The WorkinRomania shutdown: what you can do if you are a foreign worker at risk of losing your right of residence

If you are a foreign worker in Romania and your contract has ended, you are registered under the amnesty, or you have received a paper from Immigration, you have probably already heard the same sentence: "the platform is not working". It is true, and it is not your fault. The guide below shows you, situation by situation, what you can do starting today, what evidence to keep and what mistakes to avoid, so that you come out of this period with the right to stay and work in Romania.

What happened, in short

• Since August 2026, the hiring of foreigners is done through the WorkinRomania.gov.ro platform: employers register there, and the cerere unică (single application) for a visa or for a change of employer is submitted there.
• In September 2026, the Bucharest Court of Appeal suspended the Ministry of Labour order that approved the Lista ocupațiilor deficitare (shortage occupations list) (case 5633/2/2026).
• Since 15 September 2026, the platform has stopped the registration and authorisation of employers and the submission of D/AM2 single applications.

What still works:

• extending your residence permit with the same employer is submitted as before, directly to IGI (General Inspectorate for Immigration);
• applications for D/AM1 workers (Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Serbia, highly qualified) can be submitted by employers already registered on the platform.

What is stopped: changing employer on the D/AM2 route, hiring through the amnesty on the D/AM2 route, and any employer who did not finish registration before 15 September.

IGI's official position. The General Inspectorate for Immigration has announced that D/AM2 applications to extend residence for a change of employer that cannot be sent through the platform right now will be analysed individually after the platform works again, taking into account the employer's objective impossibility to complete the procedure. Keep a copy of the IGI announcement (link at the end): it can help you at any inspection or at any service counter.

First step: find out which situation you are in

If you do not know exactly which documents you have, look in your document folder or ask your employer: the decizia de încetare (termination decision / "release letter") of the contract, the proof of registration with IGI under the amnesty or the return decision are the documents that decide which situation you are in.

Situation 1: your contract ended and the new employer cannot submit the application

After your employment contract ends, your right of residence continues for a maximum of 90 days (art. 56 alin. 6 OUG 194/2002). During this time, the new employer or the placement agency submits the single application for you in WorkinRomania (art. 56 alin. 9). Since 15 September, for occupations on the shortage occupations list (the D/AM2 route), this application cannot be submitted.

Can you change employer? It depends on how the contract ended.

• If the employer ended the contract (dismissal), the 6-month rule does not stop you: a new employer can take you at any time within the 90 days. If you came on a D/AM2 visa, you find the new job through your placement agency, which must present you at least two offers within these 90 days (art. 40 alin. 6 OUG 32/2026).
• If you resigned, you must have worked at least 6 months for the employer you left, counted from REGES (art. 56 alin. 13 OUG 194/2002). The rule applies to every employer, not only the first one. Exception: if the employer seriously broke the contract or your rights, and you can prove it, the period can be reduced (alin. 14).
• If you came on a D/AM2 visa, there is one more rule, in addition to the one above: in the first 6 months from your first day of work in Romania you cannot ask yourself to change employer, and for up to 2 years the change is done only through the placement agency in your placement contract (art. 40 alin. 2–4 OUG 32/2026). These periods are counted only once, from your first day of work in Romania.

If you are not sure which rule applies to you, ask the agency or the employer before you sign anything.

What you do:

1. Write down the date your contract ended. The 90 days run from this date. You need the termination decision (what many people call the "release letter"); if your former employer did not give it to you, ask for it in writing.
2. Make sure the new employer has started the procedure. Ask them for their WorkinRomania file number (for employer registration or for authorisation) and its status. An employer who started the procedure and was stopped by the shutdown is exactly in the situation described by IGI in its announcement.
3. Sign what can be signed. A written job offer or an employment contract with the start date to be set later shows that the job exists and is waiting for you.
4. Submit a written notice to IGI (see "Good-faith evidence", below) before the 90 days pass. It shows that you reported your situation yourself, on time.
5. Stay at your declared address and answer any call from IGI.

