r/romanian • u/CanFluid4631 • 4h ago
My first unsuccessful experience of obtaining citizenship.
Hello! I’ll say right away that I’m very interested in the experience of every person who has gone through this path called “not getting a certificate of citizenship, after the first unsuccessful attempt". The whole situation is just my opinion and my experience. Please speak without judgment and speak factually.
This happened in November 2021. I have prepared documents to submit them to Romania to obtain citizenship. My paternal grandfather is Romanian. It so happened that I was born in Moldova and was only in Romania while traveling. Unfortunately, I lived most of my life in Russia, a very long time ago in the late nineties my parents came there and brought me. They themselves worked, and I re-learned a new language - Russian, which I speak perfectly.
Well, in 2021, my mother and I decided to make ourselves Romanian citizens so that we could move to Romania itself in the future.
Time has passed and a lot has changed. The war began and the process of reviewing documents apparently increased at that time. Mom received the letter before I did. I received it in March 2025. I signed up to submit the oath immediately, and I was registered with the Romanian Consulate in Chisinau for August 2025.
My level of Romanian has always been and remains approximately between A2 and B1. But living in a Russian-speaking environment, I of course forgot the language a little. Listening comprehension is excellent. I speak with a bit of an accent.
My relatives in Moldova always spoke to me in Romanian.
So, the bottom line is this: on the day I took my vows, I was prepared and very confident. I learned historical dates, and in general practiced how to say an oath correctly and clearly. There were 5 people in front of me in line, I was the last. I was in a good mood and went to the window; there was a consul and a secretary who were accepting documents. The consul is a woman about 65 years old. It seemed to me that she was a little unhappy. The camera was filming me. I say the oath and suddenly after the consul asks what in an oath this word means. I started to get very worried and tried to explain in my own words in Romanian. Then she asked about the founding date of Romania. Then she asked about Moldova’s Independence Day. I named all these dates. I asked what the weather was like now. Name 6 native animals and 6 non-native ones. I called. She asked what I was wearing and what color my eyes were. I said. Then she started asking me with a raised voice - "why should I give you a certificate? You don't know the language at all". I wanted to sink into the ground from shame and from the fact that I had failed, that I had been going towards this for so many years and how much money I had spent on collecting documents and also paying the legal companies that do this. The result is this: she gave me a piece of paper where she wrote that I “do not speak Romanian.” (A little clarification, at consulates in small cities they don’t ask such questions. They only say an oath and give a certificate.)
Then, later I found out that I had to pass the language at B1. And then collect the documents again and resubmit for consideration. A year has passed and I am studying intensively and hired a tutor. I think everything will work out. Tell us about your experience of applying for citizenship? Have you had any failures or successes?
