Brit trying to register as self-support + open a bank account in Cluj

Hello mate.

The banks seems to be misinformed. Have you tried ING or Raiffeisen?You should be able to open an account in any branch - I did that, before I even got my residency permit. If all fails, then why dont you apply for a residency permit, as its quite a simple procedure for EU citizens. You need to go to the Dept of Immigration @ Cluj and put in an application for a residency card. You will need the following:

1) application for residency completed;
2) passport  or your British ID (Original & Copy);
3) your rental contract (original & copy);
4) evidence of Romanian state health insurance; (the trickiest part to get)
5) evidence of the means of support (Sometimes they dont really check, but it would be good to show some funds in your bank account, and also state how you plan to sustain yourself in future);
6) A medical certificate issued by a public or private medical institution proving there is no disease endangering public health (this is quite easy and you can get it from any local medical clinic and it should not cost you more than 50 Rons / 12 Euro)
7) Photographs.

I am a naturalized Brit, and went through the exact same procedure. But it was the company I work for, who did all the running to get this done. If you don't have the time or patience to do this, then I suggest you give it one of many folks who handle these residency permit matters - it may set you back by maybe 200 Euros or so.

CJ ain't shabby one bit, you will like it there.

Cheers and good luck.

They're talking complete BS. I also got my certificate of registration as 'self support' and just opened a bank account with a passport. I remember someone else came on here some time ago experiencing the same problem as you and I looked through the regulations of several banks - all of them stated that EU citizens could open account with either an EU state ID or a passport. It was just a case of bank clerk knowing diddly about their jobs. Just bypass the clerk and ask to speak to the bank manager or someone higher up - they should know the rules better. The person who asked before did this and got it sorted out in the end.

Also, you don't need to prove you have 25 Euro per month, just that you currently have 25 Euro. Once you get your account open, just put the cash in and ask for an 'extras de cont'. I also needed to prove I had medical cover, as not having a Romanian employer at that time, I wasn't covered by the state system. I just took out private cover for about 20 Euro for one month (it only has to be valid for the month you're making the application in) and that was fine.

Good luck

Hello. All things Romanian are complicated. I am retired from the US and you need your marriage certificate apostiled in the US in order to get a temporary permit to stay in Romania. You can not get a bank account without the id card. My wife is Romanian and we married in the usa. I had all my document apostiled in the us. This is a difficult process...must be apostiled in the state you were married and the state you were born in. Call the American embassy in buchurest ...they can give you the best info. I only had to show I made at least 1500 lei.




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duklip wrote:

Hello. All things Romanian are complicated. I am retired from the US and you need your marriage certificate apostiled in the US in order to get a temporary permit to stay in Romania. You can not get a bank account without the id card. My wife is Romanian and we married in the usa. I had all my document apostiled in the us. This is a difficult process...must be apostiled in the state you were married and the state you were born in. Call the American embassy in buchurest ...they can give you the best info. I only had to show I made at least 1500 lei.

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You're a little off the mark here.  First, the OP is not American, so there is no use for them at all to call the American embassy, or be concerned with apostilled documents in order to open a bank account or to obtain residence. EU citizens have different requirements, as they have freedom of movement across member states.

Of the many things in Romania, opening a bank account shouldn't be that complicated at all.  As mentioned, a lot of branch employees are clueless when a foreigner comes in and simply don't know their jobs entirely and of course, don't ask for advice when faced with such situations and instead just pass the ball.

Romaniac

Thank you for all your replied so far!

I guess it's a case of standing my ground and telling them to check with their manager etc... but it's pretty hard when you're on your own and don't speak much Romanian.

As for the American + marriage certificate thing, that part is potentially relevant for after I've got registered and opened my bank account, as my husband is American. We got married in the Czech Republic so that's all apostiled and signed in the Czech Republic... why would they need it to be stamped in the States? Ugh. I'm going to have to bang my head against a wall if the ask for that!!

gaj86 wrote:

We got married in the Czech Republic so that's all apostiled and signed in the Czech Republic... why would they need it to be stamped in the States? Ugh. I'm going to have to bang my head against a wall if the ask for that!!

There would be no need for that, don't worry

your husband is American...he has a birth certificate...he is not a from the EU...take my word for it...you need to do more...

duklip wrote:

your husband is American...he has a birth certificate...he is not a from the EU...take my word for it...you need to do more...

If they got married in CZ, then most likely the husband has a birth cert with apostille already, as CZ requires it also.  However, he does NOT need it to get a residency card here as an EU family member if he has a residence/ID card from another EU country, the passport is sufficient. 

