Citizenship of Moldova by roots (origin)
The Republic of Moldova is a state that provides the opportunity to obtain their citizenship to foreign citizens if they or their ancestors are historically related to Moldova.
In this article, we propose to consider the key issues of obtaining citizenship of this state.
Grounds: Part 2 of Article 12 of the Law No1024 of the Republic of Moldova "On Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova" of June 02, 2000.
Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova by roots can be claimed by:
- persons born abroad, having at least one of the parents, grandparents or great-grandparents born on the territory of the Republic of Moldova;
- persons who lived in the territory of Bessarabia, northern Bukovina, the Hertza district and the MASSR until June 28, 1940, as well as their descendants
- persons who were expelled or left the territory of the Republic of Moldova starting with June 28, 1940, as well as their descendants.
- persons who before June 23, 1990 legally and permanently resided on the territory of the Republic of Moldova and continue to reside at present.
In addition to the main territory of the Republic of Moldova, persons or their ancestors born in the territory of 2 regions of Ukraine can apply for citizenship:
- Chernivtsi region;
- 9 districts of the Odessa region: Artsyz district Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district Bolgradsky district Izmail district Kiliya district Reniysky district Saratsky district Tarutinsky district Tatarbunarsky district
Required documents
- Application;
- CV resume;
- Passport;
- Certificate of no criminal record in the country of citizenship;
- Birth/death certificate (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents);
- Certificates or certificates of marriage/divorce (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents);
- Photographs;
- Receipt of payment of the state fee.
From practice: the migration authorities of Moldova check the origin of the applicant, based on the documents provided, while having the right to make requests to the countries that issued such documents. We recommend that you take care of collecting documents in the required forms in advance so as not to waste time waiting in the future.
- If you have an old-style document (for example, a parent's birth certificate from 1946), then before submitting documents for citizenship, you should make a request and receive this document of a new sample.
- If the marriage of the parents was concluded in one state, and dissolved in another, then it is necessary to obtain documents from the registry offices of both countries.
About the form of documents:
For the member states of the Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters (concluded in Minsk on 22.01.1993), documents that are prepared or certified in the territory of one of the contracting parties by an institution or a specially authorized person within their competence and in the prescribed form and sealed with an official seal are accepted in the territories of other contracting parties without any special certificate.
Where to apply: Public Services Agency.
Methods of submission: in person or through a representative by proxy.
Processing time: from 6 months.
To obtain Moldovan citizenship by root, you do not need to reside in the country.
After obtaining a passport of a citizen of Moldova, citizenship can also be obtained by children under 18 years old. Spouses of a person who has received Moldovan citizenship can only apply for a residence permit for family reunification. At the same time, they are required to reside on the territory of Moldova in order to further obtain citizenship.
An obvious advantage of Moldovan citizenship is the possibility of visa-free travel on the territory of the Schengen Agreement 90 out of 180 days a year. Also, holders of a Moldovan passport have access to unhindered opening of bank accounts on the territory of the European Union, as well as obtaining a tourist visa to the United States for up to 10 years.
REVERA Private Clients lawyers will be happy to assist you in the process of obtaining Moldovan citizenship.
Author: Yaroslavna Zadesenskaya, Levan Pogosov
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