Archival records for Romanian citizenship by descent Expert Assessment, Tracing & Obtaining Legal Documents in Ukraine

You may regain/recover/restore Romanian citizenship regardless of whether your ancestors lost their rights voluntarily or involuntarily. The Romanian Citizenship Law No. 21/1991↗ outlines two distinct pathways to reclaim citizenship by descent:

• Article 10: if your ancestors voluntarily renounced their Romanian citizenship, for instance, by emigration to North or South America and adopting a new nationality
• Article 11: if your ancestors involuntarily lost their Romanian citizenship, for instance, due to territorial annexations (such as the residents of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in 1940 and 1944) or became displaced persons following World War II.

Whether your ancestors voluntarily relinquished their Romanian citizenship or lost it due to historical circumstances, you retain the legal right to apply for it.

The nature of your ancestor’s citizenship loss—voluntary or involuntary—dictates exactly which generations qualify to restore their Romanian citizenship.

According to Article 10(1) of the Law No. 21/1991 on Romanian Citizenship↗, descendants up to the second degree, i.e., grandparents, may restore the citizenship of their ancestors. This means you are eligible to restore your Romanian citizenship if the former citizen was your direct relative listed below:

• any of your parents
• any of your grandparents

Under Article 11(1) of the Law No. 21/1991 on Romanian Citizenship↗, the right to restore citizenship extends to descendants up to the third degree, i.e., great-grandparents. This means you are fully eligible to restore your Romanian citizenship if the former citizen is one of the direct relatives listed below:

• any of your parents
• any of your grandparents
• any of your great-grandparents

Below are links to the Law of Return, including amendments, hosted on various repositories:

• Full current version of the Law No. 21/1991 on Romanian Citizenship modified by Law No. 14/2025 [in English] (on the Refworld UNHCR website)↗
• Full current version of the Legea nr. 21/1991 a Cetăţeniei Române with changes Legea nr. 14/2025 [in Romanian] (on the Autorității Naționale pentru Cetățenie / National Authority for Citizenship website)↗
• List of documents required for a citizenship application according to the Order of the ANC President No. 85/2025 from April 11, 2025 [in Romanian, Ordinul Președintelui ANC nr. 85 din 11 aprilie 2025] (on the National Legislative Portal of Romania)↗

According to the List of required documents, Articles 10, 11 and 16 of the Law on Romanian Citizenship, and procedures of the National Authority for Citizenship (ANC), the goal of documenting former citizenship of your ancestors include the following steps:

• extracts from the civil status records (like birth, marriage, divorce, death records) of all persons in the direct line to a former citizen, issued by the competent civil registry offices
• supported by archival certificates with certified copies of those civil status records (where applicable)
• in addition, depending on case, ANC officials could ask for documents proving Romanian citizenship of ancestors, like passports, military documents, voters lists etc.

My professional expertise focuses on ancestors from Northern Bukovina, the Hertsa region, and the Ukrainian parts of Bessarabia—specifically the territories of Greater Romania (România Mare) that are now within Ukraine.

You may find a precise interactive map of interwar Romania (1918—1940) within contemporary borders below, and it is also available through an external link.

Precise Interactive Map of Greater Romania 1918—1940

Original extracts of birth, adoption, marriage, divorce, death, name changes for every individual in the direct lineage connecting from you to the former Romanian citizen are required. These documents (legally designated as “Extras original de pe actul de stare civilă”) are absolutely essential for your citizenship application and serve as the main proof of your ancestor’s Romanian citizenship (e.g., during the 1918–1940 period). Each document must include an apostille and be issued within the two years prior to the application submission.

In response to specific cases of authenticity concerns, the ANC increasingly incorporates the verification of submitted civil status extracts against certified copies of the original vital records into its procedural framework. Historical civil status registers—spanning the pre-1918, 1918–1940, and post-1940 eras—are primary for obtaining those civil status extracts and must be traced and obtained first. All certificates and legal copies must bear a valid apostille and carry an issuance date within two years prior to the formal submission of the citizenship application.

The primary objective of such documentation is to strengthen the evidentiary foundation or, under specific circumstances, provide legally acceptable substitutions for absent vital records. This category includes citizenship option records, residential registers, passport applications, voter lists, census records, military service records, property files etc. Mandatory requirements dictate that these archival documents bear an apostille and should be issued within two years prior to the application submission.

Below are several specimens of official legal documentation proving ancestors’ former citizenship. These cover the types mentioned above and establish eligibility for acquiring Romanian citizenship.