Source  http://igi.mai.gov.ro/detalii/pagina/ro … identei/63 , paragraph 2.A, 2.B

Romaniac
Expat-Blog Experts Team

Romaniac, is it correct that showing his US passport and his document showing right of residence in the UK will be enough for us to be able to stay here for a while? I guess I'm just worried about fines/being kicked out for overstaying his 90 days here when we cross borders. I hold little hope that he'll be allowed to open a bank account if the bank staff don't even know that a British person's passport is sufficient to let them open one.

Also, is it not better to get a residence card and all that if we were planning to stay here long-term?

gaj86 wrote:

Romaniac, is it correct that showing his US passport and his document showing right of residence in the UK will be enough for us to be able to stay here for a while? I guess I'm just worried about fines/being kicked out for overstaying his 90 days here when we cross borders. I hold little hope that he'll be allowed to open a bank account if the bank staff don't even know that a British person's passport is sufficient to let them open one.

Also, is it not better to get a residence card and all that if we were planning to stay here long-term?

Yes a residence card is a good idea, since you're in fact residing here, it will make border crossing easier for him   Yes, his passport and right of UK residence should be fine for staying here, have a look at that link I included in my last post (there is also an English version, just click on the flag on that page at the top).  It lists all the requirements.  It's better to do this within the first 90 days of entering Romania to avoid problems.  But even a small period beyond the 90 days, it might be a small fine, but I wouldn't worry about being kicked out of here.

He (and you) should be able to open an account without problem.  I'm American and I went to a local Raifeissen, with my passport and residence permit and opened a couple of accounts in under an hour without issue or minimum income requirements.  I've been quite satisfied with them, and usually the employees I encounter try to speak English every time even though it's not necessary

Romaniac

Thank you. That's the problem though - you used your passport and residence permit to open an account. I'm saying that they won't let me get a residence permit (if this is actually the same thing as a certificate saying I've registered here) without first having a Romanian bank account. This is because I chose the "self support" option as I don't officially have a job here - the plan was to work on my plans for my own business in relative comfort due to the low cost of living, using my savings and occasional income from Skype lessons, so I thought just showing my bank statements from the UK would be OK... however, the woman at the immigration office told me to come back with Romanian bank accounts. She could have meant statements in Romanian but I'm pretty sure she meant the bank account had to be based in Romania. So it's a catch-22 until I find someone who'll open me an account with just my passport .... apparently my colleague just spoke to Unicredit Bank who said I can open one with just a passport, although I already tried to go there and nobody spoke any English! Heh, so much fun.

gaj86 wrote:

Also, is it not better to get a residence card and all that if we were planning to stay here long-term?

Keep in mind that there is an EU law that states, a non-EU resident cannot have hold more than one residency permit within the EU. You might want to check on this before your husband applies for a RP in Romania. Maybe he will be asked to give up on the UK PR, in order to apply for the RO one.

My husband received this email from Banca Transylvania, by the way:

I think you misunderstood my message, therefor I will explain the procedure once again. You could open an account at Banca Transilvania at any time but if you want any specific producs (eg. A debit card, internet banking) you must make operations on the account of minimum 2000 euro within at least 3 months. For example, you open the account and deposit 2000 euro, after 3 months you are free to access anything else available at Banca Transilvania.

Also, regarding the excepsion: if you are an employee at any company that Banca Transilvania has a salary convention the previous procedure does not apply to you.

Regarding your wife case, as a UK citizen, the same procedure applies as well. She can open an account but she must wait at least 3 months and have at least an amount of 2000 euro of transactions to apply for other products.

We would like to apologies for any inconvenience created by the curent situation and we assure you of availability, openness and our support regarding the solution of any other aspects that you consider necessary .

That's nonsense, go to another bank...

Yep... apparently Unicredit and Raiffessen are happy to open one up with just a passport.

However, as it seems to be an issue that my passport isn't in the same name as my other things (due to marriage + name change) - the wedding cert isn't enough for them despite us getting it translated into Romanian - I first need to renew my passport! Will keep you updated.... it may take 4-5 weeks...

get a translator...unicredit may do it for you.

Often I take walks between banks till one of them has a smarter employee which knows what I need. And I'm not even talking about different banks, sometimes just different branches of the same bank will do.
At first I tried to explain what I wanted but it turned out to be a waste of time. It's faster to be polite and leave, drive to another branch and 80% of the time that gets it done.

In your case I would ask to talk to a manager, and they'll probably call the main branch where more competent people work.
You can also call by yourself and take notes then explain to the clerk. BRD Groupe Societe Generale has some better employees, you'll find phone numbers here https://www.brd.ro/en/useful-tools/contact-us
Also Alpha Bank is very professional and mostly works with business people.

