Poll results for Will the euro last?

Here are the poll results for the September / October 2012 poll. The question was: Is Romanian an easy language to learn?

Yes: 22% with 2 votes
No: 77% with 7 votes

Be sure to read about what has happened so far. You can find everything in the quick summary of dates.

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Poll results for Is Romanian an easy language to learn?

Here are the poll results for the July / August 2012 poll. The question was: Is Romanian an easy language to learn?

Yes: 80% with 8 votes
No: 20% with 2 votes

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Power of attorneys are no longer valid in Romania

My lawyer has been extremely helpful over the years and if it not for him and his wife I would have given up long ago. This spring the Romanian government, made it virtually impossible for people to get anything done using a POA (Power of Attorney). This means that you need to deal with the nearest Romanian embassy or consulate or go to Romania and deal with the authorities in person. Due to this my lawyer will not be accepting any new citizenship cases. In addition, it means that he will be sending me all my documents, which are in a folder about 3 inches thick, for me to apply for my CNP, Passport, and ID card here in Korea.

I called the embassy and there's a catch 22 with all the documents. Nonetheless I'm going to try. According to my lawyer, I'll need to get my marriage cert and possibly my mom's marriage cert from the embassy. I'm hoping that I won't need my parents'. I didn't when I got my birth cert. For some reason I also have to get permission from my mom to apply to become Romanian. Why, I don't know. I'm not underage. With those docs, along with proof that my mom's a citizen and my birth cert I should be able to get the CNP. If I can, then everything else should fall into place. It sounds nice and easy, but it rarely is. I'm always missing one or two docs that are impossible to get.

Although the embassy was very nice, it says I need a lot of other things online, but that seems to be very different from my case. Rather it's more for Romanians who for some reason have let their Romanian passports expire while abroad and are unable to renew them there and therefore cannot leave the country to go to Romania in order to renew them. Or children of Romanian couples who came to live abroad and never registered their children as Romanians. The couples would have had an address in Romania, whereas I don't. It's all very confusing. My case is very different:

• I don't have immediate family in Romania.
• I was never a Romanian resident.
• I've never had a Romanian passport.
• I have to get a CNP before I can get a passport.
• I can't get a passport without a CNP.

There doesn't seem to be anything on the MAE for my case.


If push comes to shove and it doesn't work, I'm entertaining the idea of moving to Romania for a year or so in order to get everything done. I won't save as much as Korea, but I can already read and it shouldn't take too long to learn how to speak Romanian. Plus, I have a list of schools and TEFL institutes that I could work at. Though I'm risking moving to Romania and being told that I can't get the documents in Romania and that I have to go to the US, Korea, Peru, etc in order to get them. It's so much easier to fob people off than to actually help them.

Be sure to read about what has happened so far. You can find everything in the quick summary of dates.

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Poll results for Is Romania a good place to live?

Here are the poll results for the May / June 2012 poll. The question was: Is Romania a good place to live?

Yes: 64% with 7 votes
No: 36% with 4 votes

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Law change for EU residents in Romania

I got this info from an email from Moorcroft.

There has been a law change in relation to Law 80/2011. If you are an EU citizen and have a registration certificate or permanent residence card issued before 6 June 2011 you have to have the card/document changed to reflect the new law which states the permanent residence cards are valid for 10 years now and the certificate for 5 years. This has to be completed by 31 August 2012. For more details contact dean@moorcroft.ro

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No CNP, No ID card: No Passport

I can't believe how helpful the embassy here is in Seoul. I've been to the consulate in Chicago, the embassy in Lima, the Sector 1 Centre in Bucharest, and the Social Security Office in Bucharest, and I felt like me going there was an imposition.

Here, however, they actually seem to want to help me get a passport. The big problem I have now is that I have no CNP and according to the MAE they won't give out passports to people without CNPs.

I need to do these things:

1. Get my CNP (ID number)
2. Get my ID card
3. Register my marriage
4. Get my passport

Basically I need these docs:

• CNP
• ID card
• Civil status doc
• Marriage cert registered in Romania 
• Someone to swear I am who I say I am
• Husband's birth cert legalised at the embassy in Peru
• Proof of address in Romania. Don't have one
• Old RO passport! Don't have one

I think the CNP will be the easiest since I just need my marriage cert. But in order to register my marriage I need an ID. And in order to get an ID I need a Romanian address. So it's all a catch-22. Hopefully my lawyer will be able to get my CNP and my marriage cert registered, but that still means I need proof of a Romanian address in order to get my ID, which I don't have. I wonder how I'm going to deal with that.

