WorkinRomania Is Mandatory for D/AM1 Workers Too — What Specialists and Managers Need to Know

One of the most common assumptions employers make about WorkinRomania.gov.ro is that it primarily affects the D/AM2 route — the quota-based path for permanent and seasonal workers that draws from Romania's 90,000-slot national allowance. Under that assumption, companies hiring through D/AM1 — the registration-based route for highly skilled workers, specialists, and managers — believe they have less to do on the platform, or that the platform does not fully apply to them.

That assumption is wrong, and it is creating compliance gaps in companies that otherwise manage their immigration processes carefully.

WorkinRomania is mandatory for both hiring routes introduced under Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026. D/AM1 applications — covering highly qualified workers, EU Blue Card equivalents, intra-company transferees seeking the specialist category, and other workers who enter via registration rather than ANOFM authorisation — must be processed through the platform. The specific workflows differ between D/AM1 and D/AM2, but the platform is the required channel for both. Companies that have built their D/AM1 process around the pre-GEO 32/2026 procedure without adapting to the new platform requirements are operating outside the current legal framework.

What D/AM1 Covers and Why the Misconception Exists

The D/AM1 long-stay visa and corresponding single permit apply to a specific set of workers who are hired outside the national quota. The key categories include:

• Highly qualified workers — those employed in roles requiring university-level qualifications, under an individual employment contract of at least six months, at a salary that meets the threshold for the highly qualified worker category
• EU Blue Card holders — non-EU nationals who meet the salary and qualification criteria for Romania's EU Blue Card programme
• ICT (Intra-Company Transfer) workers in the specialist and senior employee categories, transferred from a company established outside the EU
• Workers in certain regulated categories defined by specific legislation

Because D/AM1 workers are not drawn from the quota and do not require ANOFM authorisation in the same form as D/AM2 workers, some employers concluded that the platform is irrelevant to them. The confusion is understandable: the ANOFM authorisation process — the most operationally demanding element of D/AM2 — does not apply in the same way to D/AM1 registration. But the platform itself is not tied to ANOFM authorisation. WorkinRomania is the digital gateway for the entire foreign worker hiring process under GEO 32/2026, regardless of route.

What WorkinRomania Requires for D/AM1 Applications

For D/AM1 hires, the employer must be registered on WorkinRomania and must process the registration notice (avizul de angajare) through the platform. The registration notice is the employer's formal declaration that they are engaging a non-EU worker in the highly qualified or ICT category, and it initiates IGI's assessment of the application.

The employer's account on WorkinRomania must be correctly set up before any application can be submitted. This includes:

• Registration of the company's legal identity on the platform, including CUI (fiscal identification code), CAEN activity codes, and authorised representative details
• Verification that the employer meets the basic eligibility conditions — the company must have been conducting economic activity for at least the period required under GEO 32/2026, and must have no outstanding fiscal obligations or sanctions for undeclared or illegal employment in the preceding six months
• For the specific D/AM1 registration notice, the employer must confirm that the role and the candidate meet the qualifying criteria: the salary threshold, the qualification requirement, and the employment contract duration

The candidate's documentation requirements for D/AM1 are not lighter than for D/AM2 in terms of quality and legalisation standards. Diplomas, professional certifications, and employment records from outside the EU must be translated by a certified Romanian translator and apostilled or legalised according to the country of origin. The job offer must establish, in a verifiable way, that the salary meets the threshold applicable to the highly qualified worker category under Romanian law.

Why the Platform Matters Even When the Route Is Simpler

The core operational point from GEO 32/2026 is that WorkinRomania is not optional infrastructure. It is the required procedural channel. Employers who process D/AM1 hires outside the platform — or who fail to register on the platform before the first application — are not in a legal grey area. They are operating in non-compliance with the post-April 2026 framework, regardless of whether the underlying hire is legitimate.

This matters for several practical reasons.

First, IGI's processing of the registration notice and the subsequent long-stay visa is linked to the platform file. If an employer submits documents to IGI through a channel other than WorkinRomania, the application may not be registered or processed in the expected timeframe.

Second, the platform creates a digital audit trail. The declared information — about the employer, the role, the salary, the candidate — is recorded and visible. Employers who provide inconsistent information between the platform declaration and the physical documents they file with IGI or the ITM create a traceable discrepancy. Digitalization, as the experts who advised on the GEO 32/2026 implementation have noted, makes discrepancies more visible, not less.

Third, the employer eligibility conditions — the no-sanctions clause, the fiscal obligations check, the activity duration requirement — apply to D/AM1 as well as D/AM2. An employer who does not verify their own eligibility before attempting a D/AM1 registration notice may find the application refused on grounds that have nothing to do with the candidate.

Preparing the Company Before the First D/AM1 Application

The preparation that companies need to undertake before their first WorkinRomania application is the same regardless of whether they are hiring through D/AM1 or D/AM2. The legal route determines which workflow is followed inside the platform. The pre-application preparation is common to both.

That preparation involves:

• Confirming the correct legal route based on the candidate's profile and the role — D/AM1 registration or D/AM2 authorisation — before any steps are taken on the platform
• Verifying that the company's registration on WorkinRomania is complete and that the authorised representative's details are current
• Checking that the company meets all the employer eligibility conditions as of the date of application
• Preparing the candidate's full document package — passport, diplomas, professional certifications, employment records — with certified translations and correct apostille or legalisation, before the application is opened on the platform
• Ensuring that the employment contract and job offer are consistent with the salary threshold and qualification requirements applicable to the D/AM1 category
• Understanding the timeline: the registration notice processing, the long-stay visa application at the Romanian consulate in the candidate's country, and the single permit extension after entry

The first application should not be the moment a company learns how the platform works. That learning should happen in advance, and the first file should open with all documents already prepared, all eligibility conditions already verified, and the workflow already understood.

How Nestlers Group Supports D/AM1 Hiring Through WorkinRomania

Nestlers Group's Work Permit and Visa Support team manages D/AM1 applications through WorkinRomania from employer registration through to single permit collection. This includes confirming that the candidate and role meet the D/AM1 qualifying criteria before any platform steps are taken, preparing the registration notice and supporting documentation, and managing the timeline between the WorkinRomania file, the long-stay visa application, and the subsequent IGI residence permit process.

For companies that are new to the post-GEO 32/2026 framework or that are encountering WorkinRomania for the first time with a D/AM1 hire, our Immigration Advisory team provides a structured readiness assessment before the first application — covering employer eligibility, platform registration, and document preparation — so that the first file has the best possible chance of first-time approval.

Sources: Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026, Official Gazette No. 335, 27 April 2026; WorkinRomania.gov.ro platform documentation and employer guidance; IGI General Inspectorate for Immigration — Employment and Posting procedures; IGI — Highly Qualified Workers work permit documentation; Ministry of Labour Order No. 655/2026 on standard employment contract templates for non-EU workers