WorkinRomania.gov.ro blocked by court order: what the suspension of Order 1073/2026 means and how long it might last
A red warning banner has appeared on WorkinRomania.gov.ro: the platform announces that, following a decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, the flows for employer registration, employer authorisation, and filing a single application for D/AM2 visas are disabled. Below we explain what actually happened, its legal basis, and — the question every employer is asking — how long it might last.
What happened
The Bucharest Court of Appeal admitted a request to suspend the execution of Order no. 1073/2026 of the Minister of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity (MMFTSS) — the act that approved the List of shortage occupations provided for in art. 1 para. (2) of GEO 32/2026. The request was filed by the Employers'' Association of Workforce Importers (PIFM), the trade association of recruitment agencies for non-EU workers, in case no. 5633/2/2026.
PIFM has publicly criticised the implementation of GEO 32/2026 since the summer of 2026 — from the platform''s functioning to the lack of a real transition period — and has repeatedly requested either a delay in application or the correction of provisions it considers disproportionate for agencies and employers. The suspension of Order 1073/2026 is the latest step in a series of court actions on this subject.
Why exactly this order matters
The List of shortage occupations is not a bureaucratic detail — it is the legal condition that opens or closes the D/AM2 route (permanent, seasonal, cross-border workers, hired through an agency or by an authorised employer). Art. 23 para. (2) of GEO 32/2026 is explicit: the placement of foreigners is done exclusively for occupations on this list. Without a valid order approving it, the system has, at least formally, no legal basis for processing any D/AM2-related application.
What is disabled on the platform
| Flow | Status |
|---|---|
| Employer registration (R.A.S.) | 🔴 Disabled |
| Employer authorisation (R.A.A.) | 🔴 Disabled |
| Filing a D/AM2 single application (long-stay visas) | 🔴 Disabled |
| Placement agency authorisation (R.A.P.S.) | ⚠️ Not explicitly stated in the banner — check directly on the platform |
| D/AM1 route (highly qualified, Moldovan/Ukrainian/Serbian citizens, etc.) | ⚠️ Does not depend on the List of shortage occupations, but the platform''s message does not make this distinction |
Practical recommendation: if you have a D/AM1 file in progress, do not assume you are automatically unaffected based on this legal analysis alone — check directly in your platform account whether the relevant buttons are active, and if in doubt, contact ANOFM/IGI for specific confirmation.
What "suspension of execution" means legally
A suspension of the execution of an administrative act (here, a ministerial order) is not an annulment. It is a provisional measure: the act''s effects are temporarily halted until the court rules on the merits of the case — that is, on the actual request to annul Order 1073/2026. At this stage, the court considered that there is a "serious doubt" about the legality of the act and a risk of imminent damage if it continued to produce effects — without this being a final conclusion.
Concretely, two scenarios are possible going forward:
- the court, ruling on the merits, annuls Order 1073/2026 → the Ministry of Labour must issue a new one, with the corrected procedure;
- the court, ruling on the merits, rejects the annulment request → the suspension ends, the order becomes applicable again as if nothing had happened (possibly with retroactive effects that are difficult to manage for files left "pending").
How long it might last
At this point there is no public deadline for the ruling on the merits of case no. 5633/2/2026, and any exact figure would be speculation. A few useful benchmarks to calibrate your expectations, based on how similar cases have unfolded in 2026:
- The suspension itself was resolved relatively quickly — in other suspension cases involving government decisions filed in the same period, the court ruled within one to two weeks of the request being filed.
- The ruling on the merits (annulling or upholding the act) usually takes much longer — from a few months to over a year, especially if the losing party appeals. In other 2026 disputes over government acts, the Executive has already announced an appeal after every suspension — a pattern that could repeat here.
- For as long as the ruling on the merits is pending, the suspension remains in force — so the affected flows may stay blocked for an extended period, not just a few days.
Practical conclusion: treat the situation as a blockage of indefinite duration, not a technical glitch lasting a few days. Do not delay preparing your files in the hope of a quick resolution.
What you can do now
- Files already submitted and under review at ANOFM should, in principle, remain in processing — the suspension targets the issuing of new acts based on the contested order, not (obviously) the dismantling of existing files. Still, check the status of your file directly, since the platform may treat cases already in progress differently.
- Do not initiate new employer registration/authorisation files if the platform explicitly blocks them — any attempt would only waste time without result.
- For the D/AM1 route, check directly in your account whether the flow is available; do not rely solely on the platform''s general message.
- Track the case status directly on the courts'' portal (portal.just.ro), searching for case 5633/2/2026 at the Bucharest Court of Appeal — this is the only official and up-to-date source on the procedural status.
- Stay in touch with ANOFM/IGI for official communications — as a rule, these institutions publish explanatory notes when such a suspension affects their current activity.
In short
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What was suspended? | MMFTSS Order no. 1073/2026, which approved the List of shortage occupations |
| Who requested the suspension? | The Employers'' Association of Workforce Importers (PIFM) |
| What is the case number? | 5633/2/2026, Bucharest Court of Appeal |
| Is the order definitively annulled? | No — only suspended, pending the ruling on the merits |
| Which flows are blocked? | Employer registration, employer authorisation, D/AM2 single application |
| Is the D/AM1 route affected? | In theory no, since it does not depend on the list — but check directly on the platform |
| How long will it last? | Unknown; similar 2026 suspensions have remained in force for months, pending a ruling on the merits (possibly with an appeal) |
| What should I do with my file in progress? | Check its status directly in your account; do not assume anything based on the general banner |
This resource is for information purposes and reflects the situation at the date of publication, based on the message displayed on WorkinRomania.gov.ro and publicly available information about disputes over GEO 32/2026. We could not independently confirm all details of case no. 5633/2/2026 from public sources — for the exact procedural status, check portal.just.ro. The situation is developing and may be updated; we recommend consulting a specialist for decisions related to files in progress.
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