1. Here's what I need to get a CNP according to the Consulate General in LA.
I must say my reading comprehension of Romanian is getting better and better. I can't really understand people when they speak, but I can fill out docs. I'm missing the docs in purple.

1. Cetatenii români care nu au atribuit un cod numeric personal vor depune o cerere scrisa pentru atribuirea CNP la structura de stare civila din cadrul oricarui serviciu public comunitar judetean de evidenta a persoanelor, indiferent de locul nasterii sau al ultimului domiciliu avut în Romania. (It says I have to apply at the Community Centre for the People. Now I'm not actually sure if that means I have to go back to Romania again after Sector 1 Community Centre said they couldn't help us. Or if I can do it from here. Or maybe my lawyer can do it since I signed paperwork giving him permission to get my CNP.)
2. La depunerea cererii cetatenii români vor prezenta la structura de stare civila din cadrul oricarui serviciu public comunitar judetean de evidenta a persoanelor în original si fotocopie urmatoarele documente:
   • Certificatele de stare civila eliberate de autoritatile române; (I don't have this. My marriage cert is from Peru. It has been apostillised by the MFA in Peru though)
   • Documentul de identificare valabil: act de identitate sau pasaport eliberat de autoritatile straine; (Ta-da! I have this. A foreign passport.)
   • Documentul care face dovada cetateniei române; (Ta-da! Have this: a Romanian birth cert)
   • Timbru fiscal în valoare de 4 lei. (And lastly I have to pay the fee of about $1.)

2. Here's what I need to get a Romanian ID card for those over 18 according to MAE. I'm missing the docs in purple and the docs in orange I'm not sure about and the blue is a loophole.

Misiunile diplomatice şi oficiile consulare nu eliberează cărţi de identitate, cu excepţia primei cărţi de identitate. Cartea de identitate se eliberează doar în România. Persoanele interesate pot solicita autentificarea de către ambasadă a unei procuri speciale prin care să împuternicească pe cineva din România pentru depunerea tuturor documentelor necesare eliberarii cărţii de identitate. Pentru detalii click AICI. (They need to be issued in Romania. Hopefully the doc I signed will allow my lawyer to do it on my behalf, though I think he can just get my CNP. However, first things first: the CNP).


În situaţia în care eliberarea primului act de identitate este solicitată după împlinirea vârstei de 18 ani, de o persoană care nu se poate deplasa în ţară, din motive obiective, (se află la studii, urmează un tratament care nu permite întreruperea acestuia ş.a.) şi are domiciliul în România, aceasta va depune la misiunea diplomatică a României următoarele documente:

• „cererea pentru eliberarea actului de identitate” (anexa nr. 4); (Application form: check, but the link doesn't work)
• documentul  eliberat de autorităţile statului ori de alte instituţii din statul în care se află temporar solicitantul, din care să rezulte motivul pentru care nu se poate deplasa în ţară; (Proof that you live legally in that country: check)
• certificatul de naştere, cu care se face dovada cetăţeniei române, original şi copie; (RO birth cert: check. But it has no CNP, so it's a maybe.)
• documentul cu care se face dovada adresei de domiciliu din România, original şi copie; (Proof of home address in Romania: nope)
• declaraţia unuia dintre părinţi ori a unei terţe persoane, din care să rezulte faptul că identitatea declarată în cererea de eliberare a actului de identitate, coroborată cu imaginea preluată ori cu fotografia ataşată cererii, aparţine solicitantului; (Declaration by a third person saying you are who you say you are: nope)
• fişa cu impresiunile decadactilare ale solicitantului realizată numai de unitatea de poliţie din localitatea în care locuieşte solicitantul în statul respectiv; (Fingerprints: check)
• două fotografii mărimea 3/4 cm având la bază o bandă albă de 7mm; (Photos: check)
• contravaloarea cărţii de identitate; (Fee for the card itself: check)
• timbru fiscal ori contravaloarea taxei extrajudiciare de timbru. (Fee for the paperwork (stamp fee): check)

În cazul în care solicitantul nu poate indica o persoană de contact din România, va contacta Serviciul public comunitar local de evidenţă a persoanelor pe raza căruia părinţii au domiciliul şi va solicita numărul contului în care poate plăti taxele legale precum şi cuantumul acestora. Plata taxelor se va putea face prin transfer bancar, urmând ca la dosar să depună documentul eliberat de bancă prin care se confirmă efectuarea transferului, tradus în limba română. (You can contact someone in Romania to help you pay the fees).