If the 90 days pass during the shutdown, the application for you is submitted when the platform works again and is analysed individually, according to the criteria in the IGI announcement. The more complete your evidence file is, the easier it will be to show that you did everything that depended on you.

Do not leave Romania hoping to come back quickly. The change-of-employer route exists only for people who are in the country. Once you leave, to come back you need a new visa, which means a single application submitted, again, through WorkinRomania.

Situation 2: you are registered under the amnesty (art. 52 OUG 32/2026)

The amnesty applies to people who entered legally for work, lost their right of residence, did not have a return decision and reported to IGI within the 60 days from 27 April 2026 (that is, by the end of June 2026), declaring their address. They can ask for their residence for work to be extended until 31 December 2026, without a new visa and without leaving the country.

The application is submitted, through WorkinRomania, by an authorised placement agency or an authorised employer. Only for citizens of the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Serbia and for highly qualified workers can the registered employer submit it directly (the D/AM1 route). IGI confirmed this in letter no. 239701/14.08.2026.

What you do:

1. Keep the proof of your registration with IGI, the original and a copy. It is the document that makes you a beneficiary of the amnesty.
2. Live at your declared address. If you move, tell IGI your new address.
3. Find the employer now, not in December. The employment contract can be signed already now, without a start date; the date is set by an addendum, after you receive your permit (art. 52 alin. 4).
4. Check the agency. Work only with agencies that have the status "Activă" (Active) in the register on workinromania.gov.ro. The law forbids the agency to ask you for money (art. 23 alin. 6 OUG 32/2026).
5. Do not start work before the permit. Until then, the contract stays without a start date.

The 31 December deadline gives you time to wait for the platform to restart. What matters is that, on the day the platform starts again, the employer and the agency have the file ready to submit.

One exception that changes everything: the amnesty does not apply to someone who has a return decision. If you receive one now, read Situation 3 immediately.

Situation 3: you received a return decision

The return decision is the document by which IGI finds that your stay is illegal and sets a deadline for you to leave Romania (art. 2 lit. u^1 OUG 194/2002). It is not a criminal sentence and it is not final: you can challenge it.

What you do, in this order:

1. Look at the date it was communicated to you. The decision can be challenged within 10 days from communication, at the court of appeal named in the decision (art. 84 OUG 194/2002). The deadline runs from the date on the proof of receipt or, if you were not found, from the date the decision was posted at the IGI office. If you know that IGI was looking for you, ask at the IGI office whether there is a decision in your name.
2. Look for legal help the same day. The European Association for Justice and Social Protection (eajsp.org, info@eajsp.org, Piața Nicolae Bălcescu, Timișoara) offers foreigners free legal support. You can also go to a lawyer or to another organisation that defends migrants' rights. Take the decision and your evidence file with you.
3. Submit the challenge on time. A challenge submitted on time suspends the enforcement of the decision until the court decides (art. 85 OUG 194/2002). Your arguments are exactly your good-faith evidence: the employer who is waiting for you, the platform shutdown and the IGI announcement about the individual analysis of blocked applications.
4. Respect any obligation in the decision, such as reporting regularly to IGI or living at a certain address.

If you choose to leave. Leaving voluntarily within the deadline in the decision, at your own cost, cuts the limits of the entry ban in half (art. 106^1 alin. 2 OUG 194/2002) and keeps your way back open with a new visa. Keep proof that you left the country: the ticket and the stamp or the confirmation from the border.

The fine for illegal stay is between 400 and 1,200 lei, depending on how long you stayed without the right. It is a minor offence, not a crime.

Good-faith evidence: what to collect starting today

Good faith is proven with papers, not with explanations given at the counter. Collect in one single file:

About you and your stay:

• your passport and your last residence permit or visa (copies);
• proof of registration with IGI under the amnesty, if this applies to you;
• the rental contract or proof of the address where you live.

About your work:

• your old employment contract and the termination decision;
• the extract from REGES (you can ask your employer for it);
• payslips or bank statements showing the salaries you received.

