The number of violations by foreigners increased significantly
“Romania’s accession to the Schengen area does not require a special operation from the Immigration and Naturalization Office”- said Zsuzsanna Vegh General Director. Last year about 212 000 foreigners applied for residence permit (they wanted to stay more than 3 months). Two-thirds of applicants were citizens of EU countries, especially fromRomania, Slovakia and Germany. Zsolt Harhai the Northern Great Plains Regional Director told the press that last year more than 20 000 long-term foreign residence permit has been issued. There was a huge increase in the number of expulsions. (2009: 156, 2010: 361) The number of detentions tripled (2009: 111, 2010: 338).