Atunci când solicitantul nu poate prezenta toate documentele necesare pentru eliberarea cărţii de identitate, art.19 din O.U.G. nr.97/2005 prevede eliberarea unei cărţi de identitate provizorii. În această situaţie, solicitantul va prezenta trei fotografii mărimea 3/4cm, având la bază o bandă albă de 7mm. (If you don't have all the docs you can get a temporary ID card! if you submit photos.)

3. Here's what I need to register my marriage according to the MAE.
If I have to register my marriage it's going to be a pain because it would mean having to pay someone to deal with the Romanian embassy there. I'm missing the docs in purple and the docs in orange I'm not sure about.

Înscrierea căsătoriilor se poate solicita la misiunea diplomatică sau oficiile consulare ale României din statul unde s-a încheiat căsătoria. (May be required at the embassy in the country you got married in)


Documente necesare: (Required documents)

• extrasul actului de căsătorie străin, apostilat sau legalizat de autorităţile locale în original şi copie; (Foreign marriage cert: check)
  
• declaraţia pe proprie răspundere privind inexistenţa altei transcrieri în România sau la altă misiune diplomatică a României (formularul se primeşte la misiunea diplomatică); (Declaration that there is no other marriage: check)
  
• declaraţia pe proprie răspundere privind inexistenţa altor căsătorii anterioare ale cetăţeanului român (formularul se primeşte la misiunea diplomatică) (sau, după caz, certificatul de naştere eliberat de autorităţile române cu toate menţiunile de căsătorie şi de divorţ); (Declaration of never having been married to a Romanian: check)
  
• paşapoartele soţilor (primele 4 pagini), în original şi copie (Spouse's passport: check)
  
• certificatele de naştere ale soţilor, în original şi copie; în cazul în care unul din soţi este cetăţean străin, se va prezenta extrasul de naştere al acestuia; (Spouse's birth cert: maybe. It's been apostillised in Peru, not sure if they'll accept it)
  
• buletinul/cartea de identitate din România, în original şi copie (ID card: nope)
  
• taxa consulară (Fee: check)
  

Cererea poate fi depusă de unul din soţi (cetăţean român), care se va prezenta şi la eliberarea certificatului. Ambasadele şi oficiile consulare ale României sunt în măsură să ofere informaţii suplimentare, în funcţie de practica locală. De asemenea, informaţii generale despre procedura de obţinere a certificatelor de căsătorie pot fi accesate la Direcţia pentru Evidenţa Persoanelor şi Administrarea Bazelor de Date. (Only the Romanian citizen has to go to the embassy. The embassy might be able to help with local marriage customs / docs. You can also see the website.

4. Here's what I need to get a Passport according to the MAE.
Puteţi beneficia de paşaport CRDS dacă sunteţi cetăţean român care are atribuit un Cod Numeric Personal şi dacă : (The bullet points below say that you need to have lived in that country legally for a year). I'm missing the docs in purple and the docs in orange I'm not sure about.

• aţi dobândit drept de şedere pentru o perioadă de cel puţin un an sau, după caz, aveţi prelungit succesiv dreptul de şedere , în decurs de un an, pe teritoriul statului respectiv;
• aţi dobândit un drept de şedere pe teritoriul statului respectiv în scopul reunificării familiale cu o persoană care are domiciliul în statul respectiv;
• aţi dobândit drept de lungă şedere sau drept de şedere permanentă;
• aţi dobândit cetăţenia statului respectiv;
• aveţi drept de muncă;
• sunteţi înscris la o instituţie privată sau publică pentru studii sau formare profesională;
• sunteţi posesorul unui certificat de înregistrare ori al unui document care atestă rezidenţa într-un stat membru UE sau al Spaţiului Economic European.

