Foreign students will have the right to work longer in Moldova under temporary residence permit for studies. The provisions are contained in a bill, approved by Parliament in the first reading, which will allow citizens from EU countries, and also from other states, to work in Moldova without a work permit.
Dumitru Alaiba, Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization, stated that there are over 5,000 foreign students in Moldova who, under the current legislation, are only allowed to work 10 hours a week. The amendment increases the limit to 30 hours per week or 1 565 hours per year.
In addition to the 18 categories of foreign citizens who can work in Moldova without a residence permit, this will also be possible for all citizens of the 27 EU member states. Also for citizens of Albania, United States of America, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Switzerland, Georgia, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Iceland, Israel, Japan, South Korea and Liechtenstein.
The bill is yet to be adopted in the final reading to become a law.
According to the National Agency for Employment, in 2022 about 65% of companies in the private sector suffered from workforce shortage.
