It depends, this is the standard answer when it comes to the law 😊
According to Article 4 of Law no. 312/2005, a citizen of a member state who is not a resident in Romania, a non-resident stateless person in Romania with domicile in a member state, as well as a non-resident legal entity established in accordance with the legislation of a member state, can acquire the right of ownership over land for secondary residences or secondary offices, after a period of 5 years from Romania’s accession to the European Union (January 1, 2007). By member state, it means any country that is a member of the European Union or the European Economic Area. This term was fulfilled on January 1, 2012.
Article 5 of the same law also provides for the possibility for the above-mentioned foreign citizens to acquire the right of ownership over agricultural land, forests and forest land after a period of 7 years from Romania’s accession to the European Union. This term has also been fulfilled on January 1, 2014. As for citizens of third countries (countries that are not EU/EEA members), they can acquire land in Romania only based on a reciprocal international agreement between the Romanian state and their country of origin. If there is no such agreement, the citizen of the non-EU/EEA member state can only purchase the right of ownership over the construction, acquiring a superficies right over the land related to the construction during its existence.
*The superficies right is a dismemberment of the property right regarding the land, its use being attributed to the holder of the superficies right during the existence of the building.
For example, citizens from the following countries with which Romania has not yet signed reciprocity treaties regarding the acquisition of the right of ownership over land, can only purchase the right of ownership over the construction (apartment, house, etc.), acquiring only a superficies right over the land related to the construction during its existence:
| South Africa | Nigeria | Algeria |
| Egypt | Kazakhstan | Pakistan |
| Switzerland | Norway | Saudi Arabia |
| Argentina | Hong Kong | Palestine |
| Australia | India | Peru |
| Bangladesh | Indonesia | Qatar |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Iran | Russia |
| Brazil | Israel | Singapore |
| Canada | Philippines | United States of America |
| Czech Republic | Japan | Thailand |
| Chile | Malaysia | Turkey |
| China | Morocco | Ukraine |
| Colombia | Mexico | Venezuela |
| South Korea | Moldova | Vietnam |
Please note that the above restrictions only apply to individuals. A commercial company, a resident or non-resident legal entity, may acquire any real rights over immovable property, to the extent necessary for the conduct of its business, according to its object of activity, while respecting the legal provisions regarding the acquisition of private property rights over land by foreign citizens and stateless persons, as well as by foreign legal entities.
A foreign citizen who intends to sell or buy an immovable property in Romania without holding a Romanian personal identification number must obtain a fiscal identification number (NIF) from the competent fiscal authority within ANAF.
Thus, the NIF is one of the documents required by the foreign citizen at the notary public in order to conclude a sale-purchase agreement.
At the time of sale, the foreign buyer will pay the same taxes as a Romanian citizen. Also, the documents necessary for the conclusion of the sale-purchase agreement are, with the exception of the need to obtain the fiscal identification number, the same as those required for Romanian citizens and mainly concern the seller. As a buyer, the foreign citizen will only need an identity document and a fiscal identification number.
A foreign citizen can acquire the right of ownership over a land only by legal inheritance (being related to the deceased and having a specific vocation for inheritance), not by will.
