Romania Work Permit 2026: What Changes on 8 August

Romania’s Work Permit System Changes on 8 August — and One List Now Decides Most Applications

In three days, the process that got tens of thousands of non-EU workers into Romania stops existing. From 8 August 2026, there is no separate employment permit, no old multi-step route, and one government list decides whether most job offers can produce a visa at all. If you are holding a Romanian offer letter right now, the question is no longer whether your employer is genuine. It is whether your occupation made the list.

What changes on 8 August 2026?

Emergency Ordinance 32/2026 replaces Romania’s existing work-permit framework, with the current rules applying until 7 August 2026 and full implementation beginning 8 August 2026 on the new WorkinRomania.gov.ro platform. The old D/AM visa splits into D/AM1 for highly qualified workers, with no quota, and D/AM2 for general labour, which is quota-dependent and gated by a new List of Shortage Occupations.

That is the whole reform in two sentences. Everything below is what it actually means for a person, not a company.

The law already changed. The system is what switches on Saturday

This trips up almost everyone reading about it for the first time.

Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 was published in the Official Gazette on 27 April 2026 and the legislation is already in force. But full operational implementation depends on the launch of the WorkinRomania.gov.ro platform, and during the transitional period applications have continued to be processed under the previous immigration rules.

So for the last three months Romania has been running old procedures under a new law. The platform has been in testing and is scheduled to go live on 8 August 2026.

One consequence matters a great deal if an agent told you your file was “already submitted.” From 27 April 2026 Romania abolished the requirement for separate employment permits, and employers can no longer apply for individual work authorisations under the previous ordinance. If someone is still promising you a standalone Romanian work permit document as a product, they are describing a system that no longer exists.

D/AM1 or D/AM2 — this is the split that decides everything

Two visa types now replace one, and they are not two tiers of the same route. They are two different worlds.

D/AM1 — highly qualified and special categories. This covers highly qualified workers and special categories, and is not subject to quotas or to the List of Shortage Occupations. The named categories include highly qualified workers, specialists with special qualifications, professional athletes, citizens of Moldova, Ukraine and Serbia, and workers on infrastructure projects. Employers hiring under D/AM1 only need to register on the platform rather than complete the heavier authorisation process, making it the faster route and a natural fit for IT professionals, engineers and other specialist roles.

D/AM2 — general labour. This covers permanent, seasonal and cross-border workers who do not fall under D/AM1, and applications are submitted either by an authorised foreign-worker placement agency or by an authorised employer. It carries an annual quota and the new List of Shortage Occupations, and that list gates most non-EU recruitment — if a job is not on it, employers cannot bring in workers under D/AM2.

Read that last line slowly if you are a driver, a construction worker, a warehouse operative, a welder or a hospitality worker. D/AM2 is your route, and D/AM2 is the one with a gate on it.

The shortage occupations list: what is actually confirmed

This is where the internet is currently least reliable, so here is the careful version.

Since GEO 32/2026 came into force, Romania has a Shortage Occupations List. The official list is approved by ministerial order, and during the platform’s testing phase WorkinRomania.gov.ro displayed an indicative list based on ANOFM data. The D/AM2 visa is granted only for occupations on the approved list and within the annual quota, while D/AM1 does not depend on it at all.

Counts of “how many occupations are on the list” are circulating on social media, some of them dramatic. Those numbers were read off a system in testing. An indicative list shown during a test phase and a list approved by ministerial order are not the same document, and only one of them decides your visa.

The practical instruction is simple and it applies from Saturday: before you pay anyone anything, get your exact occupation title as it appears on your employment contract checked against the list published on the live platform. Not the job your agent described. Not the closest-sounding category. The title on the contract.

D/AM2 documentation generally relies on the individual employment agreement registered in REGES-ONLINE, and the position must be included in the list approved by the Ministry of Labour — which is why employers are advised to assess the job role before committing to any recruitment or relocation timeline.

The quota is finite, and smaller than last year

Romania’s quota of newly admitted foreign workers for 2026 is 90,000 under Government Decision 1169/2025, down from 100,000 in 2025.

