Romania Offers Quick Citizenship to Foreign Stars

Justice Minister Robert Cazanciuc said Romania was introducing a simplified citizenship procedure for high-achieving foreigners "with special performances in sports, culture or other areas".

Under the current law, to get Romanian citizenship you must live in the country for at least eight years or be married to a Romanian citizen for at least five years.

These periods can be cut by half if the applicant is a citizen of another EU member state, a refugee, or a businessman who has invested more than 1 million euro in Romania.

The new procedure will take only a few months.

Many countries offer fast-track citizenship to foreigners who invest significant sums of money or who have achieved sporting or artistic fame.

Cyprus offers citizenship and passport within months if you buy a property worth ?2.5million, or invest at least ?2.5 million or ?5 million into Cypriot real estate. Malta, Bulgaria, Hungary and Portugal offer similar schemes.

Romania granted over 61,000 citizenship certificates last year, mostly to citizens of Moldova, which was part of Romania between the two world wars and where most people speak or understand Romanian.