Romania's OUG 32/2026 and the new access rules for foreign workers

OUG 32/2026 rewrites how a Romanian employer brings in workers from third countries. The ordinance took effect on 27 April 2026 and became fully operational on 8 August 2026. It splits the route into D/AM1 and D/AM2, requires the employer to register electronically, and raises fines to 30,000 lei.

The calendar that decides which rules apply

The dates matter more than the drafting, because files lodged before and after them follow different rules. OUG 32/2026 was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force on 27 April 2026, per the consolidated text on legislatie.just.ro. The 7th of August 2026 was the last day on which the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) accepted employment authorisation applications under the old procedure. From 8 August 2026 the new mechanism applies in full, electronic filing included.

For workers who already held an authorisation but had not obtained a valid D/AM visa, the ordinance provides a transitional regime running to 31 December 2026. After that date any remaining file moves onto the new rules with no exception. Employers holding authorisations issued in spring 2026, with workers still in the country of origin, carry the most exposure: 31 December 2026 is a calendar limit, not a margin to negotiate with IGI.

Secondary legislation, meaning the platform architecture, the methodology and the forms, was set by the ordinance at 30 days from entry into force, that is 27 May 2026. An employer planning a winter mobilisation should count backwards from the date the worker is needed on site and add the 30 days IGI takes to issue the authorisation, plus up to 15 further days when additional checks are required.

D/AM1 and D/AM2: two routes, two sets of conditions

The substantive change is the split of the access route in two. The D/AM1 route lets the employer file directly, without the shortage occupation list conditioning the application. The D/AM2 route covers permanent, seasonal and cross-border workers and requires either a licensed placement agency or authorised employer status.

The difference shows up in cost and time rather than in paperwork. An employer with trading history and volume can run D/AM1 on its own file. A smaller firm hiring from Nepal or India for the first time lands on D/AM2 and pays for the intermediary.

The quota sits above both routes. For 2026 it is 90,000 newly admitted foreign workers, set by Government Decision 1169/2025 and in force since 31 December 2025. How that ceiling is consumed in practice is covered in the 2026 quota, and the mechanics of the authorisation itself in the employment authorisation procedure.

The shortage occupation list is updated twice a year by order of the Minister of Labour, and the 2026 draft runs to 236 occupations. Because the list moves every six months, a classification that held in March may not hold in October. Checking the list on the filing date rather than on the internal recruitment decision date is covered in the shortage occupation guide.

Penalties, and why they reach past the fine

Articles 42 and 43 of OUG 32/2026 set administrative fines of 5,000 to 30,000 lei. That figure is the visible part. The expensive part is the tightening of the sanctions at article 134 of OUG 194/2002, which includes loss of public subsidies and European Union funding for up to 5 years.

For a construction or food processing employer running co-financed projects, one established breach can push the company out of eligibility across several budget years. That is the real proportion of the risk: the fine is paid once, the exclusion is felt for years.

The failure mode seen most often in summer 2026 was not undeclared work but a calendar error. Employers assumed that an authorisation obtained in June 2026 was enough, left the worker without a D/AM visa application before the transitional deadline, and had to restart the file under the new rules, with platform registration and rebuilt documentation. The cost was not a fine but roughly two lost months and an unfilled position in a full season. The working rule is plain: count the deadlines backwards from the visa, not forwards from the authorisation.

OUG 32/2026 does not close access to third country labour, but it moves the administrative burden onto the employer and onto the platform. Firms that put their trading history, tax arrears and sanction record in order before the first application pass through the procedure without refiling. Those that discover the conditions at the counter lose the season. For an assessment on a specific corridor, see the employers page.