Last updated: 22 March 2022
In the context of the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, the legislation on the hiring of Ukrainian citizens and they right to stay in the Romanian territory has been ammended.
In line with the measures enacted by the other EU member states, which rallied to provide temporary protection to Ukrainian refugees entering their territories, by namely ensuring immediate access to labour market, the GEO no. 20/2022 entered into force on March 8, 2022. By this normative act, Romanian employers are allowed to hire, without a work permit, Ukrainian citizens having lawfully entered the Romanian territory and who do not seek protection under the Law no. 122/2006 on the asylum in Romania. Furthermore, Ukrainian refugees’ right to stay shall be extended without a long stay visa being required.
Simplified hiring conditions for the Ukrainian citizens
Due to unprecedented relaxing of the labor law requirements for Ukrainians fleeing the war, they can be hired under only three conditions:
- Having legally entered Romania with : (i) a biometric passport or; (ii) a simple passport + short stay visa for maximum 90 days ;
- Producing proof of professional training / experience, if unable to produce such proof, a sworn statement will suffice ;
- Not having a criminal record which would make them incompatible with the job.
Ukrainian citizens, who are unable to produce proof of their professional training / experience, may be hired for 12-month period, extension of 6-month to 1 year is possible, based on the sworn statement (the template of the statement is provided for by the Order of the Labour Ministry no. 301/2022.
The hiring shall proceed with prior verification of the professional and personal skills of the hire to be and establishing a trial period (no more than 90 calendar days for executive jobs and maximum 120 calendar days for management jobs).
The work permit
Is no longer required for Ukrainian citizens even if they have filed for refugee status or other subsidiary form of protection.
Note! Once a protection form is granted (refugee or subsidiary protection), according to article 20 of the Law no. 122/2006, Ukrainian citizens may be hired in the same conditions as the Romanian citizens. They also benefit of equality of treatment in terms of study recognition or study duration, recognition of diplomas, skills certificates and qualifications enabling their access to regulated professions in Romania.
The right to stay
Ukrainian citizens having entered Romania legally, fleeing the conflict area are entitled to a 90-day stay visa.
They may apply for renewal of the right to stay for professional purposes and to be granted the unique permit, as regulated under the GEO no. 194/2002 on the regime of foreigners in Romania, without being required to obtain a long stay visa for professional purposes. The right to stay is renewed by issuance of a unique permit (a document entitling to both work and stay), valid for maximum one year. The right to stay and work can be renewed for successive periods of one year, provided that the conditions having originally entitled the beneficiary to work remain unchanged.
Access to health services
According to the GEO no. 15/2022, Ukrainian citizens coming from the armed conflict area, irrespective of their having applied for a protection form or not benefit of :
- Emergency medical assistance and qualified first aid ;
- Being included in the national health programs, including for infectious and contagious diseases ;
- The basic service package (according to the framework agreement), medicines, medical assistance and medical devices like the Romanian citizens benefiting of a health insurance but without having to pay a health insurance contribution or co-payment for medicines or produce a doctor’s recommendation.
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Another aspect also worth mentioning is that of the national legislation applicable to third-country nationals – in particular GO n° 25/2014 and the Law n° 22/2022 – which have already provided for medium and long-term employment of Ukrainian nationals.
Under the GO no. 25/2014, Ukrainian citizens may conclude an employment agreement with a Romanian employer (for a maximum 9-month period). They can also work remotely from Romania as employees of a Ukrainian company, under the Law no. 22/2022. In this case, they can benefit of the status of digital nomad, which allows them to obtain a residence permit in Romania for an initial period of 6 months, renewable.
Furthermore, it should be reminded that under art. 3 para. (2) letter o) of GO no. 25/2014, Ukrainian, Moldavian, or Serbian citizens, who have concluded a full-time employment agreement with a Romanian employer, were exempt from obtaining a work permit, for a maximum period of 9 months per calendar year. In order to benefit of this exemption, they must comply with the following conditions: (i) the employment agreement is registered in REVISAL; (ii) the salary is at least the minimum gross salary guaranteed at the country level; (iii) they obtained the NIF (tax identification number) for the revenue return and mandatory social charges.