WorkinRomania.gov.ro Is Fully Live: What the New Digital Hiring Protocols Actually Mean for Employers

On 6 August 2026, Romania's Ministry of Interior confirmed that WorkinRomania.gov.ro, the electronic platform mandated under GEO No. 32/2026, is fully operational. Every non-EU hire in Romania now routes through this single digital system, from employer registration to visa application to authorisation issuance. For HR teams that spent the past several months preparing for this transition, the platform's launch might look like the finish line. It is closer to a new starting point.

The instinct to read "digital platform" as "simpler process" is understandable, but it is not accurate. WorkinRomania.gov.ro replaces paper files and scattered institutional handoffs with a centralised electronic record. That is a genuine improvement in transparency and traceability. It does not reduce what employers are legally required to know, prepare, and submit correctly. If anything, a fully digital system exposes errors faster and more visibly than the paper process it replaced.

Ionut Cirdei, Head of Immigration Unit at Nestlers Group (linkedin.com/in/ionut-cirdei-70b50415), addressed this directly in recent commentary on the platform's rollout. As he puts it: "The operationalization of the WorkinRomania platform is an important step toward digitalizing and adding transparency to the process for foreign workers in Romania. But the platform doesn't automatically simplify the whole process — it shifts part of the responsibility onto data quality, documentation, and compliance."

What Actually Changed With Full Operationalization

Since 27 April 2026, when GEO 32/2026 was published in Official Gazette No. 335, employers have known the destination: a unified platform integrating the General Inspectorate for Immigration, the National Agency for Employment (ANOFM), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and tax administration into one workflow. What changed on 6 August is that the technical and operational infrastructure supporting this integration went live.

In practice, this means:

• Employers and placement agencies now register and, where required, obtain authorisation through a centralised module rather than submitting separate applications to separate institutions.
• Both employers and applicants can access their electronic case files at any time and track application status in real time, rather than waiting on written correspondence.
• The platform issues automatic notifications when additional documents or clarifications are needed, replacing informal or delayed communication from case officers.
• Support is available through a multilingual chat service, intended to help employers and agencies navigate submissions directly.

These are administrative improvements. They do not change who is eligible for a D/AM1 or D/AM2 permit, what documentation is required, or what penalties apply for non-compliant filings. The underlying legal framework set out in GEO 32/2026 is unchanged; only the delivery mechanism is new.

D/AM1 and D/AM2: The Distinction Still Matters

GEO 32/2026 replaced Romania's former employment and secondment permit system, repealing Government Ordinance No. 25/2014, and introduced two visa categories that now govern almost all non-EU hiring.

The D/AM1 visa applies to highly skilled workers and related special categories. Employers hiring under D/AM1 register the position through WorkinRomania.gov.ro; this category is not subject to the national quota.

The D/AM2 visa applies to permanent, seasonal, and cross-border workers, typically in occupations facing documented shortages. D/AM2 hiring is quota-constrained, and employers who want to sponsor workers directly, without going through an authorised placement agency, must first obtain their own authorisation. That authorisation is not automatic. It requires at least 24 months of prior economic activity, an average of 50 employees over the preceding year, and a financial guarantee of EUR 1,000 per foreign worker.

Nothing about the platform going live changes these thresholds. An employer that does not meet the authorisation criteria for D/AM2 still cannot self-sponsor; they still need to work through an authorised agency. The platform simply digitises the submission and tracking of applications built on this same eligibility structure.

Where the New Responsibility Actually Lands

A fully digital system is only as reliable as the data entered into it. Because WorkinRomania.gov.ro consolidates records across immigration, employment, and tax institutions, inconsistencies that might once have been caught and quietly corrected by a case officer now surface as flagged discrepancies across a shared file. A mismatched job title, an expired supporting document, or a contract that has not been updated to reflect the bilingual requirement under GEO 32/2026 is more likely to be visible, and more likely to delay or block an application, than it was under the previous paper-based process.

This is the shift Cirdei points to when he describes compliance as something that has to be designed into the hiring process from the outset. "In this new framework, compliance has to be built in from the start, not addressed only when the application is filed," he said. "Employers and agencies need to make sure the information they declare is correct, current, and backed by compliant documents."

That includes the bilingual employment contract requirement introduced under GEO 32/2026, which mandates that contracts for non-EU workers be issued in both Romanian and the worker's native language; a Romanian-only contract now carries an administrative fine of RON 6,000. It also includes keeping registration and authorisation status current on the platform itself, since an employer's electronic profile, not a paper file sitting in a regional office, is now the authoritative record institutions rely on.

What This Means for HR Teams Right Now

For employers already active in the Romanian labour market, the practical task is less about learning a new system and more about auditing what feeds into it. That means reviewing whether existing employer registrations or D/AM2 authorisations are current, whether contract templates meet the bilingual requirement, and whether the documentation supporting each open or upcoming application is complete before it is submitted electronically. A digital platform does not forgive an incomplete file; it simply makes the gap easier to spot.

For employers approaching non-EU hiring for the first time, the sequence has not changed even though the interface has: confirm which visa category applies, confirm eligibility and, for D/AM2, authorisation status, assemble compliant documentation, and only then submit through WorkinRomania.gov.ro. Treating the platform as a shortcut past any of these steps is the most common way employers run into avoidable delays.

Nestlers Group's Work Permit and Visa Support team manages D/AM1 and D/AM2 applications through WorkinRomania.gov.ro from initial employer registration through to permit collection, including the authorisation process required for direct D/AM2 sponsorship. Our Immigration Advisory team reviews documentation and contract templates against GEO 32/2026 requirements before submission, reducing the risk of the flagged discrepancies that now surface more visibly on a fully digital file. Our Payroll and HR Compliance team handles the bilingual contract registration and statutory notifications that accompany each new non-EU hire, ensuring the records employers hold match what the platform expects to see.

Sources: GEO No. 32/2026, Official Gazette No. 335, 27 April 2026; WorkinRomania.gov.ro platform announcement, Ministry of Interior, 6 August 2026; PwC Romania legal alert on GEO No. 32/2026; Romania Insider coverage of the WorkinRomania platform launch, August 2026