About the new job:

• the written job offer or the contract signed without a start date;
• the name, CUI (tax ID) and contact details of the new employer and of the agency;
• the number and status of the employer's file in WorkinRomania.

About the shutdown:

• a screenshot of the message shown in WorkinRomania, with the date visible (the employer or the agency can send it to you);
• the IGI announcement about the individual analysis of blocked applications, printed;
• any message or e-mail from the employer or agency showing that they tried to submit the application and could not.

The written notice to IGI. Write a short request to the IGI unit in the county where you live, in Romanian or in English:

• who you are (name, citizenship, passport number, address, phone);
• your situation (the date your contract ended or the date you registered under the amnesty);
• the employer who wants to hire you and the fact that they cannot submit the single application because of the WorkinRomania shutdown;
• that you remain available to IGI at your declared address and that the application will be submitted immediately after the platform restarts.

Attach copies of the documents above. Submit it at the IGI registry office or send it by post with confirmation of receipt and keep the registration number. IGI must answer within 30 days (OG 27/2002 on petitions). The registration number is the proof that you reported your situation yourself, before any inspection. If you need help writing the notice, you can get it for free from EAJSP.

Where to keep the file: the originals at home, in a safe place; photos on your phone; one set of copies with a person you trust.

What your employer can do

If you already have a new employer or an agency, show them this list:

• give you the job offer in writing, or the contract without a start date;
• tell you the number and status of their file in WorkinRomania;
• take and keep screenshots of the shutdown, with the date;
• give you a signed letter confirming that they will hire you and that the procedure is stopped by the shutdown;
• have the complete file ready to submit on the first day the platform starts again.

Your employer can prepare everything now. Even if the platform does not accept applications yet, the documents for registering the company in WorkinRomania and the file for the single application can be collected and checked in advance: tax certificates, the statements of the shareholders and directors, the employment contract, the worker's documents. The WantJOB specialists can help the employer with registration on the platform and with full preparation of the file, so the application goes out on the first day after the restart. Contact: 0750 238 304 or office@wantjob.eu.

Your former employer also has obligations: to give you the termination decision and to inform IGI that the contract ended within 5 days (art. 7 OUG 32/2026).

What not to do

• Do not go to another EU country to "wait" there. Without a right of residence in that country, your situation gets worse, and a return decision from Romania is visible in all Schengen countries.
• Do not pay anyone who promises to "unblock" your file or to get you a permit another way. There is no such way. Placement agencies are not allowed to ask you for any money.
• Do not work "off the books" while you wait for your permit. Work without a registered contract and without the right to work exposes you and the employer to penalties and can close your legal route.
• Do not ignore letters, phone calls or calls to appear from IGI. Deadlines run even if you do not answer.
• Do not sign documents you do not understand. Ask for a translation or a written explanation.

If things feel very hard

For many workers, the shutdown comes on top of debts, family far away and uncertainty. If you feel you cannot cope anymore, talk to someone:

• 112, in any emergency;
• 116 123, emotional support line;
• 0374 456 420, the depreHUB line, free and confidential, 24 hours a day;
• 0800 801 200, TelVerde Antisuicid, free line.

Also talk to your colleagues, your community or a religious leader you trust. Your situation has a legal way out, and the time lost now can be made up.

In short

Sources

• IGI announcement: residence extension applications that cannot be sent through WorkinRomania will be analysed after the platform restarts (avocatnet.ro, 28 September 2026)
• Radio Romania International: "The platform is not working": many foreign workers are left without a right of residence
• OUG no. 194/2002 on the regime of foreigners in Romania, consolidated version (igi.mai.gov.ro)
• WantJOB guide on hiring foreigners under the amnesty
• WantJOB guide on the residence permit: costs, deadlines and risks
• WantJOB guide on the new EU return rules

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This resource is for information only and reflects the situation on 12 October 2026, when the employer registration and D/AM2 single application functions in WorkinRomania were still stopped. For a specific situation, especially if you have received a return decision, we recommend consulting a lawyer and IGI.