More than 3,700 Moldovans subscribed to the public petition addressed to the Romanian authorities with the request to ensure access to consular services in a normal regime. The petition was initiated by the Moldovan company JustConsult, which provides legal assistance in obtaining Romanian documents. The petition was launched on December 1, 2021, being primarily addressed to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania. Until January 3, the document was signed by 2,268 persons online. Another 1,460 people signed it in person at the office of JustConsult, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the company.
The signatories ask to restore the normal work program at the Consular Offices of Romania in Chisinau, Bălți and Cahul given that owing to the current blockage, those who regained the Romanian nationality cannot take an oath of allegiance, the legal time limits being two or even three times exceeded.
Over 70,000 Moldovans who regained the Romanian nationality by order of the National Citizenship Authority of Romania have waited for a year to have appointments at Romania’s Consular Offices in the Republic of Moldova scheduled because the online appointment making and application examination system works with difficulty.
Following the declaring of a state of emergency, Romania’s Consular Offices didn’t work between from March 16, 2020 and July 27, 2020. The signatories demand to restore the reasonable timeframes for providing consular services on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, similar to those offered until March 16, 2020.
The petition authors are also dissatisfied with the significant delays in the scheduling of appointments for other consular services, related to civil status and identification documents, which is a limitation of rights. “For applying for an ordinary electronic passport for adult Romanian citizens with the domicile abroad, depending on the Consular Office, an appointment can be scheduled during a period of four to nine months,” runs the press release.
The petition authors suggests implementing the mixt regime of scheduling appointments for consular services, increasing the number of competent employees of the Consular Office so as to accept applications to make appointments and to also serve citizens who come to the Office in person, hastening the opening of the new Consulate General of Romania in the municipality of Chisinau, as the President of Romania announced, and allowing Moldovan citizens to take an oath of allegiance at the National Citizenship Authority’s offices in Galati, Iasi and Suceava.
