The new EU return rules: what changes from 2027 for foreigners without a right of residence and how to keep your workers legal

A single permit that expired three weeks ago, because the extension file was waiting for a signature. A contract that ended on a Friday, with nobody telling the person what deadline they have from Monday onwards. Most of the time, this is how a foreign worker ends up without a right of residence: through a missed deadline.

On 1 October 2026, the Council of the EU adopted the Return Regulation, which sets common rules across the whole Union for non-EU nationals who no longer have a right of residence. Because it is a regulation, it applies directly in Romania too, and it replaces Directive 2008/115/EC, which the chapter on return in GEO 194/2002 is based on today.

Its logic is easy to remember:

• those who keep their documents up to date feel no change;
• those who lose their right of residence, but cooperate with the authorities and either fix their situation or leave on time, keep their chance to come back legally;
• those who hide or leave in secret for another Member State pay a much higher price than before.

Who it concerns and who it does not

It does not concern workers with a valid visa or permit. The work permit, the long-stay visa, the single permit and the procedures in WorkinRomania.gov.ro stay exactly as they are. It also does not concern a person who submitted the application for extension on time and is waiting for the answer: with proof of submission, their stay is legal.

It concerns any non-EU national who no longer meets the conditions for residence (Art. 3 point (2)). Among foreign workers, the usual situations are:

• the single permit has expired and the application for extension was not submitted;
• the employment contract has ended, and the 90 days in which a new employer could submit the single application have passed;
• the extension of the right of residence was refused;
• the long-stay visa expired without the permit having been applied for.

In these situations, the return decision is issued together with the decision that ends the legal stay, or immediately after it (Art. 5 para. (12)). A person who holds a valid residence permit or long-stay visa in another Member State does not receive a return decision: they are required to leave immediately for that State (Art. 6).

When it applies

The Council announced publication in the Official Journal of the EU for the weeks after the vote, so the rules that directly concern workers start to apply in the autumn of 2027. Until then, GEO 194/2002 stays in force in its current form. The transition year has a purpose: Romania aligns its law, and companies have time to put their permit records in order.

What changes, in brief

Cooperation makes the difference

The Regulation treats two people in the same situation very differently, depending on how they behave from the moment they lose their right of residence.

Those who cooperate have something to gain:

• the departure deadline may be extended, for example for a person who joins a return and reintegration programme (Art. 5 para. (4));
• the authority may decide not to apply the entry ban (Art. 8 para. (7));
• a ban already issued may be withdrawn, suspended or shortened for a person who proves that they left voluntarily (Art. 9 para. (1));
• States are required to have return and reintegration programmes, with logistical, financial or material support, including in the country of return (Art. 44).

In practice, cooperating means (Art. 18):

• you remain available to the authorities and do not leave for another Member State;
• you hand over your identity and travel documents, or help to obtain them;
• you give your biometric data, address, phone number and email, and report any change;
• you do not destroy documents, do not use false identities and do not resist removal;
• you report to the Romanian authorities or to the authorities of your country when you are called.

Those who do not cooperate lose these advantages. The State imposes at least one monitoring measure on them: the obligation to stay within a certain area, to live at a set address or to report regularly to the authorities (Art. 20). Their departure deadline may be shortened (Art. 5 para. (5)). In addition, the State may apply (Art. 22):

• refusal or withdrawal of the work permit, where national law provides for it;
• extension of the entry ban up to the maximum allowed;
• financial penalties;
• criminal penalties, including imprisonment, where national law provides for them;
• reduction of benefits and of support for voluntary return.

To prepare the return, the authorities may search the person and, with an order, their home, and may seize phones and other relevant items, without the foreigner's consent (Art. 21).

The amount of the fines stays the one in Romanian law: today, between 400 and 1,200 lei for illegal stay, depending on its length (details in the guide to the residence permit).

The entry ban: three things to know

The ban must accompany the return decision in three situations (Art. 8 para. (1)): the foreigner is removed under escort, did not leave within the deadline given, or poses a security risk. In all other cases, the authority decides, taking into account how much the foreigner cooperated.

• It is valid on the territory of all Member States, not only in Romania, and it runs from the date on which the foreigner actually left the Union (Art. 8 para. (9)).
• It can also be applied at the border check on exit, without a return decision, to a person found to have overstayed, even after they have left (Art. 8 paras. (4)–(5)). Leaving the country with an expired permit does not erase the delay.
• The State may make the withdrawal of a ban conditional on payment of the removal costs (Art. 9 para. (5)). A person who leaves on their own, within the deadline, does not get to this point.

Why leaving for another EU State makes things worse

Some workers left without papers in Romania try to reach another Member State and start over there. Under the new Regulation, this road is closed from three sides:

• moving to another Member State without the right to do so is a ground for forced removal (Art. 10 para. (1) point (d));
• it is treated, until proven otherwise, as a risk of absconding (Art. 19 para. (1)), which means a ground for detention (Art. 29);
• the other State sees the Romanian decision in the Schengen Information System and may enforce it directly, and a new period of detention starts there (Art. 30).

What the worker can do, in each situation

Almost every situation has a way out, provided it is used in time.

What the employer has to do

The Regulation puts no new obligations on the company. But almost all the deadlines that a worker's stay depends on pass through the employer's office.

1. Keep track of expiry dates. The application for extension is submitted at least 30 days before the right of residence expires. Start the file 60 days before.

2. When the contract ends, give the worker the termination decision on the same day and explain to them that they have 90 days in which a new employer can submit the single application for them. Notify IGI within the 5-day deadline (Art. 7 of GEO 32/2026).

3. Do not keep at work a worker who no longer has a right of residence. It is an administrative offence under GEO 194/2002, penalised for each worker.

4. Check which of your people are under the amnesty. For them, the deadline is 31 December 2026, and the application starts with the employer.

5. Talk to your people about this. Many workers do not know what date is written on their permit and what happens after it. A ten-minute talk, in the language they understand, can save them from years of an entry ban.

In brief

Sources

• Press release of the Council of the EU of 1 October 2026
• Text of the regulation adopted by the European Parliament and the Council (PE-CONS 40/26)

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This resource is for information purposes and reflects the situation on 11 October 2026. The articles cited are from the text of the regulation adopted by the European Parliament and the Council (PE-CONS 40/26). Until the date the Regulation applies, the rules in GEO 194/2002 remain valid. For a specific situation, we recommend consulting IGI and a specialist.