Romania: New Unified Work Permit System and Online System Implemented

• New visa types. As part of the reform, the work permit system will be conflated into two visa types:  

• • D/AM1 visa for highly qualified/special categories (not subject to quotas or a shortage occupation list); and 
    • Update May 15, 2026: This category also includes Moldovan/Ukrainian/Serbian citizens, sportsmen and academic staff. 

• • D/AM2 visa for general labor, subject to a shortage occupation list (which will be published by June 14, 2026) and an annual quota.  

• While this change streamlines visa options, it also adds new eligibility requirements for engaging non-highly skilled labor.  

• The changes favor employers recruiting for specialized or highly qualified roles; while those hiring non-highly skilled talent will need to wait until the Deficit Occupations List is released. 

• Introduction of employer categories. The reform introduces two employer categories:  

• • Registered employers (access mainly for D/AM1 visas)  

• • Authorized employers (stricter conditions, can access D/AM2 visa directly). 
    • Update May 15, 2026: To hire directly (without an agency) for D/AM2 roles, a company must have an average of at least 50 employees in the preceding year and 24 months of activity.  

• Previously, there were no employer categories, and all employers were subject to a single, uniform procedure based on obtaining a work authorization (work permit/IGI approval) and long-stay visa for work for each foreign employee, with the same eligibility checks and processing steps applied in every case, regardless of the employer’s profile or compliance history. 

Access to immigration procedures now depends on the employer’s status, not just the individual application. 

• New online system. The new process will be managed through an online platform: “WorkinRomania.gov.ro” (expected to be functional soon, though no set date has been announced) that will intake all work permit and long-stay visa applications and related employer registrations.  

• The online platform will be tested until August 7, 2026, and is expected to be fully launched August 8, 2026.  

• Work permit applications submitted prior to commencement of the new laws and systems will be processed according to current immigration law. 

• The new system will not apply to family reunification residence permit applications, which will continue to require in-person processes.  

• During the transition period, complexity may actually increase for all involved stakeholders, as the authorities will need time to fully operationalize the platform, stabilize inter-institutional workflows, and clearly define and standardize the exact list of required supporting documents and drafts of involved contracts.  

• Until these requirements are fully clarified and consistently applied in practice, applicants may face uncertainty, additional documentation requests, and evolving procedural expectations.  

• Redefined scope of "seconded employee" status. The concept of a seconded employee is explicitly limited to non-EU nationals seconded to Romania by an employer established in an EU/European Economic Area Member State or Switzerland. Third-country nationals can no longer access Romania's labor market via a posting arrangement from a non-EU country.  

• The only available route for others will be intra-company transfers (ICT) from a third country.  
• These limitations apply to the immigration status for third-country nationals, without affecting the existing notification obligations for EU workers. 

• Companies currently relying on classical postings from non-EU jurisdictions should review and, where necessary, restructure either as ICT transfers — provided the intra-group and eligibility conditions are met — or as direct local employment contracts under the new D/AM1 or D/AM2 routes.