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Work & EmploymentWork Permit (Aviz de Muncă)

Work Permit (Aviz de Muncă)

Source: General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) — igi.mai.gov.ro — Last reviewed: August 2026
Romania's Ministry of Labour and Social Protection building

Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Romania — Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Obtaining a work permit in Romania (Aviz de Muncă) is the primary step for non-EU citizens seeking legal employment. Contrary to popular belief, this permit is exclusively requested by the Romanian employer through the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI), not by the applicant. This means that having a confirmed official job offer from a registered Romanian company—which could not fill the position with local or EU citizens—is a strict prerequisite. Securing this document is essential before moving forward with a long-stay work visa application.

1Employer's Role

  • The work permit application is submitted by the Romanian employer to IGI, not by the applicant.
  • Generally, the employer must demonstrate that the position could not be filled by a Romanian/EU/EEA citizen.
  • This must be verified based on current regulations and individual circumstances.

2Applicant's Required Documents

  • Employment contract or official job offer.
  • Educational degrees and/or work experience relevant to the position.
  • Criminal record certificate.
  • Proof of language proficiency (if required for the role).

3After Issuance

  • The work permit serves as the basis for the long-stay work visa (Type D/AM) application at the Romanian embassy.
  • Since August 2026, employers must process this application through the new mandatory government platform workinromania.gov.ro.
  • This must be verified based on current regulations and individual circumstances.

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📂The Former 8 Aviz de Muncă Categories (OG 25/2014) — What Type of Employment Are You

Until the 2026 reform, Romanian law (OG 25/2014) divided foreign employment into eight categories: six "Aviz de angajare" types (direct hiring by a Romanian employer) plus two "Aviz de detașare" types (posting from a foreign company). This breakdown is still useful for understanding what kind of employment situation you are in, even though the permit-issuance procedure itself has since changed (see the notice below the table):

1. Permanent (Lucrător permanent) — the most common category; indefinite or fixed-term contract with a Romanian employer.
2. Trainee (Lucrător stagiar) — a professional traineeship placement at a Romanian company.
3. Seasonal (Lucrător sezonier) — seasonal work such as agriculture or tourism.
4. Cross-border (Lucrător transfrontalier) — for citizens of countries bordering Romania.
5. Posted worker (Lucrător detașat) — posted by a company outside Romania to work on a project inside Romania.
6. Intra-corporate transferee (ICT) — transferred from a foreign branch of the same company to its Romanian branch.
7. Highly-qualified worker (EU Blue Card) — the special-track route with extra benefits, detailed below.
8. Au pair — live-in, limited work arrangement with a Romanian host family.
⚠️ These eight categories no longer have separate application forms:Chapter I of OG 25/2014 (which defined these eight categories) was abrogated by Emergency Government Ordinance 32/2026 (in force since April 27, 2026, mandatory since August 7-8, 2026). Current procedure consolidates these eight employment situations into two unified visa types: "D/AM1" (highly-qualified/special-category workers, no quota) and "D/AM2" (permanent, seasonal, and cross-border work, quota-based via the shortage-occupation list), both filed as a single application through workinromania.gov.ro. In practice, your employer now needs to determine which of these two new types your situation maps to, rather than choosing among the old eight forms.

Source: igi.mai.gov.ro, the official text of OG 25/2014 (pre-amendment version), and PwC Romania's analysis of OUG 32/2026. (Independent economic activity by a foreigner is a separate residence-status regime, not an "Aviz de Muncă" category — if this route applies to you, verify it separately with IGI.)

🔷EU Blue Card — The High-Skilled Track

If you hold an advanced degree or specialized professional experience, the EU Blue Card route is typically faster and comes with more benefits. Under Law 28/2024 (effective March 2024), the minimum gross salary threshold to qualify was reduced from "2× the average national gross salary" to "1× the average national gross salary." Important caveat: two different "average national gross salary" figures circulate in official Romanian sources, and it is not clearly specified which one the law's threshold is based on — (1) the real, monthly-measured figure from the National Statistics Institute (INS), which was around 9,564 RON for June 2026; (2) a fixed annual figure set by the 2026 state social-insurance budget law for calculating contributions/pensions, which is 9,192 RON. Before applying, confirm directly with IGI or your employer which figure they use for this specific threshold.