Cererea pentru eliberarea paşaportuli trebuie depusă personal. (Must be done in person)

Documente necesare: (Required docs)
a) cererea de obţinere a paşaportului: furnizată de sistemul informatic la consulat; (Application form: check)
b) dovada achitării taxelor şi tarifelor de emitere a paşaportului; (Pay the fee: check)
c) permisul de şedere original sau atestatul de înscriere în registrul de populaţie rezidentă de la autoritatea ţării de domiciliu sau orice alt document care atestă dreptul de şedere legală (ex: certificat de rezidenţă eliberat de primăria locală, paşaportul emis de autorităţile ţării de reşedinţă în cazul în care aveţi cetăţenia acesteia, etc.) în original ; (Proof of legal residence: check)
d) cartea de identitate emisă de autorităţile statului de reşedinţă în original – permisul de conducere care menţionează domiciliul pentru statele care nu eliberează străinilor cărţi de identitate sau certificat de rezidenţă emis de primăria locală; (ID or license: check)

e) certificatul de naştere romanesc in original; (RO birth cert: maybe since it has no CNP)

f) certificatul de căsătorie romanesc in original (pentru cei căsătoriţi şi pentru cei văduvi); RO marriage cert: nope, have the Peruvian one)
g) sentinţa de divorţ rămasă definitivă în original (pentru cei divorţaţi); (Divorce cert, N/A)
h) certificatul deces romanesc al soţului/soţiei, in original (pentru cei văduvi); (Death cert of spouse: N/A)
i) paşaportul vechi in original; (Old RO passport: nope)
j) buletinele sau cărţile de identitate româneşti in original. (RO identity papers or ID card: nope)

Be sure to read about what has happened so far. You can find everything in the quick summary of dates.

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Poll results for What's your favourite mode of transport

Here are the poll results for the March / April 2012 poll. The question was: What's your favourite mode of transport?

Train: 24% with 5 votes
Walking: 18% with 4 votes
Bike: 14% with 3 votes
Car: 14% with 3 votes
Bus: 10% with 2 votes
Tram: 10% with 2 votes
Trolley: 10% with 2 votes
Taxi: 0% with 0 votes

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Changing the Earth's Rotation

I just got this email from a reader of this blog.

"Romania is unbelievable. What a completely screwed up system. Altering the Earth's rotation seems to be an easier job than getting citizenship in Romania. Don't know what to say."

That kind of sums up how I feel right now.

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New English school and legal advice in Bucharest

Key English has just opened up in Bucharest. Run by Mike Waters, an Irish expat who's lived in Romania for a number of years, the company aims to provide high-quality English training to the Romanian market. An Irish-qualified lawyer, Mike has been in teaching and training for over 20 years, and he has worked extensively in both the Middle East and Europe.

In addition to language training, Mike’s company, Celtic Consulting, offers Romanian citizenship services in partnership with a Romanian lawyer. Anyone with a Romanian grandparent is entitled to apply for a Romanian passport, and while the process can take some time, it is an option well worth considering for anyone of Romanian origins who wishes to live and work in the EU.


Without Mike’s assistance on my citizenship case, I would have given up years ago. His practical demeanour and knowledge of Romania has greatly helped me. I'd highly recommend him.

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No news is bad news

We've been told, after doing all the POAs and being assured that my lawyer could apply on my behalf, that now they're only taking applications in person, either in Romania or through the embassy.

Sigh

However, they also said that they might be able to get some documents for me, specifically my marriage registered and my CNP. Though I'd have to sign new POAs for those. IF they can get me my CNP then that would mean I'd have a much easier time with the embassy here.

It seems like there is always some excuse about something.

It appears that they want to discourage people because they promised Moldovans that they would get a Romanian passport. The EU didn't want them to make that promise, so now they're making it as hard as they possibly can to get a Romanian passport.

Hopefully the embassy here will help. They seem to be the nicest embassy I've dealt with so far. Though in November, there are elections, which could change everything.

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Documents are in Romania

All the documents my husband, my mother, and I signed are in Romania. In theory, everything should go ok since my lawyer had all the documents checked before he sent them to us to be signed. Let's hope nothing changes and I get my passport this year.

We had issues with DHL. Last time, with FedEx, they decided NOT to notify my lawyer that the docs were there, so we tried DHL. Unfortunately, they did the same thing. They refused to call explaining that phone calls cost money, so I guess you have to call DHL and see if your docs have arrived. Oh, and if they go to your house and you're not there, they don't leave a note.

