VisaRomania employment visa suspension leaves workers needing case-specific residence guidance
Current follow-up: official notices distinguish suspended D/AM2 applications from other functions and explain how blocked employer-change cases will be considered.
Official source date: 2026-10-29
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Court decision restricts specific employment procedures
Romania’s employment application platform continues to display a restriction affecting employer registration, employer authorisation and the single application for the D/AM2 long-stay employment visa. This is a current procedural follow-up to September notices, rather than a new suspension announced on 29 October. Employers recruiting overseas and foreign workers changing employers should establish which procedure their case actually requires before relying on an online account or an agency’s promised submission date.
The General Inspectorate for Immigration, known as IGI, explained on 15 September that the Bucharest Court of Appeal had suspended execution of Order 1073/2026 approving the shortage occupations list. The platform changes implement that judgment. IGI expressly distinguished this legal restriction from a technical malfunction and said unaffected functions remained available. Its clarification is the resource for checking the reason and scope of the restriction; it does not announce a reopening date.
Identify D/AM2 and the separate D/AM1 categories
The Foreign Ministry’s Romanian-language visa categories page places permanent, seasonal and cross-border workers within D/AM2. That single application is submitted by a placement agency or an authorised employer. D/AM1 has different categories, including highly qualified workers, specified public-sector activities, professional athletes and Moldovan, Ukrainian or Serbian nationals employed under full-time contracts.
Use that categories page to establish the correct route with the employer. A nationality listed under D/AM1 does not turn the suspended D/AM2 process into a general exemption, and the availability of a category in published guidance does not confirm that every employer registration function is operational. Applicants should obtain confirmation of the actual submission channel rather than treating the category label as a workaround.
Employer-change cases will receive individual consideration
IGI’s 25 September notice addresses employment residence extensions connected with changing employers under Article 56(9), where the associated D/AM2 single application cannot currently be transmitted. It says cases will be assessed individually when transmission functionality resumes, taking account of the specific facts, applicable law and proportionality.
That assessment may consider an employer’s objective inability to start or complete registration or authorisation because of the court-related suspension. The notice does not grant automatic approval or a universal extension of existing immigration permission. As a practical step, retain the employer’s registration history, relevant account messages and evidence of attempted submission, so the specific obstacle can be explained when seeking individual instructions.
Prepare the correct documents and distinguish visa fees
The ministry’s supporting-document checklist separates agency-led D/AM2 applications from applications by authorised employers. Agency cases include placement, services and employment contracts; the employer route requires the employment contract. The checklist also addresses criminal-record evidence, travel medical insurance, maintenance funds, passport validity and photographs. Use the relevant subsection to check the file rather than borrowing documents from an unrelated visa category.
The official fee page lists a EUR 300 long-stay visa fee for applications transmitted through e-Viza for consular validation from 27 April 2026. Applications transmitted before that date retain the EUR 120 amount. It also lists exemptions, including Ukrainian nationals’ long-stay visas. These are visa charges, not proof that payment can reopen a suspended platform procedure; confirm the applicable charge and exemption with the receiving mission.
Protect existing residence deadlines while awaiting clarification
The visa categories guidance says residence extension applications normally go to the territorial IGI office at least 30 days before authorised stay expires. Workers already in Romania should therefore seek case-specific instructions before that deadline, identifying the permit expiry, employer change and blocked application stage. Do not assume the September notice replaces the ordinary filing obligation.
For an illustrative worker whose permission is nearing expiry, the immediate task is to resolve the residence position with IGI, while the employer establishes whether the necessary platform step is available. For an overseas recruit, the priority is confirmation of a valid application route before fixing a departure date. The reviewed notices provide no general restart date or automatic protection covering every pending case.
