More than 23,000 non-residents from outside the European Union were allowed to stay in Romania and given working permits in 2019, most of whom are from Vietnam, Turkey, Nepal and China, according to data from the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI).

The number of non-EU workers legally employed in Romania is at least twice as high as at the end of 2018 and at least triple compared to the end of 2017 and 2016, Romania Insider reads.

Over 5,200 (22 percent of total) of the foreign citizens with working permits in Romania are from Vietnam, over 2,800 people are from Turkey, and almost 2,200 people are from Nepal.

In 2019, the Government allowed employers to bring at most 30,000 new workers from outside the EU, the largest number since 2014, in response to the local labor shortage.