Romanian citizenship: the recorded interview, and the B1 certificate descendants now need

Letter f) of article 8(1) asks that the applicant know Romanian and have elementary notions of Romanian culture and civilisation, enough to integrate into social life; letter g) that they know the Constitution and the national anthem. The ANC's own page spells it out: Romanian in writing and reading, the Constitution, the anthem, and elementary culture and civilisation including Romania's history and geography.

The ANC publishes the interview's subject list. It has three parts: geography and history (from the formation of the Romanian people and language to after 1989; relief, climate, population, counties, the main cities, and the city where you live); Romania as a democratic state (principles, rights and duties, Parliament, Government, President, public administration, the Constitutional Court, social insurance); and people and society (family, religious diversity, education, rules of conduct). It also publishes four question lists: the Constitution, culture and civilisation, geography and history.

Once the rest of your file meets the conditions, the Commission must schedule the interview within six months. The interview is recorded on audio and video, and the recording is kept for one year. Applicants who are mute, deaf or unable to speak take it in writing.

The detailed procedure, including the format and how it is scored, is set by the ANC President's Order No. 84 of 11 April 2025, which we could not open. We have not seen a published pass mark.

Failing the interview, or missing it without good reason, leads the Commission to propose that your application be rejected. We found no right to a retake in the law's text or on the ANC's page.

The law gives the Commission up to two years from registration to report, extendable by up to six months to verify documents. The ANC's FAQ still quotes a five-month limit, which predates the 2025 changes.

If citizenship is granted, you take the oath within six months of being told. The only fee on the ANC's article 8 page is 91.50 lei for the citizenship card, VAT included, paid at CEC Bank.

The descendants' route covers people who lost Romanian citizenship and their descendants. Law 14/2025 made it conditional on knowing Romanian. The proof is either a language certificate at no lower than CEFR B1, issued by a Romanian university accredited for the Romanian preparatory year, the Romanian Language Institute (Institutul Limbii Române), the Romanian Cultural Institute or a Romanian cultural institute abroad; or a legalised high-school or university transcript showing at least three years of study in Romanian.

Two groups are exempt: people who were Romanian citizens themselves and are reacquiring citizenship, and people aged 65 or over when they apply. A grandchild or great-grandchild who never held Romanian citizenship, under 65, needs the certificate.

The deadline is 14 March 2027. An ANC notice of 16 March 2026 says that, after Emergency Ordinance 16/2026, applicants may file now and hand in the B1 certificate within two years of the law taking effect, that is by 14 March 2027, or the application is rejected. The ANC's article 10 and 11 pages now carry a declaration form for this.

Applications already pending, or approved but not yet sworn, when the law took effect are presumed to meet the language condition unless shown otherwise.