General reacquisition of lost citizenship (Article 10, grade II)

Article 10 of Legea 21/1991 (R) is the general reacquisition corridor — the ethnically-neutral pathway for a person who once held Romanian citizenship and lost it (for ANY cause, including voluntary renunciation or voluntary emigration) to recover it, together with that person's descendants up to and including the second degree (gradul II inclusiv = children and grandchildren). A parallel limb, Art 10(2), extends the identical regime to stateless former Romanian citizens and their descendants up to grade II. Applicants may retain their existing foreign citizenship and may either set up domicile in Romania or keep domicile abroad — there is no Romania-residence requirement on this track (contrast ordinary naturalisation under Art 8). The eligibility key is the prior Romanian citizenship of the applicant or ancestor plus the documented filiation chain to grade II, never ethnicity. This route is the deliberate counterpart to RO-HIS-01 (Art 11 restoration), and the central analytical task is the Art 10-vs-Art 11 split developed throughout this document: Art 10 covers any loss but reaches only grade II; Art 11 covers only involuntary loss but reaches grade III. Typical Art 10 applicants are post-war voluntary emigrants and their children/grandchildren, persons who earlier renounced Romanian citizenship to naturalise elsewhere, and stateless former citizens (Art 10(2)). [Pins: Art 10(1); Art 10(2), ]

The application (cerere) is drawn up in Romanian and addressed to the Comisia pentru cetatenie. The supporting dossier typically establishes two pillars: (i) the loss of prior Romanian citizenship of the applicant or qualifying ancestor — evidenced by old Romanian identity/citizenship documents, denaturalisation or renunciation records, exit-visa or emigration records, or archival extracts; and (ii) the unbroken filiation chain to grade II — long-form birth, marriage and (where relevant) death certificates linking the applicant to the former Romanian citizen. Foreign-issued civil-status acts must be apostilled or super-legalised (Art 16, mod. L14/2025 pct 17), with civil-status proof by original extracts issued no more than 2 years before filing, and certified Romanian translations. Additional standard items: a Romanian-language B1 competence certificate (Art 15^1(4)) unless exempt under Art 15^1(5); a criminal-record certificate / cazier judiciar (Romanian and from countries of residence) supporting Art 8(1)(e); proof of lawful means for Art 8(1)(d); a copy of the valid foreign passport/ID; and proof of advance payment of the card de cetatenie (Art 22^1). At filing, biometric data (facial image + fingerprints of two fingers) are collected under Art 13^2. The granular per-document checklist is set administratively (Ordin ANC 85/2025 on required documents under Art 16(4)), confirmed retrievable on the allowlisted primary domain legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/296888 (≤2-year civil-status currency + apostille/CIEC-Vienna-1976). [Pins: Art 16 mod. L14/2025 pct 17; Art 15^1(4); Art 13^2; Art 22^1, ]

Romania imposes no statutory processing deadline on reacquisition; the only statutory term is the Commission's report term of up to 2 years (Art 15(10)) extendable by up to 6 months (Art 15(11)) under L14/2025. ANC publishes moving administrative snapshots of average processing time. The ANC Informare snapshot (figures published Jan-2025, reiterated 27-Aug-2025) gives: Art 10 ≈ 1.63 years; Art 11 ≈ 3.28 years; Art 8 ≈ 2.09 years; Art 8^1 ≈ 1.12 years. A later ANC "Stadiu dosar" snapshot (reiterated in a 03-Feb-2026 parliamentary question by dep. Dan Tanasa) reports upward drift: Art 10 ≈ 2y3m–2y10m, Art 11 ≈ 3y10m, minors ≈ 2y3m–2y5m. These figures are not statutory terms and must be treated as a dated, moving snapshot to be re-pulled at finalisation. Notably, Art 10 dossiers are far fewer than Art 11 (ANC 2024 synthesis: roughly 291 Art 10 vs 1,761 Art 11 dossier-lists processed), so the Art 10 queue is comparatively short. After approval, the oath must be taken within ONE YEAR of communication of the ANC President's order; citizenship vests on the oath date (Art 20). [Pins: Art 15(10)-(11); Art 20(2),, ]

