Minimum Salary Level to Increase

The situation

Effective January 1, 2020, the minimum monthly salary for foreign workers in non-graduate roles in Romania will increase to RON 2,230, up 7.2 percent from 2019.

Salary requirements will be as follows effective January 1, 2020:

Permit type	Current salary requirement	New salary requirement
EU Intracompany Transferee (ICT) Permit	• RON 2,350 gross/month	• RON 2,350 gross/month
Work and Residence Permit for Local Hires	• RON 2,350 gross/month for positions that require university studies • RON 2,080 gross/month for positions that do not require university studies	• RON 2,350 gross/month for positions that require university studies • RON 2,230 gross/month for positions that do not require university studies
EU Blue Card	• RON 10,326 gross/month	• RON 10,326 gross/month

The exchange rate at the time of publication of this alert is 1 RON to 0.23 USD.

A closer look

• Existing employees. Employers of foreign nationals in non-graduate roles must increase foreign nationals’ salaries to comply with the new rule.
• Initial and renewal applications. Employers of foreign nationals in non-graduate roles seeking to obtain or renew work authorization on or after January 1, 2020 must increase foreign nationals’ salaries to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
• Pending applications. Employers of foreign nationals in non-graduate roles with pending applications as of January 1, 2020 must increase foreign nationals’ salaries to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
• Unaffected categories. Salary requirements for EU Intracompany Transferee (ICT) Permit applicants, EU Blue Card applicants and locally hired applicants in graduate roles remain unchanged.

 

Reminders on other requirements

• Dependents. As before, applicants must receive once the applicable salary requirement for each accompanying dependent. E.g., a foreign worker in a non-graduate role travelling with a spouse and two children would receive RON 8,920 gross/month as of January 1, 2020. In general, the salary must be sufficient to sustain the foreign national and any dependents for the entire duration of stay.
• Benefits and allowances. As before, benefits and allowances may only be included if they are specified in the assignment letter or employment contract; guaranteed and fixed; and not paid in kind. Holiday allowance cannot be included.
• Currency. As before, for foreign workers on home employment contract, employers are required to guarantee the salary in RON regardless of payroll location and/or exchange rate fluctuations.

 

Background

Romania introduced a distinction between graduate and non-graduate roles in 2019.

Salary increases between one and 10 percent are normal in Europe, typically seeking to keep the salary level aligned with the cost of living.

Looking ahead

The Romanian government will increase the number of work authorizations granted to foreign nationals to 30,000 in 2020, up from the 20,000 work authorizations initially granted in 2019.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].