Eligibility

An advanced degree, or 5 years of relevant professional experience (3 years for IT specialists), plus a full-time contract of at least 6 months.

Advantages over Standard Permit

Validity up to 3 years (vs. the usual 1 year), simultaneous family-reunification filing, and EU intra-mobility without needing a fresh permit after a qualifying period.

⚠️The Real workinromania.gov.ro Rollout: Why Your Employer Might Hit Trouble

The new workinromania.gov.ro platform launched under Emergency Government Ordinance 32/2026 (in force since April 27, 2026, with a transition period through August 7, 2026), but its rollout has come with real problems. Per Economica.net, the two government bodies involved (IGI and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) are interpreting OUG 32/2026 differently — documents IGI has approved are not being accepted by embassies/MAE. Per Wall-Street.ro, hundreds of files submitted between March and April 2026 (before the platform launched) were forced to restart from scratch once the new system went live; employers lost roughly €100 per file with no announced refund mechanism.

A real example of the scale:Per Digi24, the central work-permit issuance system was effectively suspended around April 2026 amid a legislative overhaul, pushing processing to roughly 4-5 months from document submission. One construction employer who screened 450 workers and selected 130 could not bring them into Romania due to the permit shortage. This means your employer — not just you — may hit unexpected delays in this process; keeping your own records (submission receipt, file number) at every stage is worth doing.

Sources: Economica.net, Wall-Street.ro, Adevărul, Digi24, PwC Romania (OUG 32/2026 analysis), Romania-Insider, mai.gov.ro. Per PwC's analysis, OUG 32/2026 also introduced new employer eligibility requirements (minimum 24 months in business, minimum 50 average employees, a €1,000-per-worker financial guarantee) and new visa subtypes D/AM1 (skilled) and D/AM2 (shortage-occupation).

Update (late August 2026): the situation remains unresolved and disputedPer Romanian business-press reporting (late August 2026), the rollout problems go beyond simple delays: employers and agencies who obtained the old Aviz de Muncă before the platform launched, and paid its fee (~€100 per file), report that embassies/MAE are now rejecting those same documents post-launch — meaning a real risk of losing that fee entirely. It also remains legally unclear whether the 180-day visa-application window attached to permits issued under the old rules (valid into roughly April 2027) survived the August 8, 2026 platform cutover. PIFM (the federation representing employers of foreign labor) has formally petitioned the Foreign Ministry/National Visa Center for clarification, with no resolution reported as of this writing. Practical takeaway: if your case or your employer's falls in this transition window, follow up directly and repeatedly with your employer or immigration lawyer — this is not yet a settled matter.
Need help navigating this process?Given the rollout problems described above, some employers and applicants turn to private recruitment and immigration-consulting firms for help — for example WorkingRomania.com, which offers paid services helping employers source workers and manage work-permit paperwork. This is not a government body and is not affiliated with DORVIA — independently verify the firm's credentials and any service agreement before paying for anything.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I apply for the work permit directly by myself?

No. The work permit application must be submitted exclusively by your Romanian employer to IGI.

How long does the permit application process take?

Per 2026 news coverage (Digi24), during the system overhaul period, processing times of up to 4-5 months have been reported; this is not an official figure but shows "a few weeks to several months" can in practice run toward the long end or beyond.

How is the EU Blue Card different from a standard work permit?

The Blue Card is for specialists with an advanced degree or specialized experience and offers longer validity (up to 3 years) and a simpler family-reunification path.

What happens if my file was submitted before the new platform launched?

Per media reports, hundreds of files submitted before the platform's full launch (August 2026) were forced to restart. Check with your employer whether your file is recognized under the new procedure or needs to be resubmitted.

📚Related Guides & Next Steps

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This guide is part of the "Work & Employment" collection.

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