The principal direct government cost on this route is the card de cetatenie romana: a chip-bearing citizenship card that replaces the paper certificate, personalised by the Centrul national unic de personalizare a pasapoartelor electronice (DGP/MAI). The current official fee is 91.50 lei (VAT included), effective 01.08.2025, paid in advance with the application (proof attached); it is refundable if the application is rejected within one year. Some legacy ANC route pages still display the prior 90.00 lei figure — the current pinned figure is 91.50 lei per the ANC announcement. Importantly, this fee is NOT fixed in the statute body: Art 22^1 delegates the amount to the Imprimeria Nationala (with Ministry of Finance approval), so it must be pinned to the ANC announcement, not to the Act. Ancillary, non-government costs an applicant should budget for (variable, not ANC fees): apostille/super-legalisation of foreign civil-status documents; certified Romanian translations; the B1 language-competence certificate (where not exempt); and criminal-record certificates. No additional statutory "application fee" beyond the card is fixed in the consolidated text. [Pins: Art 22^1; ANC announcement eff. 01.08.2025,; ]

Appeal venues are specific and were corrected at P1 — they are not a generic competent Curte de Apel and there is NO ICCJ recurs layer in any citizenship-order appeal. For RO-HIS-02 the relevant route is the rejection of a grant/reacquisition application: under Art 19(4) (as set by Legea 2/2013), the rejection order is challengeable within 15 days of communication before the Sectia de contencios administrativ si fiscal a TRIBUNALULUI BUCURESTI (first instance), with recurs to the Sectia de contencios administrativ si fiscal a CURTII DE APEL BUCURESTI. The same Tribunalul Bucuresti -> Curtea de Apel Bucuresti route governs rejection of a renunciation application (Art 31(6)). For completeness/contrast (not the Art 10 grant path): withdrawal (retragere) orders under Art 32(7) go directly to the Curtea de Apel Bucuresti and that court's judgment is FINAL (definitiva) with no recurs. There is no recurs to the Inalta Curte de Casatie si Justitie in any of these citizenship appeals. The any-doubt-to-rejection standard (Art 12(3)) means many refusals turn on evidentiary doubt about the loss/filiation chain rather than legal error, which shapes the realistic scope of contencios review. [Pins: Art 19(4) (L2/2013); Art 31(6); Art 32(7) (L14/2025 pct 34), ]

Primary and corroborating sources pinned for this route (refs from ):

• — Legea 21/1991 (R) consolidated text (legislatie.just.ro/121439), as amended through L14/2025 + OUG 16/2026. Basis for Art 10(1)-(2), Art 8(1)(b)-(e), Art 12(3), Art 13, Art 15^1, Art 16, Art 19/19^1, Art 20.
• — Legea 14/2025 amending act (MO Partea I nr. 218 din 12-Mar-2025; legislatie.just.ro/295342). Art I pct 6 amends Art 10(1); pct 16 amends Art 15^1; pct 8/9/22 procedure.
• ** / (T1/T2)** — OUG 16/2026 (MO Partea I nr. 196 din 13-Mar-2026; legislatie.just.ro/308226) extending the Art 10/11 language-certificate window to "doi ani" (14-Mar-2027).
• — Lege5 reproduction of the L14/2025 verbatim amending text for Art 10(1) and Art 11(1) (corroboration of grade II vs grade III).
• ** /** — ANC "Termenul mediu de solutionare" and "Stadiu dosar" processing-time snapshots (Art 10 ≈ 1.63y; later upward drift).
• — ANC FAQ (filing locations: Bucharest HQ + Iasi/Galati/Suceava + RO mission/consulate).
• ** / (T1/T2)** — CoE ECN deposit (RO's own deposited L21/1991 text) and OSCE/ODIHR Legislationline English translation (independent confirmation of the neutral reacquisition conditions).
• — ANC Sinteza Raport de Activitate 2024 (Art 11 dominant vs Art 10 dossier counts).
• — EUDO/GLOBALCIT Romania country report (ethnically-neutral framing; HU/PL/Baltic contrast).
• — ANC announcement, card de cetatenie 91.50 lei effective 01.08.2025.
• — OUG 5/2010 (ANC organisation; non-delegable order).

Disclaimers (repeated): Past ANC practice does not guarantee future results. Discretionary review under Art 12(3) ("any doubt -> rejection") can defeat an otherwise technically-eligible application. The B1-certificate transitional deadline (14-Mar-2027) and the deferred e-file regime (Art 34^2, from 30-Jun-2026) are time-sensitive — re-verify before relying. This research is not legal advice; consult a licensed Romanian immigration attorney.