Streamlining the procedures regarding work permits and extension of the stay right
Annually, the Government establishes, in accordance with the labor migration policy and the situation of the labor market, the quota of foreign workers newly admitted to the labor market. In 2022, by the Government Decision no. 132/2022, the quota was doubled from 50,000 in 2021, to 100,000 foreign workers. This decision, in accordance with the lifting of the pandemic restrictions, with the attempt to recover the economic activities, as well as with the conflict in Ukraine, have generated an increase of the requests for the issuance of work permits.
To avoid a situation that would put in difficulty both the employers and authorities which should operatively solve the high volume of applications, Emergency Ordinance no. 59/2022 for the amendment of some normative acts in the field of foreigners, published on 5th of May 2022 in the Official Gazette, aims to streamline the workflow in this regard.
Thus, the ordinance recently amends and supplements Article 28 of the Government Ordinance no. 25/2014 on the employment and secondment of foreigners in Romania, in the sense that the requests for the issuance of the work or secondment permits may be submitted to any territorial office of the General Inspectorate for Immigration (I.G.I). Until recently, these applications could be submitted exclusively to the I.G.I. headquarters in whose area of competence the employer / beneficiary has its headquarters.
Taking into consideration the influx of such requests that are expected to remain on an increasing trend, the legislative change is favorable not only to employers, but also to the authorities pressured by the management of the high number of applications and deadlines.
Undoubtedly, the change also comes in supporting and streamlining the activity of construction and tourism companies, whose activity intensifies in the summer season and, as a rule, integrates more foreign workers than other industries.
The recently published ordinance also amends another normative act, namely GEO no. 194/2002 on the regime of foreigners in Romania. The changes consist of: (i) the extension of the term within foreign workers can request the issuance of the long-stay visa for employment, from 60 days (the previous term) to 180 days, calculated from the date of obtaining the work permit by the employer; (ii) the extension of the visa resolution term by the National Visa Centre, from 10 days (the previous term) to 20 days from the date of submission of the application for issuance. Also, the long-stay visa was previously granted by the diplomatic missions and consular offices in Romania, with the approval of the National Visa Center, only after obtaining the approval of the Romanian Office for Immigration. According to the new legislative amendments, obtaining the prior approval of the Romanian Office for Immigration in this regard is no longer necessary.