Dozens of men from countries such as Nigeria, Bangladesh, Albania, Sudan, Pakistan or the Republic of Moldova negotiate marriages of convenience with Romanian women, for which they usually pay between EUR 300 and EUR 500. They thus manage to travel to EU Member States without a visa.

A total of 37 such marriages were detected in the first ten months of last year, most of them in Bucharest and Dolj, Cluj, Prahova and Iasi counties, according to data from the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI), cited by local Mediafax.

In most cases, foreigners used social networks to contact Romanian women and negotiate the price. Most of these foreigners are men seeking marriage of convenience in Romania. They then go to EU countries where they start looking for jobs on the black market.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com