Romania introducing biometric data collection for citizenship

Romania is introducing biometric data collection for applicants seeking to become citizens and will begin to replace paper citizenship certificates with electronic cards containing biographic and biometric data.

According to the new regulation, applicants seeking to obtain permanent residency and citizenship in Romania will need to submit fingerprints and digital photographs, Romania Insider reports.

“The measures adopted through an emergency ordinance aim both at the introduction of biometrics into the procedure for granting Romanian citizenship, as well as measures that will ensure the security of the entire process through advanced IT and security systems,” government spokesperson Mihai Constantin announced last week.

The regulation also introduced a legal basis for the National Authority for Citizenship to acquire biometric data acquisition equipment and other IT tools. The government is introducing the measure to harmonize its procedure with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as to speed up its entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program.

The program, which allows foreign nationals to travel to the U.S. without a visa, requires that Romania achieves a refusal rate of less than 3 percent for U.S. business and tourist visas during the U.S. fiscal year. Romania is hoping to meet the technical criteria before the end of the 2024 fiscal year, ending September 30, 2024.

In June, the Romanian Ambassador to the U.S., Andrei Muraru, announced that Romania is nearing completion of the Visa Waiver Program’s admission criteria. The rejection rate for the previous fiscal year was over 8 percent, but Muraru hopes that it will drop below 3 percent this year.

Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus are the only EU countries not participating in the program. Cyprus and Bulgaria have also begun negotiations. In order to apply for a visa waiver, citizens must register through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) and submit fingerprints and photographs upon arrival in the U.S.

In 2021, the Romanian government started issuing electronic identity cards (eID) which became free for citizens last year to speed up adoption and replace the current identity documents by August 2031.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  identity management  |  immigration  |  Romania