The following information was provided to the Research Directorate by the Minister Counselor of the Embassy of Romania in Ottawa in correspondence dated 26 February 2007:

The internal passport is still issued and has not been replaced by [the] national identity card. According to the new Romanian Law no. 248 of July 20, 2005, regarding the free travel regime of Romanian citizens abroad as approved by Romanian Parliament and amended by Government Urgent Ordinance no.5/January 26, 2006 and by Government Urgent Ordinance no. 96/November 29, 2006, the documents' categories of Romanian citizens to travel abroad are: diplomatic passport, official passport, ordinary passport, temporary passport and travel document. The above-mentioned documents are the property of [the] Romanian State and prove, before the Romanian and foreign authorities, the identity, citizenship, position as well as the right of bearers to travel abroad. The Romanian citizens also have the right to travel abroad with other documents establish[ed] by bilateral and international agreement[s] [of] which Romania is [a] party. As the result of [Romania's] accession ... to [the] European Union [EU], beginning [on] the first [of] January 2007, Romanian citizens have the right to travel within the EU states with the identity card too; the last version of identity card, introduced by Romanian government in April 1997, has remained unchanged.

The passport is available at any age. The validity of the passport is the following: 3 years for the children under age of 14 years; 5 years for the persons with the age between 14-25 years; 10 years for the person of age over 25 years. The children can be included in the passports of their parents or in one of the parent's passport[s].

The necessary documents for getting a new Romanian passport are:

-three photos;

-the birth certificate;

-the marriage certificate (for married persons), the Romanian divorce documents (for ... divorced persons) or the death certificate of the spouse (for ... widows) - a Canadian divorce decision must be recognized by [a] Romanian Juridical Court from the last [place of] residence in Romania of [a] Romanian citizen;

-the entire civil status document must be issued by Romania or transcribed into [the] Romanian civil status database;

-the document proving the current residence (ID for the Romanians residing in Romania, Canadian Resident Card or Canadian Passport or Canadian Citizen Card for the Romanian[s] residing in Canada). The name (last name and first name) must be the same in all the mentioned documents. Romanian passport[s] can be renewed through [a] Romanian diplomatic mission and consular office if the applicant (a Romanian citizen) has the permanent residence in Canada (landed immigrant or Canadian citizenship).

The Romanian law stipulate[s] that the Romanian citizens both being temporarily abroad (not those having the permanent residence abroad) and those being with residence permanent abroad, could obtain the Romanian passport through a power of attorney authenticated only by [a] Romanian diplomatic mission/consular office or by [a] Romanian notary public. The photographs should [be] certified and the copies of the above-mentioned documents should [be] legalized by the same institution.

Romanian diplomatic mission[s] and consular offices are able to issue a travel document for every Romanian citizen who [does] not [have] a valid document to enter Romania in order to get the new Romanian passport.

The following information was provided to the Research Directorate by a representative at the Passports General Directorate of the Ministry of Administration and Interior of Romania in correspondence dated 22 February 2007:

As from the date of January 1st 2007, according to the provisions of the Law no. 248/2005 pertaining to the regime of the Romanian citizens' free traveling abroad, as further amended and completed, the travels in EU Member States can also be made on basis of the identity card. Thus, the art[icle] 6 of the above-mentioned enactment provides that the travel documents for Romanian citizens are: the diplomatic passport, the service passport, the simple passport, the consular title and, as the case may be, the identity card. These documents are [the] property of the Romanian state and they stand as proof, in front of the national and foreign authorities, of the holder's identity, citizenship, quality and right to travel abroad.

Under the provisions of the art[icle] 17 par[agraph] (1) of the Law no. 248/2005 pertaining to the regime of the Romanian citizens' free traveling abroad, as further amended and completed, ... passports are issued [to underage Romanian citizens with] the following conditions: a) In case of the child under 14, only upon the request and with the approval of both parents, of the survivor parent (in case the other one is deceased), of the parent who has the full custody of the child proved with the final Court award or, as the case may be, of the child's legal representative; b) In case of the child between 14 and 18, upon the request of the child and only with the approval of both parents, of the survivor parent (in case the other one is deceased), of the parent who has the full custody of the child proved with the final Court award or, as the case may be, of the child's legal representative. Under the provisions of the art[icle] 17 par[agraph] (2) of the above-mentioned enactment, underage Romanian citizens who are not 14 can be included in the passports of both their parents or, as the case may be, in the passport of one parent, as provided by the par[agraph] (1) letter a. In case the child is holder of a passport, upon the request of the parent, such document can be canceled [at] the same time [that the child is included] in the concerned parent's passport.

Under the provisions of the art[icle] 5 of the Law no. 248/2005 pertaining to the regime of the Romanian citizens' free traveling abroad, the applications for passports are filed by the applicants in person and they must be joined by the following documents:

a) The valid identity card or temporary identity card, original and one copy. The temporary identity card can be accepted only if accompanied by the birth certificate, in original and one copy;

b) The proof of passport fees payment as well as, when necessary, the supplementary payment for obtaining the passport in emergency regime;

c) The previous passport, when such document exists.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Romania. 26 February 2007. Embassy of Romania, Ottawa. Correspondence from the Minister Counselor.

_____. 22 February 2007. Passports General Directorate of the Ministry of Administration and Interior. Correspondence from a representative.

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Attempts to contact the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity were unsuccessful.

Publications: Travel Information Manual.

Internet sites, including: Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania - the Helsinki Committee, Embassy of Romania in Ottawa, Embassy of Romania in Washington, Factiva, Government of Romania, International Organization for Migration, Keesing Document Checker, National Press Agency ROMPRES.