Romania has been in Schengen since Sunday, March 31, but for now only with air and sea borders. After repeated postponements and 17 years after joining the European Union, Romanians can travel freely in Schengen countries. The first change that will be noticed by those who want to travel across the border in Schengen countries is that they will no longer have to present their identity documents at border controls at 17 airports and ports.

The changes take effect for all flights scheduled after midnight. Thus, upon entering the airport, passengers will pass the security control and go directly to the boarding gate without stopping to check documents.

Authorities can introduce special filters when they want to take action to prevent cross-border crime and illegal migration.

“It is important to note that all passengers will still need a valid travel document. As for minors, we clarify that they will be able to travel in the Schengen area with the same documents that they must have at the moment when they travel abroad,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.

What changes are taking place from March 31

hState Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) Bohdan Despescu said that there will be no additional obligations for passengers, but only for the authorities.

At a press conference on Thursday, he explained what Romania’s accession to Schengen would mean with air and sea borders, presenting the new rules:

• As of March 31, 2024, people traveling to or from Schengen member states will no longer have to go through border controls at the 17 airports and four seaports located in Konstanz County.
• Specifically, after passing the security control procedure at the airport, which is currently in effect at all international airports, including the Schengen area, people entering the terminal will not go through border control, as is the case today, per ton.
• Passengers will proceed directly to the boarding gate and will be able to be checked along the way by border police and mixed crews from the Romanian police, gendarmerie and the General Immigration Inspectorate.
• The counters, which currently work on both Schengen and non-Schengen flows, will only work on the non-Schengen flow from Sunday.
• For trips to non-Schengen countries, both Romanian adults and minors, travel conditions remain the same, and documents will be checked at border police control filters.

Random controls

According to a representative of the MAI, random checks will be carried out to identify those who have false travel documents, who are being monitored or who are prohibited from leaving the country. If no problems are detected during the control procedures, the passengers will continue their journey without problems, and if violations are detected, the relevant person will be taken to the second line of checks, where the situation will be clarified.

Even citizens coming to Romania from Schengen will no longer be checked after disembarkation, as is the case now, at the ticket offices. However, they can be randomly checked by groups of police and gendarmerie.

“In order to simplify interaction with citizens and reduce the time of verification at the level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the control mechanism has been improved by equipping our employees with scanning systems, document verification in digital form and systems that can be used on the road, mobile.

If today we talk about these systems only in tones, in meters, then from March 31 these devices can be used in the airport parking lot, in the entrance area of ​​the terminal or in the boarding area before the boarding gates,” said the secretary. state in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to him, from March 31, the staff at airports and ports will be increased, and groups with dogs will work to detect drugs.

“This additional force aims to inform, guide, support passengers and identify those who want to take advantage of this opportunity to leave Romania illegally. At the same time, the canine teams specialized in drug detection will act on the basis of analytical measures or on the basis of the signals that we still have today,” Despescu also noted.

How many passengers passed through Romania’s airports in 2023

In 2023, 23 million passengers passed through Romanian airports.

Last year, more than 160,000 flights were registered at Romanian airports, 66% of which were Schengen flights. Otopeni Airport accounts for more than half of Schengen, followed by Cluj-Napoca Airport with approximately 3 million passengers and Iași Airport with approximately 2 million. Of the total number of passengers, 300,000 were minors, 2.5,000 of them were subject to non-departure measures.

Travel conditions for minors with Air Schengen

As reported by the border police, they will no longer carry out border control and will also go directly to the boarding gate. They will not need an additional permit, they will be able to travel in the Schengen zone with the same documents as before.

The head of the border police, Cornel Laurian Stoyka, reminded on Sunday what documents are required if a child is traveling accompanied by only one parent or another person:

valid travel document; consent of the second parent in case of a trip accompanied by only one parent;

consent of both parents for a trip accompanied by a person other than the parents; only a travel document if he is going to his home/place of residence and provides proof of this; only the consent of one of the parents when traveling for training/competition/treatment and confirms the stated purpose of the trip.

If a minor is 16 years old and traveling unaccompanied, he will need: a valid travel document; consent of both parents; only a travel document if it contains proof of residence/residence in the country you are traveling to.

To check whether minors and their companions have the necessary documents, the border police may carry out a random check at the airport.

“If it turns out that they are not in them, they will not be allowed to leave the country. Accompanying minors, except parents or legal representatives, are no longer required to present a criminal record certificate in physical form. It is checked electronically by a border police officer.

However, if the border police officer finds that the minor’s companion has committed certain crimes under the law, he will not be allowed to leave the country with the minor. These are the following crimes: murder; crimes against sexual freedom and integrity; crimes related to trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable persons; illegal deprivation of liberty; crimes related to the trafficking of drugs or precursors; trade in human tissues or organs; terrorist crimes,” said the Inspector General of the Border Police.

When we enter with land borders

An exact timetable cannot be given as Austria continues to demonstrate its opposition and block the full accession procedure. The Romanian authorities have repeatedly stated that they want to complete the procedure by the end of the year.

Austria will hold legislative elections this fall, so analysts say there is little chance of a policy change by the government led by Karl Nehhammer, who has made migration a top public issue.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday welcomed the partial accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen zone, a day before citizens of the two countries will no longer be subject to border controls at airports and ports.

The European Council will have to adopt a decision that sets the date from which internal land border controls between Bulgaria, Romania and other Schengen countries will be lifted. The European Commission headed by von der Leyen will continue to perform the duties of the chairman

All the support of the Council to ensure that a decision on land borders can be taken during 2024.

Back in 2011, the European Commission confirmed in the Schengen evaluation reports that Bulgaria and Romania fulfilled all the requirements for full accession to the Schengen area and actively supported this process.

The Schengen zone without internal border controls is one of the achievements of the EU, which is most appreciated by European citizens, the European Commission also emphasized.

Who is part of Schengen

The Schengen zone is a format of a group of European countries that have abolished their borders. This means that you can travel, for example, from Germany to France without showing your passport again and again. This way, you can easily travel from one country to another, making traveling around Europe much easier.

These countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain , Sweden and Switzerland.

From Sunday, March 31, they will be joined by Romania and Bulgaria.