From Sunday, March 31, Romania joins Schengen, but only partially: with air and sea borders. This makes life a little easier for people traveling to one of the Schengen countries, because they will no longer have to stand in queues for border control at the airports of departure or arrival.

However, officials from the Ministry of the Interior (MAI) have warned that random checks will be carried out in Romania. Nothing changes for those who travel by ground transport to Schengen countries, as this is actually the most important aspect of the “European space without internal borders”, which, however, will not benefit Romanians, as Austria continues to oppose the entry of our country and Bulgaria.​

The main change of interest to Romanians is that as of Sunday, March 31, people traveling to or from Schengen countries will no longer have to go through border controls.

The rules apply to all 17 airports and 4 seaports located in the county of Konstanz.

In particular, people who enter the terminal after passing the security control procedure will no longer go through border control, as was the case before. Passengers will go straight to the boarding gate.

An important note. The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasized that during this time, random checks will be carried out to identify persons who have false travel documents, persons who are being monitored or who are absent.

Obviously, as before, air carriers will require travelers to present travel documents – a passport or an identity card.

The rules also apply to those returning from Schengen countries to Romania. Citizens arriving in Romania from the Schengen area will no longer be subject to checks after disembarking, as was the case at the ticket offices until now.

However, they can be randomly checked by police and gendarmerie units, the representatives of the Police Department reported.

To simplify interaction with citizens and reduce verification time at the level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the control mechanism has been improved by equipping personnel with scanning systems, for document verification in digital form and systems that can be used on the go, mobile, said officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

These devices can be used in the airport parking lot, in the terminal entrance area or in the boarding area near the boarding gate.

Travelers walk past a banner with the words Welcome to Schengen! in Romanian, immediately after Romania’s official entry into the European Free Movement Area, at Henri Coanda Airport in Otopeni (Photo: Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP / Profimedia)

Travel conditions for minors from March 31

As for the minors of Romanian citizens, they, as in the case of adults, will no longer be subject to border control and will also go directly to their exit points. They will not need an additional permit, they will be able to travel in the Schengen zone with the same documents as before.

Thus, if a minor is traveling accompanied by only one parent, a valid travel document and certified consent of the other parent are required.

If a minor is traveling accompanied by a third person, she needs a valid travel document and certified consent of both parents.

A minor only needs a travel document if they move to their home/residence and provide proof of this.

If a minor goes for training/competition/treatment and confirms the stated purpose of the trip, he needs the certified consent of one of his parents.

If a minor is over 16 and traveling unaccompanied, they will need: a valid travel document and the consent of both parents.

Certified extracts can be obtained from a state notary, and abroad – from diplomatic missions or consular institutions.

In order to check whether Romanian minors and their companions have the necessary documents, the border police may carry out random checks at the airport. “If it is found that they are not in their possession, they will not be allowed to leave the country,” MAI officials said.

Accompanying minors, except for parents or legal representatives, are no longer required to present a criminal record certificate in physical format, the border police checks it electronically.

“However, if the border guard discovers that the minor’s companion has committed certain crimes provided for by law, he will not be allowed to leave the country with the minor,” UIA said.

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; crimes of terrorism.

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.

Maritime Schengen

In the case of cruise ships departing from the port of Constanta, in a situation where their route includes exclusively ports located in the territory of the Schengen Agreement states, systematic checks will no longer be carried out, explained the prefect of the county of Constanta, Silviu-Julian Kosa, quoted by ConstantaFinanciara.

If the ships will pass through the ports of non-Schengen countries, such as Turkey, inspections will be carried out.

The border police reported that from March 31, checks of ship crews and passengers will be carried out according to the codes that are used at the borders of the Schengen area.

“Mostly in the same form, but with some exceptions, such as some special provisions for cruise ships, pleasure craft, fishing vessels, ferries and cargo ships. As for recreational navigation, in a situation where these types of vessels pass only through the transit ports of the member states, they can enter a port where there are no border crossing points,” Andrej Ene, spokesman for the Constanta Border Police, was quoted as saying by TVR Info. .

As for cruises on the Danube, nothing will change, and the control, as before, will be systemic. The Danube is equated with land borders, so the controls have not yet been lifted, a representative of the European Commission explained last week.

What are Schengen countries?

According to MAI, more than 160,000 flights were registered at Romanian airports in 2023, 66% of which were Schengen flights, and more than half of Schengen flights were at Otopeni Airport.

These are approximately 23 million passengers, most of them registered at Otopeni with around 14 million, followed by Cluj-Napoca Airport with around 3 million and Iași Airport with around 2 million.

“Out of the total number of passengers, 300,000 passengers were minors, under the age of 18, and 2,500 of them were prevented from leaving for legal reasons in 2023, some of them. These reasons were that they had false documents,” said the State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Bohdan Despescu.

The partial accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen zone included 27 countries: Belgium, Italy, Denmark, France, Portugal, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Finland, Luxembourg, Greece, Iceland, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania , Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Croatia.

The latest arrival was Croatia, which was admitted to Schengen in December 2022 (starting in January 2023) in the same Justice and Home Affairs Council (JAI) in which Austria and the Netherlands opposed the entry of Romania and Bulgaria.

“The borderless Schengen zone guarantees free movement of almost 450 million EU citizens, as well as citizens of third countries who live in or visit the EU. Free movement of people means that every EU citizen can travel, work and live in an EU country without any special formalities. The Schengen area is at the heart of this freedom, allowing citizens to travel within the Schengen area without border controls,” the European Commission said in a statement.

Romania will issue Schengen visas

Another change that only affects the authorities and foreign nationals is that from March 31, 2024, the Romanian authorities will issue Schengen visas.

Including Russia, as the TASS agency notes with reference to the Romanian embassy in Moscow.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), holders will be allowed to travel to the Schengen area for stays not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period.

Short-term visas issued by the Romanian authorities until March 31, 2024 will be valid until the expiration date, but only on the territory of Romania and under the conditions established by the provisions of the law. Therefore, if the holder of a short-term visa issued by Romania intends to travel to the Schengen area, he will have to apply for a visa to the authorities of the country where he intends to travel.

Starting from March 31, 2024, in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of the Schengen Borders Code, the maximum duration of the authorized stay in the territory of the states located in the Schengen area for third-country nationals, regardless of whether they have the Obligation to have a visa or are exempt from such an obligation The stay cannot exceed a total of “90 days during any 180-day period,” regardless of the type of passport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reports.

When will we enter Schengen with land borders?

Last week, an official representative of the European Commission stated that the priority for now is the smooth implementation of the partial accession of Romania and Bulgaria.

The next step, no less important, concerns the annexation of land borders. The JVC Council’s position concerned air and sea borders, as well as the fact that member states must decide on full accession, an EU executive official said.

When will this happen? The representative of the European Commission said that this should happen “as soon as possible”, but at the same time he emphasized that the decision should be made unanimously in the Council of the EU.

There is no such unanimity yet.

While in Bucharest at the beginning of March at the Congress of the European People’s Party, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehhammer, after a meeting with Klaus Iohannis, sent a new sharp message to Romania. “Austria’s position remains clear and unchanged: the Schengen system is currently not working, so it cannot be extended,” he said.

For the Romanian government, the goal of joining Schengen is this year. “We plan to get full accession to Schengen by the end of the year, including the land,” Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku said on Friday, Agerpres reports.