In April 2009, people seeking restoration of Romanian citizenship crowded into the Central Post Office in Chisinau, Moldova. The newspaper Timpul reported that thousands of citizens were visiting post offices each day to mail requests for an appointment at the Romanian consulate. On 27 April, the ground floor of the central office was so crowded that movement was nearly impossible. Because the consulate processed requests in the order in which they were mailed, a person's turn at the postal counter became the first step in a much longer procedure.
Applicants were also gathering civil records that could trace birth and family relationships. Romanian law offered a route to restored citizenship for former citizens and their descendants from territories that had belonged to Romania between 1918 and 1940. Procedural changes in 2009 concentrated hopes for mobility and work around the Romanian passport into a very physical wait. The immediate queue was for sending a letter, but its order pointed toward a future across a border.