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BrittanyLS wrote:

Hi, my fiancè is Romanian but living in England. We plan to marry in Romania and then move back to England. I know about getting all my documents ready but my question is will the Romanian government deny me permanent residency because of a criminal record. My boyfriend said my criminal record is needed when applying for the residency. Three years ago I was charged with wreckless driving,I didn't go to jail but got charged with a misdemeanor. Do you think this will hurt me in getting residency? Any advice would be helpful on this topic. Thanks

Brittany

Hi Brittany,

I am from the USA and I moved to Romania about 4 months ago to get married to a Romanian citizen.  After getting married I was granted a Long Stay Visa (5 years) and while there were certainly quite a few things required, my criminal record (or lack thereof) was not one of them.  Aside from several forms and affidavits that I had to fill out at the Immigration office, I had to present the marriage certificate, my wife's father had to go to a notary to fill out an affidavit that accepted me as a permanent resident in their home, I had to purchase health insurance, I had to pay taxes at a bank, of course I had to show my passport (and you have to be within the 90 days that your passport allows you to stay here...otherwise, they will fine you or deny your application), and I had to get a medical certificate from my wife's family doctor.  Once I submitted everything, it took about 2 weeks because they had to send it to the Bucharest Immigration office (we live in a different city) to be approved and sent back.

I also thought that I would need a criminal records certificate from the country I came from so I had the police department from my hometown send a certified copy of what is called a Police Clearance Certificate to my parents, who then sent it to the Lieutenant Governor's office to get an Apostille added, then they sent it to me.  However, the Immigration office did not ask for it, and it is not included on the list of items that you need to get a Long Stay Visa (residency visa).  I did, however, need the PCC when I started working.  The company I work for asked for it and I was under the impression that they needed it for forms they had to send to the government (it may have just been for their own peace of mind though).

I will also tell you that even though the Visa was somewhat tedious, it was pale in comparison to all that we had to do to get married here.  Make sure you bring certified copies of your birth certificate and divorce certificate (if applicable) and get Apostilles added to them.  It will save you a few months of sending things back and forth from your home country.  You won't have as many problems as I had since you are a European Union citizen.  I even had to pay an extra 50 Euros for the pre-marriage medical test just because I was a Non-European Union citizen (as if I'm from a different species or something).   Also, if you plan to work here, bring a certified/original (with Apostille) copy of your diploma and you will need to get it translated into Romanian (certified translation), unless your university/college is already recognized by the Romanian government (I don't know about UK schools, maybe they already recognize them).

Anyway, hope this helps.  Good luck.
Steven

Hi Brittany,

I have created a new topic as from your post on the Romania forum for more visibility.

BrittanyLS wrote:

Hi, my fiancè is Romanian but living in England. We plan to marry in Romania and then move back to England. I know about getting all my documents ready but my question is will the Romanian government deny me permanent residency because of a criminal record. My boyfriend said my criminal record is needed when applying for the residency. Three years ago I was charged with wreckless driving,I didn't go to jail but got charged with a misdemeanor. Do you think this will hurt me in getting residency? Any advice would be helpful on this topic. Thanks

Brittany

The way most people drive in Romania would be considered "reckless driving" in other countries   I wouldn't worry about it seriously.  It may impact you from changing your driving license to a Romanian one, if anything.

A foreign EU citizen does NOT need to provide any criminal record from the country of origin in order to obtain temporary or permanent residence in Romania.  The temporary residence certificate is extremely easy to obtain (based on 3 documents), and is extended to a permanent one, once you qualify (typically after 5 years having a temporary residence).

To add to this, in order to get married in Romania, one does NOT need a residence permit of any kind. You can simply get married (in this case) by using your UK passport.

Anyhow for neither (permanent or temporary residence permits), no criminal record is requested by the Romanian authorities (perhaps there is a different procedure for non-EU citizens that I am not aware of)