How long the OUG 32/2026 financial guarantee stays blocked and what happens if the worker leaves

The two financial guarantees in OUG 32/2026 — 1,000 euros per foreigner for the authorised employer (art. 13) and 75,000 euros for the placement agency (art. 25) — are real money, blocked at the State Treasury or covered by a bank guarantee letter. The first question any company asks is simple: how long does this money stay blocked? And the second follows immediately: what happens to me if the worker leaves?

The short answer to the first question is uncomfortable: the law sets no fixed term, and no implementing rules clarifying one have been published. This material systematises what is certain from the text of the ordinance — and where the open questions remain.

The authorised employer's guarantee: 1,000 euros per foreigner (art. 13)

• it is constituted before the authorisation is issued, in lei at the BNR exchange rate on the day of deposit, in proportion to the number of workers for whom authorisation is requested (paras. (1)-(2));
• form: money deposited with the State Treasury unit or a bank guarantee letter issued by a banking institution in Romania;
• it is constituted in favour of the competent fiscal body, and the authorisation is valid for exactly the number of foreigners for whom the guarantee was proven (art. 17 para. (2)).

How long it stays blocked for the employer

Art. 13 para. (6) defines the duration only functionally: the guarantee must be maintained for the entire period in which the employer has obligations towards the employed foreigners. In practice, the minimum period per worker is made up of:

• the duration of the individual employment contract — while the person is employed, the art. 18 obligations are active;
• plus 90 days after the contract ends — the period of legal residence during which the employer must put the foreigner in contact with a placement agency and, failing that, bears the return costs (art. 40 paras. (6)-(7));
• plus the completion of any pending return or removal procedure — the flat amount and return costs are enforced from the guarantee.

Three things to remember:

• release is only on request: at the end of the period, the employer applies and ANOFM notifies the fiscal body to unblock the funds (para. (7)); there is no automatic release;
• there is no regulated partial release: if 5 out of 10 authorised workers leave, the text does not provide for unblocking 5,000 euros;
• the end of the obligations period has no explicit calendar marker in the text — for cash-flow planning, it is prudent to treat the amount as blocked for as long as at least one foreigner remains employed under that authorisation, plus at least 3 months after the last one leaves.

The placement agency's guarantee: 75,000 euros + 50,000 tranches (art. 25)

• 75,000 euros for up to 250 placed foreigners, plus 50,000 euros for each additional tranche of 250 (paras. (2)-(3)) — only foreigners with a D/AM2 long-stay employment visa count towards the limit (art. 37 para. (2));
• the same form: Treasury deposit or bank guarantee letter, in favour of the fiscal body.

How long it stays blocked for the agency

Art. 25 para. (7) imposes two cumulative conditions: the guarantee is maintained for the entire validity of the licence and for the entire period in which the agency has obligations towards the placed foreigners. The consequences:

• while the agency operates, the money stays blocked permanently — the licence is valid for 2 years and is extended for successive 2-year periods, with no gap in between;
• even if the agency ceases activity and does not renew the licence, the per-worker obligations keep running: the notification duty in art. 39 para. (1) let. j) lasts 2 years from the start of each foreigner's activity as registered in REGES-ONLINE, and brokering the change of employer (art. 40 para. (4)) also runs up to 2 years;
• the guarantee can be requested for release only after 2 years have passed from the start of activity of the last placed foreigner — and, as with employers, only on request, through ANOFM's notification to the fiscal body (para. (8)), with no partial release as the number of placed workers falls.

In addition, during any suspension of the licence, the guarantee cannot be withdrawn at all (art. 31).

What the guarantee pays for

The following are enforced from the guarantee, for both categories:

• the flat amount of 2,000 euros for each person for whom IGI notifies removal (art. 14, art. 26);
• return costs to the state of origin, where the foreigner falls into illegal stay or their residence right is annulled or revoked;
• costs borne by the authorities for the accommodation, meals, care or support of foreigners in situations of vulnerability or risk;
• contravention fines applied under the ordinance, included in enforceable titles and unpaid within the legal deadline.

After any enforcement, the guarantee must be replenished within 30 days — missing the deadline is a ground for suspending the authorisation, in both categories. And in serious cases (established exploitation, authorisation obtained with false documents), the guarantee is forfeited in full to the state budget.

How long the foreign worker must stay in the job

There is no mandatory minimum working period for the worker — but their freedom is restricted in stages, counted from the start of activity registered in REGES-ONLINE:

• first 6 months: they cannot initiate a change of employer (art. 40 para. (2)); the only exception is a serious breach of contract by the employer (para. (3));
• between 6 months and 2 years: they can change employer, but only through the placement agency that is party to the placement contract (para. (4));
• after 2 years: they exit the special regime and change employer under the general rules of OUG 194/2002.

If the employment contract ends early, the foreigner has 90 days of legal residence, during which the agency must make efforts to present at least 2 job offers. Without a new contract within that term, they must leave Romania (art. 40 para. (1) let. e)) — and if they stay, they fall into illegal residence and the return procedure starts, paid from the guarantee, plus the 2,000-euro flat amount.

If the worker leaves legally for another state

The 6-month restriction concerns changing employers inside Romania, not the right to leave. Art. 40 para. (1) let. e) explicitly provides the option of returning to the state of origin or to another state that allows them entry. A voluntary, legal departure — before or after 6 months — is not a breach.

The financial consequences for the company differ radically from the illegal-stay scenario:

• the 2,000-euro flat amount is triggered only by removal — a voluntary, legal, timely departure = no flat amount;
• return costs are drawn from the guarantee when the foreigner falls into illegal stay or their right is annulled/revoked — if they leave on their own, at their own expense, within the legal term, the guarantee is untouched.

The thresholds that hurt: 20% and 30%

The real exposure to early departures is not the guarantee but the percentage thresholds, calculated over any 6 consecutive months:

• more than 20% of workers with employment contracts losing their valid residence right or valid visa → withdrawal of the agency's licence (art. 32), respectively the employer losing the right to apply for a new authorisation for 36 months (art. 19 para. (1) let. c));
• for agencies, additionally: more than 30% visa refusals or more than 30% single applications decided negatively in the last 6 months → suspension of the licence (art. 30).

Important: the text counts the loss of residence right through expiry of the 90-day term without distinguishing between "left legally for another state" and "disappeared". How the authorities will treat documented voluntary departures (exit recorded at the border) remains an open question, with no implementing rules published.

In practice: Treasury deposit or bank guarantee letter?

Because the release horizon is undefined — for agencies practically unlimited while activity continues — the difference between the two forms becomes a treasury decision:

• the Treasury deposit freezes capital for an indefinite period, without interest;
• the bank guarantee letter does not block cash, but costs an annual fee (usually 1-3% of the value, depending on the bank and the company's standing) and typically requires collateral towards the bank.

In short

1. There is no fixed release term anywhere in the law — the duration is defined by the existence of obligations, not by calendar.
2. Employer: at minimum the contract duration + 90 days + any pending removal procedures.
3. Agency: permanently while licensed; after ceasing, until 2 years from the start of activity of the last placed foreigner.
4. Release is only on request, with no partial release and no regulated processing deadline.
5. The worker's legal departure to another state does not consume the guarantee — but it can count towards the 20%/30% thresholds, where the text does not distinguish between a documented departure and a disappearance.

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Informative material, not legal advice. Reference text: OUG no. 32/2026 (Monitorul Oficial no. 335 of 27.04.2026), as in force at the date of writing. Implementing rules on the guarantee release procedure had not been published at that date.