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Poll Results for How has Romania changed now that it's in the EU?

2 people said it's changed for the better and 1 person said it hasn't changed. Be sure to vote in the next poll: What's your favourite mode of transport?

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Apostillised permission to change my name and register my marriage

Ta-da! It cost about $5.50 to get all 6 docs apostillised. I got everything done just in case. And it only took a day, plus two trips to Seoul, which takes about 1.5 hours each way. Here's what's going to be DHLed to Romania.

• Permission to change my name from my husband in English and Romanian.
• Permission to change my name from my husband only in English. 
• Permission to register our marriage from my husband in English and Romanian. 
• Permission to register our marriage from my husband only in English.
• Power of attorney from me.
• Power of translation from me.
• A new Peruvian marriage cert that's been apostillised.

My mom has gotten a copy of her US passport notarised as well as a power of attorney and power of translation. They've been sent to the apostillise and she's waiting to get them back.

I've got a good feeling about this. I'm hoping all this hardwork will pay off this year and we'll be able to move to Romania soon!

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FAQ: Do you still want to be Romanian?

Yes, I do. I realise that there are issues with Romania, such as government offices and the lack of caring for things such as the buildlings and streets. However, I feel that being a Romanian citizen outweights all that. There are a couple reasons why I still want to be Romanian.

First, I honestly feel that it's owed to our family. They went through so much and I would like some retribution for all their suffering.

Second, we've been at it so long, it would be horrible to give up now.

Third, I believe there's real potential for myself and my husband in Romania.

Fourth, it would give our daughter the chance to live, work, or study in Europe if she wanted to.

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Got 4 docs notarised

My husband needed to give me permission to change my name and register my marriage. I needed to give POA to my lawyer again and submit a sworn statement saying why I deserve citizenship.

We went back to the same notary before and expected it to be very easy like it was last time. Unfortunately it wasn't. After explaining for what seemed like the tenth time that we wanted four notarisations and not two, they said that we would need everything translated into Korean.

Trying to explain to them that no, they didn't need to know what was in the docs and that our signatures were the only important thing was like hitting our heads against brick walls.

They called someone who said it cost 60,000 to translate it and it wouldn't be ready today. Someone else came down from another office and found a solution. Yea for thinking outside the box. He said I could use goggle translate to summarise what was on the docs and they'd notarise it.

So I did.

Then very officially the man called us up looked at our IDs and asked our birthdays and if the signatures on the docs were ours (of course they were, we had just signed in front of him) and then they were notarised.

It took about an hour start to finish and only cost 62,000 for four docs and last time it cost 50,000 for two. I don't understand why it was cheaper this time, but I'm glad it was.

Now I just need to get them apostillised.

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The bases are loaded

Ok, we're in the home stretch! We need to re-do the docs that my husband signed (permission to register our marriage and permission for me to change my name) to put our Korean address on it. I also have to sign a new POA and a translation POA and so does my mom. We've got all the bases covered with all our names, including putting our last names first, so fingers crossed this will be the year.

I called the Romanian embassy and they won't help with translations since I'm not a Romanian citizen (yet!) and they said it's not possible since I don't speak Romania (yet! and we'll see!).

If all goes according to plan we'll get these docs executed this month and sent to Romania in February and maybe this Christmas I'll have my passport in hand!

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FAQ: Why Romania?

Well, why not? Now that my husband and I have a child, we need to figure out where to settle down, at least for a while. I personally don't want to go back to Peru and my husband doesn't want to go to the US. We figure that Romania is a happy medium. It's a second world country and the language should be semi easy for us to learn since we speak Spanish. An added benefit for me is that it's in Europe, which is far from my family and his. I figure I'd rather we live far from both families than close to one and far from another. This way, neither of them will feel like we're spending too much time with the other.

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Fingers crossed this will be the year!

2012 sounds like a good year to get citizenship! Hopefully we can get the few docs we need and I'll have my passport before the end of the year.

I'm still waiting for the docs from my husband that will allow me to change my name and register my marriage and then I should be ready to apply for the passport.

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Poll Results for Should Romania Have Waited to Join the EU

2 people voted yes and 1 person voted no. Be sure to vote in the next poll: How has Romania joined now that it's in the EU?

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