The General Immigration Inspectorate (IGI) has issued over 42,500 employment permits for foreign citizens in 2025, to date, in addition to permits for changing employers and changing positions, said Chief Commissioner Daniel Titirigi, director of the Migration Directorate within the IGI, on Wednesday.

'Regarding the employment permits, I would like to point out that for 2025 alone, as employment permits issued by the General Inspectorate of Immigration, we have so far had 42,511 permits. For changing employers, we have 6,474 permits issued, and for changing positions, we have 683 permits issued, which means a total of 49,668 permits issued in total. As you well know, over time, the General Inspectorate for Immigration, with the support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has sought solutions, on the one hand, to increase the capacity to take over applications for employment permits, being aware of the need on the Romanian labor market for newly admitted workers, and on the other hand, to resolve and regulate the subsequent stay of the right of residence for those who come to Romania,' Titirigi said at a specialized conference.

According to him, if in 2015 Romania had 5,000 people who were part of that annual quota, in the last four years we have had a quota approved by the Romanian Government of 100,000 people/year.

'And here we are talking about people newly admitted to the Romanian labor market, not those who change employers or those who change positions. This is the first component of admission to the territory of Romania - the issuance of the employment or secondment notice by the General Inspectorate for Immigration, as a component of obtaining a long-stay visa for the purpose of employment on the territory of Romania, an attribute that falls to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Subsequently, foreigners are obliged to report to the General Inspectorate for Immigration, at our territorial offices, to regulate their stay, so as to benefit from the legal right to continue to reside and work at the same time on the territory of Romania,' he said.

The Chief Commissioner emphasized that the component of combating illegal residence in Romania, as well as declared work, was also taken into account, in the context of Romania's entry into the Schengen area.

'We also paid attention to the component of combating illegal residence and declared work, because, as you well know, last year Romania entered the Schengen area and we have some technical measures that we have implemented since 2010 and we have prepared over the years so that people who come to Romania, regardless of the purpose for which they come to Romania, comply with the legislation on employment - if we refer to those who are employed - and on the other hand to respect the period of stay and the right of residence conferred by the visa or residence permit obtained. At the same time, we also paid important attention to the return component, so that those who remained in illegal situations or did not meet the conditions to stay on the territory of Romania for a certain period would be returned to their countries of origin or third countries where they 'they wanted it,' said Daniel Titirigi.

In this context, to facilitate access to the Romanian labor market, the General Inspectorate for Immigration has over time come up with legislative amendments to support the simplification of the admission process in Romania, the elimination of certain documents, so that employers no longer have to 'bring so many papers to our territorial offices,' added the IGI official.

'On the other hand, we have constantly tried to open more counters, to increase our capacity to resolve cases. Examples in this regard are the opening of new offices at the General Inspectorate for Immigration, at the Immigration Service in Constan?a, at the Immigration Service in Cluj, at the Immigration Office in Vâlcea, and the Immigration Directorate of the Municipality of Bucharest. This month we also opened a space inside a mall - the Immigration Service of Ilfov County, so as to increase our capacity to receive and process these applications. But, as I said, we also have some obligations. We are a Schengen member state and we must ensure that people who come to Romania come for the purpose declared when they requested their entry visas to Romania and that they respect the reasons for which they obtained that visa, and, indeed, employers are also collaborating with us in this situation.' to contribute to achieving that common goal that the respective persons legally reside on the territory of Romania. 'Once the persons concerned work legally on Romanian territory and have a legal right to reside on Romanian territory, the General Inspectorate for Immigration considers that it fulfills its objective of ensuring a climate of legality for the activities under its jurisdiction,' Titirigi also said.

The rapid growth in labor demand in sectors such as production, construction and services is leading employers to increasingly rely on non-EU workers, in a context where local resources are insufficient. According to official data provided by the General Inspectorate for Immigration, at the end of 2024, over 140,640 employees from outside the European Union were registered as legally working in Romania. Most of them come from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey and India, and the areas in which they predominantly work are production (29,141 employees), construction (28,538), trade (20,008), HoReCa (18,844) and administrative and support services (12,189).

According to the Employers' Confederation of Labor Importers (PIFM), this figure reflects only a part of the real market need, which is much higher and remains far from being covered. However, for the second consecutive year, the annual ceiling for 2025 was maintained at 100,000 permits. More than 60% of these permits target jobs in areas such as agriculture, construction, cleaning or cargo handling, areas where Romanian employers face major difficulties in local recruitment.

In this context, the Employers' Association of Labor Importers organized, on Wednesday, its first national conference entitled 'Foreign Workers in Romania: Realities and Good Practices', an event that brought together, for the first time, the relevant institutions involved in the management and integration of the non-EU workforce.AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Oana Tilica, editing by: Mariana Nica; EN - writing by: Catalin Cristian Trandafir)