In practice the strongest demand for non-EU staff sits in construction, manufacturing and industry, hospitality, and logistics and delivery — and the quota can run out during the year, which is why files are best started early.

Two things follow. First, a quota that shrinks while demand does not is a queue, and queues reward the prepared. Second, anyone guaranteeing you a place inside a national quota is guaranteeing something they do not control.

Not every employer can hire you directly any more

This is the change most likely to surprise workers who already have an offer.

Employers fall into two classes. Registered employers are primarily eligible for D/AM1. Authorised employers can access D/AM2 directly, but to hire directly for D/AM2 roles a company generally needs an average of at least 50 employees in the previous year and 24 months of continuous activity. A registered employer that does not meet those conditions hires through a placement agency licensed by ANOFM, under a services agreement.

So a small Romanian firm — under 50 staff, or trading for less than two years — cannot simply sponsor you into a general-labour role on its own. It must work through an ANOFM-licensed agency. Foreign-worker placement agencies must themselves be authorised before recruiting for Romanian employers.

If you are being handled by an agent, that is the licence to ask about. Not a business card, not an office in Dubai or Islamabad — ANOFM authorisation on the Romanian side.

Three obligations that now sit on you, not just your employer

The reform is usually written up as a set of employer duties. Some of it lands directly on the worker.

A bank account. Employers have been advised to update contracts to include bilingual form and bank-transfer payment clauses, and to inform current non-EU workers of the obligation to open a bank account before 8 August. Salary paid in cash stops being an option.

A bilingual contract. Contracts must be bilingual. This is a protection, not a formality — it exists so you can read the terms you are signing in a language you actually understand. If you are handed a Romanian-only contract to sign, that is now a compliance failure, and it is worth pausing over rather than signing through.

A six-month lock to your first employer. Workers are locked to their initial employer for six months before any change. The job you accept is the job you do for at least half a year. Verify the salary, the hours, the accommodation arrangement and the actual worksite before you travel, because switching quickly is not available.

There is also a traceability layer worth knowing about: residence permits will display the employer’s unique registration code (CUI), tying each worker visibly to a specific employer record.

If you travel to Romania for an interview first

A quieter point that catches people out later. Candidates travelling to Romania for interviews or site visits before securing a work visa are logged in the EU’s Entry/Exit System on each entry and exit, and that digital trail can be matched against a later long-stay visa application — overstays caught by EES could affect later D/AM1 or D/AM2 eligibility.

Holders of long-stay visas and residence permits, which will include future D/AM1 and D/AM2 holders, are exempt from EES registration. The exposure is on short visits, not on the work visa itself.

What to do this week

1. Get your contract job title in writing — exactly as it will be registered, and check it against the live shortage list from 8 August.
2. Ask which visa you are being processed under. D/AM1 and D/AM2 have different gates. “Romania work visa” is not an answer.
3. Verify the hiring route. Direct authorised employer, or ANOFM-licensed placement agency? Ask for the licence.
4. Open the bank account if you are already working in Romania on the old framework.
5. Read the bilingual contract in your own language before signing anything or transferring any money.
6. Do not pay for a guaranteed quota slot. The 2026 quota is national, finite and outside any agent’s control.

Key Takeaways

• Romania’s new work-permit system goes live on 8 August 2026 via WorkinRomania.gov.ro; the old process runs only until 7 August.
• GEO 32/2026 is already in force — it was published on 27 April 2026 and abolished separate employment permits from that date.
• D/AM1 (highly qualified and special categories) has no quota and no shortage list. D/AM2 (general labour) has both.
• The Shortage Occupations List decides most general-labour cases; only the version approved by ministerial order counts, not testing-phase snapshots.
• The 2026 quota is 90,000 new admissions, reduced from 100,000 in 2025.
• To hire D/AM2 directly, an employer generally needs 50+ employees and 24 months of activity — otherwise it must use an ANOFM-licensed placement agency.
• Contracts must be bilingual, salary moves to bank transfer, and workers are tied to their first employer for six months.

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