Moldovans, Turks and Chinese are most numerous legal immigrants in Romania

The Moldovans, Turks and Chinese are the most numerous legal immigrants recorded in Romania last year, according to an analysis unveiled by the Romanian Immigration Office in a release to Agerpres on Friday.

The Romanians' neighbours from the Republic of Moldova also top the list of the applications for short- and long-stay visas filed to the Immigration Office.

The highest number of foreign nationals recorded in 2010 as legally staying in Romania are from Moldova (17,494), Turkey (8,969) and China (7,049), the release said.

It adds the Office provided stay management for 97,395 foreign nationals, out of whom 58,424 come from third countries, 48,300 have the right for temporary stay (82.67 pct) and 10,124 have the right to stay permanently (17.33 pct).

As many as 15,617 visa applications were filed with the Romanian diplomatic missions based outside the country, the Office's analysis reveals.

Last year, 3,783 illegal immigrants were found in Romania, by 25 percent less on 2009, when 5,045 illegal foreigners were tracked down, the release said.

The Romanian authorities repatriated 3,294 foreign nationals, of whom 333 were taken away under escort up to the border or to their native country, with 51 benefiting from programmes for assisted volunteer repatriation.

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