Common Mistakes Employers Make Filing Work Permits on WorkinRomania.gov.ro

Since Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 consolidated Romania's non-EU hiring process onto a single digital platform, WorkinRomania.gov.ro, employers have gained a more transparent way to track applications from registration to permit collection. What the platform has not done is make the underlying procedure simpler. A single online submission now sits on top of several separate institutional approvals, each with its own documents, timeline, and legal basis, and a missed step in any one of them can stall a hire for weeks.

For HR teams used to the previous paper-based process, or for employers hiring a non-EU worker for the first time, this is where most delays originate. The mistakes are rarely dramatic: an incomplete authorisation file, a contract template that does not match the required bilingual format under Order 655/2026, a quota assumption that turns out to be wrong. Individually minor, collectively they are the most common reason an application that should take weeks stretches into months.

Ionut Cirdei, Head of Immigration Unit at Nestlers Group (linkedin.com/in/ionut-cirdei-70b50415), has been tracking how employers are adapting to the new system since it went live. In recent video commentary, he pointed to the coordination problem at the centre of it: "One of the real challenges will be managing a procedure that now involves multiple institutions, deadlines, and responsibilities at once."

One Platform, Several Institutions

WorkinRomania.gov.ro is the single point of submission, but it is not the single decision-maker. Behind the interface, at least three separate bodies still have a role in whether and how quickly a non-EU worker gets authorised to work in Romania.

• The General Inspectorate for Immigration reviews the residence and work authorisation side of the file and issues the long-stay visa endorsement and residence permit.
• The National Agency for Employment handles employer authorisation for D/AM2 permits, verification against the national quota, and shortage-occupation status.
• The Territorial Labour Inspectorate registers the employment contract and receives the notifications employers must make once the worker is hired, including posted worker declarations where relevant.

Each institution works from the same case, but not always the same calendar. An employer who assumes that submitting on WorkinRomania.gov.ro triggers a single, linear review is usually surprised to find that ANOFM authorisation, IGI processing, and ITM contract registration run on different schedules, with different document sets and different points of contact if something is missing.

Why This Matters More Under GEO 32/2026

Before GEO 32/2026, the practical effect of this fragmentation was often absorbed by experienced local counsel who knew which office to call. The ordinance formalised the process and moved it online, a genuine improvement in transparency, but it did not remove the institutional handoffs. It made them visible. Employers now see, in real time, that a file can be complete from their side and still be waiting on a separate agency's internal queue.

The Mistakes That Cause the Most Delay

Most filing problems on WorkinRomania.gov.ro fall into a short list of recurring categories.

Treating D/AM1 and D/AM2 as Interchangeable

D/AM1, for highly skilled workers, is a registration-based route not constrained by the national quota. D/AM2, covering permanent, seasonal, and cross-border roles, requires full ANOFM employer authorisation and draws against the 90,000-place national quota. Employers sometimes file under the wrong category because a role looks similar to one filed previously, without checking whether the position and salary level meet the D/AM1 criteria. The fix usually means resubmitting under the right pathway, losing whatever time had already passed.

Missing the Employer Authorisation Prerequisites

D/AM2 authorisation requires the employer to show at least 24 months of economic activity, an average of 50 employees in the prior year, and a financial guarantee of EUR 1,000 per worker. Employers who file before confirming these thresholds, or who submit outdated financial statements, get the file returned rather than approved, restarting the ANOFM review clock.

Contract Templates That Don't Match Order 655/2026

Order 655/2026 requires bilingual employment contract templates for non-EU workers. A contract in the employer's usual format, even if legally sound, can be rejected at ITM registration if it doesn't follow the mandated bilingual structure. This is one of the simplest fixes to get right in advance and one of the most common to overlook under deadline pressure.

Underestimating How Long Each Stage Actually Takes

Employers frequently build hiring timelines around the platform's headline processing estimate rather than the realistic combined timeline across ANOFM authorisation, IGI visa processing, and ITM registration. When one stage runs longer than expected, with no buffer built in, the whole hiring plan for that worker slips.

The Risk of Informal or Outdated Advice

Because the platform and the ordinance are both relatively new, practical guidance about WorkinRomania.gov.ro is circulating informally, through HR networks, forums, and word of mouth from employers who went through the process once. Cirdei flagged this as a distinct risk, separate from the institutional coordination problem: "An additional risk comes from information picked up in online groups, forums, or from people without professional training. A solution that worked in one particular case doesn't automatically become a general rule — incomplete or outdated information can lead to the wrong documents, missed procedural steps, and costly delays."

The pattern he describes is familiar in immigration work generally, but it is sharper here because the legal framework is new enough that even accurate advice from a few months ago may already be superseded. A document checklist that worked for one company's D/AM1 application does not automatically apply to a different role, sector, or employer authorisation status. Employers who rely on a peer's experience rather than a current review of their own file are the ones most likely to submit the wrong documents or miss a step specific to their case.

Building a Realistic Filing Timeline

Employers who move through WorkinRomania.gov.ro without major delay tend to do the same few things before submitting.

• Confirm the correct permit category, D/AM1 or D/AM2, based on the role and salary level, not precedent from a previous hire.
• Verify ANOFM authorisation prerequisites before the file is submitted, not as a rejection reason afterward.
• Prepare bilingual contract documentation in the Order 655/2026 format from the outset.
• Map the realistic combined timeline across ANOFM, IGI, and ITM rather than a single platform estimate.
• Treat each hire as its own case rather than assuming a previous approval sets the template for the next.

How Nestlers Group Supports Non-EU Work Permit Filings

Nestlers Group's Work Permit and Visa Support team manages D/AM1 and D/AM2 applications through WorkinRomania.gov.ro end to end, from registration and ANOFM employer authorisation through IGI processing and permit collection, coordinating the separate institutional timelines so employers are not left tracking three agencies on their own. The Immigration Advisory team reviews each case individually before submission, confirming permit category, authorisation eligibility, and documentation against the current version of GEO 32/2026 rather than precedent from an earlier filing.

Our Payroll and HR Compliance team prepares bilingual contract documentation in line with Order 655/2026 and handles the ITM registration and notification obligations that follow a successful permit approval, keeping the contract and payroll side of the hire aligned with the immigration file. For employers weighing whether a hire fits the D/AM1 or D/AM2 route, or whether their organisation meets ANOFM's authorisation thresholds, that upfront review is often what separates a routine filing from a stalled one.

Sources: Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 on the access of foreign workers to the Romanian labour market; Order 655/2026 on bilingual employment contract templates; WorkinRomania.gov.ro platform guidance; General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) procedures; National Agency for Employment (ANOFM) quota and authorisation requirements; Ionut Cirdei, Head of Immigration Unit, Nestlers Group, video commentary 2026.