RECENT CHANGES TO THE RULES GOVERNING THE LEGAL STATUS OF FOREIGN NATIONALS IN ROMANIA

Abstract

The past decade has seen an unprecedented surge in the number of people leaving their home countries in search of economic prosperity, freedom, happiness etc., and settling – permanently or temporarily – on the territory of another state. The rights and obligations of these foreign nationals (or “third-country nationals” in EU legal jargon) define their legal status and constitute – in the case of European Union – a matter that concerns both the Union and its member states. The present article endeavors a brief analysis of the recent changes to the main statutory instruments governing the legal status of foreign nationals in Romania, introduced mainly due to necessity of implementing various EU regulations into domestic law. The analysis will not be limited to a strictly legalistic approach, recent national and international political and economic trends will also be taken into consideration to better explain law in context.

Keywords

• third-country nationals (TCN)
• rights and obligations
• long-term resident status
• immigration
• EU Directive