That's a load of rot! We set up Euro & Lei personal accounts & a Euro business account within a week of arriving in December 2012. Try the Banca Transilvania helpline 02643 08028, they speak English & opened accounts for us. Good Luck, Sue

Hi there

It doesn't need a ro account.  An overseas one is fine.

My experience with immigration is that they do not always know the rules.  Sometimes you need to stand firm and present your case and stick with it.

If they push then don't use reasoning-instead try to be beaurocratic.  For example, tell them that under UK law you are not permitted to open an account overseas unless you are resident there.  Or perhaps tell them that this is an illegal request flowing the banking union regulations made by the EU.  Some rubbish like that.

Good luck

ainhk wrote:

Hi there

It doesn't need a ro account.  An overseas one is fine.

My experience with immigration is that they do not always know the rules.  Sometimes you need to stand firm and present your case and stick with it.

If they push then don't use reasoning-instead try to be beaurocratic.  For example, tell them that under UK law you are not permitted to open an account overseas unless you are resident there.  Or perhaps tell them that this is an illegal request flowing the banking union regulations made by the EU.  Some rubbish like that.

Good luck

That's an option, but my experience has been that they don't care one bit about any other countries laws/regulations.  Their focus is on satisfying Romanian laws (or their interpretation of it).  But I agree with you; when faced with their demands, you DO have to stand firm if you know you are right

Romaniac

Anyway, this is what worked for me.

"To register as living here, which I believe is a must even for EU citizens after 90 days"

I would like to know in what way registering as a "resident" is a "must".  What do they do to over-stayers and serial tourists, if one is discovered to be in Romania, alive, more than 90 days after first arriving in the country?  Is there a statute in Romania that places this obligation to "register" upon foreigners who like Romania?

Suppose a Romanian were to stay in my home in the UK for a holiday, as a non-paying guest, for less than ninety days, then stayed at her home in Romania with me as her non-paying guest for less than ninety days, then stayed in my home again, and so on, indefinitely, without either of us ever interfacing with the authorities in our respective EU member states any differently than we would if we'd never met (apart from showing passports at airports when, travelling together, one of us goes on holiday to an EU country other than his or her own and the other returns from holiday in an EU country other than her or his own).  Then what court, in either jurisdiction, is going to punish either of us, how, and for what crime, against whom as the victim of our crimes of not registering our lifestyle?

I like this proverb: It is always easier to obtain forgiveness than permission.

Do not play games with Romanian Immigration...they will find you...it is a small country. Get the permit...makes everything easy. They came to my apartment to check me out. They do  not care about the EU laws...Romania is not fully part of the Union.

duklip wrote:

Do not play games with Romanian Immigration...they will find you...it is a small country. Get the permit...makes everything easy. They came to my apartment to check me out. They do  not care about the EU laws...Romania is not fully part of the Union.

Not valid here, mate. Unlike you (American / non-EU citizen), JohnAllman seems like his a Brit, and their passports are never stamped, or they just look that the national IDs. Besides, everyone within the EU is very lenient with their fellow Unioners. I am yet to hear of a case, where an EU citizen was fined by any EU immigration to over-stay the allotted 90 days. I personally know a German/Swiss bloke, who stays in Bucharest for a full year at one go.

JohnAllman wrote:

Is there a statute in Romania that places this obligation to "register" upon foreigners who like Romania?

Of course there is, you can look up OUG 194/2002 which discusses requirements for foreign citizens in Romania, indifferent of whether they like Romania or not

Romaniac
Expat-Blog Experts Team

romaniac wrote:

JohnAllman wrote:

Is there a statute in Romania that places this obligation to "register" upon foreigners who like Romania?

Of course there is, you can look up OUG 194/2002 which discusses requirements for foreign citizens in Romania, indifferent of whether they like Romania or not

Romaniac
Expat-Blog Experts Team

I didn't find anything that obviously said that I had to do anything after entering Romania legally as a visitor from another EU member state, using my British passport, the only passport I hold.  Is there a particular article in the legislation that you had in mind?

Well, technically when I lived in the Czech Republic I was meant to "register" after 90 days to confirm I was living there. I never did, and it was totally fine.

I'm doing it this time around because I need to in order for my US husband to then register as my spouse.

Update, by the way... I managed to open a bank account with Reiffeisen! They didn't seem to think it was a problem for me to just use my passport. I was then able to finally register here with the immigration office!

Now, it's my husband's turn, and they have indeed said that our marriage certificate needs to be translated and validated... but not in the US or anything like that. It was already validated in the Czech Republic (where we got married) and we've left it with translators now who will translate and legalise it for 80 lei. So, getting closer...