (R) Art 5(1)-(2)). This is the single most important acquisition mode in Romanian nationality law: it is operative from the moment of birth, requires no application, no residence, no language test, and no oath, because the citizenship is conferred ope legis (by operation of law) rather than by a discretionary grant. Three sub-populations qualify under the statute's own structure: (i) a child born on Romanian territory to two Romanian-citizen parents (Art 5(1)); (ii) a child born on Romanian territory where only one parent is a Romanian citizen (Art 5(2)(a)); and (iii) a child born abroad where one or both parents are Romanian citizens (Art 5(2)(b)). The route is ethnically neutral and gender-neutral — either parent's Romanian citizenship suffices, and the child's own birthplace is legally irrelevant once the parental link is established. Because the right vests at birth, the typical practical question is not whether the person is Romanian but how to obtain documentary proof and recognition of a status that already exists, especially for persons born abroad in the diaspora.

There is no statutory processing term for the acquisition itself, because acquisition occurs at the instant of birth and is not a decision with a deliberation period. The only timelines that arise are administrative-registration timelines: the time to register a birth in Romania (a routine civil-status act) or to transcribe a foreign birth certificate at a consulate (which varies by mission workload and document-completeness, and is governed by consular instructions rather than the citizenship statute). The ANC published average-processing-time snapshots (Art 8 ≈ 2.09 years; Art 8^1 ≈ 1.12 years; Art 10 ≈ 1.63 years; Art 11 ≈ 3.28 years per the dated ANC Informare) are not applicable to RO-DSC-01 — they measure naturalisation and reacquisition files, not birth registration, and in any event are a moving administrative snapshot, not statutory terms. Where a continuity case must be litigated as a declaratory confirmation (or recast as an Art 10/11 reacquisition because a loss is found), the applicable timeline becomes that of the recast procedure, including the Commission report term of up to 2 years extendable by 6 months introduced by L14/2025. For the ordinary birth case, the practical timeline is the consular/registry transcription turnaround, which is not fixed in the Act.

There is no citizenship-grant fee for RO-DSC-01, because no grant is issued — the costs are civil-status registration and documentary costs. Where a card de cetatenie romana (the chip-bearing citizenship card that replaces the paper certificate) is issued in connection with a confirmation of citizenship, the card's cost is 91.50 lei (VAT included), effective 01.08.2025 (pinned to the ANC announcement, not to the statute — Art 22^1(13) delegates the fee to Imprimeria Nationala, so the figure is administrative, not statutory). Some legacy ANC pages still display the prior 90.00 lei figure — the current figure is 91.50 lei. For the ordinary birth-registration / consular-transcription path, fees are the consular and civil-status charges set by the relevant fee schedules (apostille, certified translation, consular act fees), which are outside the citizenship statute and vary by jurisdiction and document volume; these should be checked against the live consular/registry fee list and are not pinned here. No financial-means or proof-of-funds requirement attaches to acquisition by birth — those conditions (Art 8(1)(d)) belong to the naturalisation track and do not apply to descent.

Because RO-DSC-01 produces no ANC grant/refusal order, the citizenship-statute appeal venues do not ordinarily engage. If the matter is recast and an ANC order issues — for example, a rejection of a reacquisition application (Art 10/11) where the authorities treat the family history as involving a loss, or a refusal in a declaratory-confirmation posture that is channelled administratively — the relevant appeal architecture is: rejection of a grant/reacquisition application is challengeable within 15 days at the Administrative & Fiscal Section of the Tribunalul Bucuresti, with recurs to the Administrative & Fiscal Section of the Curtea de Apel Bucuresti (Art 19(4);). Renunciation-rejection follows the same Tribunalul Bucuresti → Curtea de Apel Bucuresti route (Art 31(6)); withdrawal orders go directly to the Curtea de Apel Bucuresti and are FINAL with no recurs (Art 32(7)). There is NO ICCJ recurs layer in any citizenship-order appeal. Disputes about civil-status registration or transcription (e.g., refusal to transcribe a foreign birth certificate) proceed instead through the ordinary administrative-litigation / civil-status correction channels rather than the citizenship-order appeal route. A person whose birth-acquired citizenship is denied recognition may, in principle, seek a declaratory judicial confirmation that the status exists.

Primary statutory and evidentiary pins for this route (-### / -###): -: Legea 21/1991 (R) consolidated text, legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/121439 — Art 5(1)-(3) structure; no L14/2025 marker on Art 5. Pins,. -: Legea 14/2025, MO Partea I nr. 218 din 12 martie 2025, legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocumentAfis/295342 — confirms which articles the 2025 reform touched (Art 5 not among them).

• ** /–028**: CoE Treaty Office + UNTC — ECN full-house (CETS 166 + 1954 + 1961) supporting the dual-citizenship/no-renunciation overlap.

• (A-SAM-01): Art 5 three-paragraph structure; jus sanguinis unamended by L14/2025.

• (A8): jus sanguinis primary; foundling Art 5(3) is the only jus-soli-adjacent rule (rebuttable, parents-unknown).

• (RO-LOSS-09): Art 25(2) birth citizenship non-withdrawable; Art 26 spouse/children unaffected.

• ** / ** (Art 30^1): NEW L14/2025 loss-by-filiation-annulment analogue (loss-side overlap).

• (RO-APPEAL-12): appeal venues (Tribunalul Bucuresti → Curtea de Apel Bucuresti; no ICCJ).

• (AS-FULLHOUSE): treaty full-house supporting dual-nationality framing.