How to Choose an Immigration and Relocation Partner in Romania

Choosing who manages your company's non-EU hiring in Romania is not an administrative afterthought. It is a decision that determines whether a candidate starts on time, whether your filings hold up if a labour inspector asks questions, and whether your business is exposed to delays it did not see coming. Since GEO 32/2026 reshaped how foreign workers access the Romanian labour market, and WorkinRomania.gov.ro became the mandatory digital gateway for that access, the margin for error in choosing a partner has narrowed. An agency that files paperwork is not the same as an agency that manages risk.

This article sets out the practical criteria HR managers and global mobility teams should use when evaluating an immigration and relocation partner in Romania. It is meant as a working checklist, not a sales pitch.

Direct Experience With WorkinRomania.gov.ro and GEO 32/2026

WorkinRomania.gov.ro is not a form to be filled in once and forgotten. It is the platform through which employer registrations, worker applications, and supporting documentation now flow, replacing older paper-based routes and centralising the process under a single digital record. Under GEO 32/2026, employers carry direct responsibility for the accuracy of what is submitted through that platform, regardless of who prepares the file.

When evaluating a partner, ask them to walk you through the platform in specific terms, not in generalities:

• How do they structure a D/AM1 application for a highly skilled worker versus a D/AM2 application against the national quota?
• How do they track quota availability and advise on timing when demand is high?
• How do they handle the employer-side authorisation requirements that sit behind a D/AM2 filing?
• Can they explain, without hesitation, what changed in the application flow since GEO 32/2026 came into force?

A partner who cannot answer these questions concretely, or who describes the platform only in vague terms, is telling you they learn the system as they go rather than because they already know it. That gap becomes your risk, not theirs.

In-House Expertise Versus Subcontracted Work

A recurring blind spot for employers is assuming that the agency they signed a contract with is the same team doing the actual immigration and legal work. In a market where demand for compliance expertise has grown quickly, some agencies subcontract filings to third-party consultants or freelance intermediaries, with little visibility for the client into who is actually handling their case.

Ask directly:

• Is the immigration and legal work done by employees of the agency, or outsourced to a subcontractor?
• Who signs off on the accuracy of a filing before it is submitted?
• Does the team include qualified legal or compliance specialists, or administrative staff following a template?

Ionut Cirdei, Head of Immigration Unit at Nestlers Group (linkedin.com/in/ionut-cirdei-70b50415), has been explicit about what the new regulatory environment demands from both employers and the agencies working on their behalf. As he put it: "In this new framework, compliance has to be built in from the start, not addressed only when the application is filed. Employers and agencies must ensure the declared information is correct, current, and backed by compliant documents." That standard only holds if the people preparing your file understand the law well enough to catch a problem before it becomes a rejection, a delay, or an inspection finding.

Transparency on Timelines and Institutional Dependencies

No agency controls how quickly the General Inspectorate for Immigration, the National Agency for Employment, or the Territorial Labour Inspectorate process a given file. What separates a credible partner from an optimistic one is how honestly they communicate that reality.

A partner worth working with will:

• Give you a realistic range for processing time at each institutional stage, rather than a single optimistic number
• Explain clearly which steps depend on IGI, which depend on ANOFM quota and authorisation checks, and which depend on ITM contract registration
• Flag known bottlenecks, seasonal slowdowns, or documentation issues before they affect your start date
• Communicate proactively when a file is delayed, rather than leaving you to ask

If a partner promises fixed turnaround times regardless of institutional workload, treat that as a warning sign. Institutional dependency is a fact of operating in Romania, and hiding it only means you find out later, from a candidate whose start date has slipped.

Document Verification as a Process, Not a Formality

Every non-EU hiring case in Romania rests on a stack of supporting documents: employment contracts, qualification certificates, proof of financial standing, and, for D/AM2 cases, the employer's own authorisation history. GEO 32/2026 places clear weight on the accuracy and currency of what is declared. A partner that treats document review as a checkbox exercise, confirming a file is complete without verifying that it is correct, is not protecting you.

Ask a prospective partner how they verify documents before submission:

• Do they check that qualification documents match the role and salary threshold being claimed?
• Do they confirm that contract terms align with the bilingual template requirements introduced for non-EU workers?
• Do they flag inconsistencies between what a candidate has declared and what supporting evidence actually shows?

This is where in-house legal expertise matters most in practice. Document verification is a judgment exercise, not a data-entry task, and it is the stage where errors are cheapest to catch and most expensive to miss.

Employer of Record Capability for Employers Without a Local Entity

Many international employers want to hire in Romania without establishing a Romanian legal entity first, particularly when testing a market or filling a single specialised role. In these cases, an Employer of Record arrangement, where the partner becomes the legal employer in Romania on the client's behalf, is often the only practical route to compliant hiring.

Evaluate this capability specifically, not as an afterthought to immigration services:

• Can the agency act as the legal employer for payroll, contracts, and statutory registrations without the client holding a Romanian entity?
• Do they manage the full cycle, from work authorisation through monthly payroll and social security filings, under one accountable structure?
• What happens if the client later decides to establish its own entity and transition the employee directly?

An agency offering immigration filings but no EOR capability leaves employers without a local entity structurally unable to complete the hire. That gap is worth identifying before a candidate has accepted an offer, not after.

Bringing the Criteria Together

None of these five areas stands alone. A partner with deep WorkinRomania.gov.ro experience but no in-house legal capacity will file quickly and inaccurately. A partner with strong legal expertise but no transparency on institutional timelines will leave you guessing. Weigh all five together when making a decision, and ask for specifics rather than accepting general assurances.

Nestlers Group's Work Permit and Visa Support team manages D/AM1 and D/AM2 applications through WorkinRomania.gov.ro directly, from initial registration through employer authorisation and permit collection, without routing the legal work through third parties. The Immigration Advisory team reviews and verifies supporting documentation before submission and liaises directly with IGI on eligibility questions and case status. For employers without a Romanian legal entity, the Employer of Record service allows hiring to proceed under Nestlers' own registration, with the Payroll and HR Compliance team handling ITM contract registration, monthly payroll, and social security filings from day one. Where a relocating employee also needs housing, schooling, or settling-in support, the Relocation and Destination Services team coordinates that separately, so the immigration file and the employee's actual move are handled as one connected process rather than two disconnected ones.

Sources: Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 on the access of foreign workers to the Romanian labour market; WorkinRomania.gov.ro platform documentation; General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) guidance; National Agency for Employment (ANOFM) quota and authorisation requirements; Ionut Cirdei, Head of Immigration Unit, Nestlers Group, video commentary, 2026.