Romania's 2026 Foreign Worker Quota: What Employers Need to Know

Romania set its 2026 national quota for newly admitted non-EU workers at 90,000, a reduction of roughly 10 percent from the 100,000 slots available in 2025. For employers who rely on the D/AM2 permit category to bring in cooks, drivers, carpenters, electricians, and other quota-restricted workers, that tighter ceiling changes the calculus on when to apply and how much lead time to build into hiring plans. In 2025, Romania's General Inspectorate for Immigration announced the annual quota had been fully used by 10 December, and once a quota is exhausted, new admissions stop until the following year's decision is adopted. There is no waitlist and no automatic carryover.

Understanding how the quota system works, who it applies to, and what compliance now requires under Romania's overhauled 2026 legal framework is essential for any employer planning to hire non-EU nationals this year.

How the 2026 quota was set

The 90,000 figure for 2026 comes from a government decision adopted in late 2025, following the same annual mechanism Romania has used in recent years: each year the government issues a fresh decision setting the number of new non-EU workers who may be admitted to the domestic labour market. The 2025 quota, by comparison, was fixed at 100,000 workers under a separate decision issued in January of that year.

This quota decision operates alongside Romania's broader legal overhaul for foreign worker access, Government Emergency Ordinance 32/2026, adopted 23 April 2026 and published in the Official Gazette on 27 April 2026. Where the quota decision sets the number, GEO 32/2026 sets the rules: employer registration, placement agency obligations, and the mandatory use of the WorkinRomania.gov.ro digital platform for nearly all new hiring of non-EU nationals.

D/AM1 versus D/AM2: only one counts against the quota

Not every work authorisation in Romania draws down the annual quota. The distinction matters for HR teams planning international hires.

• D/AM1 applies to highly skilled roles requiring higher education or specialised professional qualifications, such as IT specialists, engineers, economists, and managers, filling positions open for at least six months. It also covers staff requested by ministries or central authorities, academic and scientific roles, professional athletes, and Moldovan, Ukrainian, and Serbian nationals working full time. D/AM1 is not subject to the quota and does not require the position to appear on Romania's deficit occupations list.
• D/AM2 applies to permanent, seasonal, and cross-border workers in occupations that do appear on the official deficit occupations list, and every D/AM2 admission counts against the 90,000 cap. As a rule, D/AM2 hiring must go through a licensed placement agency, unless the employer holds authorised employer status.

Both categories start with a 90-day visa, after which the worker must secure a residence permit through the General Inspectorate for Immigration to remain and work legally beyond that window.

What it takes to become an authorised employer

Any company hiring non-EU workers must first register on WorkinRomania.gov.ro, where the National Agency for Employment, working alongside the immigration inspectorate, labour inspection, tax authority, and anti-money-laundering and national security bodies, verifies eligibility. Baseline requirements include a minimum of one year of genuine economic activity in a field compatible with the deficit occupations list, no outstanding tax debt, no labour-law sanctions in the preceding six months, and clean background checks for company management.

Employers that want to bypass placement agencies and file D/AM2 applications directly face a higher bar: at least 24 months of economic activity, an average of 50 employees over the prior year, and a mandatory financial guarantee of 1,000 euros per foreign worker, held as a state treasury deposit or bank guarantee. That guarantee can be drawn on to cover repatriation, accommodation, unpaid fines, or return-procedure costs, and authorities can pursue an additional 2,000 euros per worker in cases requiring removal from Romanian territory. ANOFM is required to issue its registration or authorisation decision within 30 working days.

Bilingual contracts and platform compliance

A ministerial order adopted in May 2026 approved standard templates for the individual employment contract, the tripartite placement contract, and the agency services contract used in foreign worker recruitment. Under GEO 32/2026, these documents must now be drafted in both Romanian and the worker's language of origin, or another language the worker understands, closing a longstanding gap where non-EU hires sometimes signed contracts they could not fully read.

WorkinRomania.gov.ro consolidates the entire process, from employer eligibility checks through visa dossier preparation and residence permit filing, into a single application. The platform explicitly checks compliance with the annual quota as part of that workflow, meaning employers who wait too long in the year to file may find their D/AM2 applications rejected simply because the 90,000-slot ceiling has already been reached, independent of whether their paperwork is otherwise in order.

Compliance risk beyond the quota itself

Non-compliance carries real consequences beyond a rejected application. Employer registration can be suspended for six months if fiscal debts arise, labour-law violations surface, or more than 20 percent of a company's foreign workforce loses legal residence status, freezing new job postings and any procedures already in motion. Repeated or serious violations can result in permanent deregistration. Placement agencies carry their own obligations: if a placed worker's contract ends before their residence permit expires, the agency must locate at least two alternative job offers within 90 days or cover the worker's repatriation costs.

How Nestlers Group supports employers through the quota system

Nestlers Group's Work Permit and Visa Support team tracks quota-sensitive hiring timelines for clients throughout the year, filing D/AM1 and D/AM2 applications through WorkinRomania.gov.ro and advising on realistic submission windows before the annual cap is reached. For companies seeking authorised employer status, our Immigration Advisory team prepares the documentation needed to satisfy ANOFM's economic activity, staffing, and financial guarantee requirements, and liaises directly with ANOFM and IGI throughout the review period. Our Payroll and HR Compliance team then handles the bilingual contract templates now required under the 2026 rules, along with ITM registration and the ongoing filings that keep an employer's non-EU workforce in good standing once permits are granted.

Sources: General Inspectorate for Immigration, official notice on 2025 quota exhaustion, 10 December 2025; Government Emergency Ordinance 32/2026, Official Gazette No. 335, 27 April 2026; Ministry of Labour draft government decision on the 2026 foreign worker quota, published 19 December 2025; WorkinRomania.gov.ro official platform guidance; Ministerial Order 655/2026 on standard foreign worker contract templates, Official Gazette No. 484, 11 June 2026.