Business Liga SRL has been providing high-quality services for acquiring and restoring Moldovan citizenship for over 20 years: business immigration, family reunification, restoration of lost citizenship, re-acquisition of citizenship after renunciation, residence permits in the Republic of Moldova, and other citizenship-related cases.
Business Liga SRL has been providing high-quality services for acquiring and restoring Moldovan citizenship for over 20 years: business immigration, family reunification, restoration of lost citizenship, re-acquisition of citizenship after renunciation, residence permits in the Republic of Moldova, and other citizenship-related cases.
Acquisition Citizenship of Republic of Moldova
Article 10. Grounds for acquiring citizenship
(1) Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova is acquired:
a) by birth;
b) through recognition;
c) through adoption;
d) through restoration of citizenship;
e) through naturalization.
(2) Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova may also be acquired based on grounds stipulated in international treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party.
Article 11. Acquisition of citizenship by birth
(1) A child is considered a citizen of the Republic of Moldova if:
a) both parents or one of them is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova at the time of the child’s birth;
b) born on the territory of the Republic of Moldova to parents who are stateless or enjoy international protection;
c) born on the territory of the Republic of Moldova to parents who are citizens of other states or one of whom is stateless or enjoys international protection, and the other is a foreign citizen, provided that at the time of birth, at least one parent has the right of residence or enjoys international protection granted by the competent authorities of the Republic of Moldova, or is recognized by the competent authorities of the Republic of Moldova as stateless.
(2) A child found on the territory of the Republic of Moldova is considered its citizen until proven otherwise before reaching the age of 18.
(3) The citizenship of a child under paragraph (c) of part (1) is determined by mutual agreement of the parents. If the parents cannot agree, the matter of the child’s citizenship is resolved by the court based on the child’s interests. If the child is 14 years old or older, their notarized consent is required.
Article 12. Acquisition of citizenship through recognition
(1) Persons who have acquired and retained citizenship of the Republic of Moldova under previous laws, as well as those who have acquired citizenship under this law, are recognized as citizens of the Republic of Moldova.
(11) Persons born on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, over the age of 18, who are not registered with the competent authority as citizens of the Republic of Moldova and do not have a document confirming citizenship, are recognized as citizens of the Republic of Moldova, with the date of acquiring citizenship being the date of written consent. If the person disagrees with this date, the competent authority, at their request, determines the date of citizenship acquisition based on documents proving that the person met or meets the conditions provided by the current or previous citizenship laws under which they were declared a citizen of the Republic of Moldova.
(2) Persons who have expressed a desire to become citizens of the Republic of Moldova, namely:
a) persons born abroad with at least one parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent born on the territory of the Republic of Moldova;
b) persons who lived in Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, the Hertsa district, and MASSR before June 28, 1940, and their descendants;
c) persons who were expelled or left the territory of the Republic of Moldova starting June 28, 1940, and their descendants;
d) persons who lawfully and permanently resided on the territory of the Republic of Moldova before June 23, 1990, and continue to reside there today.
(3) Persons mentioned in part (2) of this article cannot be recognized as citizens of the Republic of Moldova if they provide false information or conceal essential facts during the recognition process, which would have led to the rejection of their application, and/or fall under the provisions of paragraphs (a)–(e) of part (1) of article 20.
Article 16. Restoration of citizenship
(1) A person who was previously a citizen of the Republic of Moldova may have their citizenship restored at their request while retaining their foreign citizenship, except in cases provided by paragraphs (a)–(d) of article 20.
(2) A person who was deprived of citizenship of the Republic of Moldova under paragraph (c) of article 23 cannot have their citizenship restored. In other cases provided by article 23, citizenship may only be restored through naturalization after 5 years of lawful and permanent residence in the Republic of Moldova from the date of deprivation of citizenship.
Article 17. Conditions of naturalization
(1) Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova may be granted based on a request from a foreigner or stateless person who lawfully and permanently resides in the Republic of Moldova, knows and respects the provisions of the Constitution, passes a language proficiency test, and has legal sources of income, provided one of the following conditions is met:
a) has resided in the Republic of Moldova for at least the last 10 years. For stateless persons, refugees, and persons with humanitarian and political asylum, the term is 8 years;
b) has resided in the Republic of Moldova for 5 years before turning 18;
c) has been married to a citizen of the Republic of Moldova for at least 3 years and has continuously resided in the Republic of Moldova for the last 3 years;
d) has resided in the Republic of Moldova for the last 3 years with their parents (including adoptive parents) or children (including adopted children) who are citizens of the Republic of Moldova.
(2) The procedure for determining the knowledge of the provisions of the Constitution and the state language proficiency of persons applying for Moldovan citizenship is established by the Government.
(3) The term of lawful and permanent residence of a foreigner in the Republic of Moldova is counted from the date the competent authorities of the Republic of Moldova grant them the right to reside in the country. The date on which the competent authorities issue a document confirming the foreigner’s right to reside in the Republic of Moldova is considered the date of residence authorization and is confirmed by official documents issued by the competent authorities of the Republic of Moldova or data from the State Population Register.
(4) A foreigner’s residence in the Republic of Moldova is considered lawful and permanent if, after the authorization of residence:
a) the foreigner has not emigrated from the Republic of Moldova;
b) their right of residence has not been annulled or revoked, nor has their status as a stateless person or refugee been annulled or terminated;
c) their residence permit has been consistently extended.
(5) If a foreigner changes their legal status during their lawful stay in the Republic of Moldova, the period of residence under their previous status is taken into account when calculating the residence period, provided that it is continuous.
Article 19. Citizenship of children whose parents acquire citizenship of the Republic of Moldova
(1) A child born to foreign citizens or stateless persons who acquire citizenship of the Republic of Moldova acquires citizenship simultaneously with their parents.
(2) If only one of the parents acquires citizenship of the Republic of Moldova, the question of the child’s citizenship is resolved by mutual agreement of the parents. If the parents cannot agree, the court resolves the matter of the child’s citizenship based on their interests, but only if the parents have submitted an application regarding the matter. If the child did not acquire Moldovan citizenship along with one of the parents, they are entitled to acquire it later, before turning 18, on the same basis as their parent.
(3) If the child is 14 years old or older, in cases provided by parts (1) and (2), their notarized consent is required.
Article 20. Grounds for refusal of citizenship or restoration of citizenship
(1) Citizenship of the Republic of Moldova is not granted or restored to persons who:
a) have committed international, military, or crimes against humanity;
b) are involved in terrorist activities;
c) are serving or must serve a prison sentence based on a court ruling during the application review period, have an unexpired criminal record, or are under criminal investigation;
d) are engaged in activities aimed at undermining state security, public order, health, and morals;
e) do not fully meet the conditions for acquiring citizenship of the Republic of Moldova established by this law;
f) provide false information or conceal essential facts during the citizenship acquisition or restoration process.