If you are a non-EU / EES citizen and want to travel to Romania for a short timespan, you must first obtain an entry visa, in case you are coming from states which are required an entry visa for their residents.

Short-stay visas grant you the right to request entry into Romania, for other reasons than immigration, for an uninterrupeted stay or for more stays, for which the duration shall not exceed 90 days, within a maximum timespan of 6 months from the date of the first entry. This type of visa can be issued for one or several entries.

It is also your travel documentation (passport) that you need to ensure compliance, with the following criteria: that it is valid for a period of at least 3 months, from the date you are expected to leave Romania (for emergencies, this provision can be disregarded) and has been issued in the past 10 years.

Please consult the list of states for which the nationals do not require a visa in order to enter Romania;
Please consult the list of states for which the nationals do require a visa in order to enter Romania;

From those countries that are registered as needing visa to enter into Romania, for their nationals, there are some cases in which an invitation approved by the General Inspectorate for Immigration is required. Thi invitation can be done by a physical or legal person, by a romanian citizen or an alien who has residence in Romania (please see the list of states what require their nationals to obtain an invitation in order to be granted an entry visa into Romania).

The short-stay visa gives you the right to visit Romania for a limited period of time and cannot be extended. If you wish to extend you stay for a longer period of time, you must get a long-stay visa and subsequently, a residence permit for Romania.
The short-term visa can be obtained from the diplomatic bodies and the consular offices in Romania (please consult the list detailing these bodies and offices).

The right to residence granted by a short-term visa cannot be extended. Nevertheless, should it be the case that, for objective reasons, you cannot leave Romania within the term foreseen by your visa, you can obtain a resolution of return, from the territorial factions within the General Inspectorate for Immigration, a document that allows you to stay in Romania for a period up to days.

The tax for the visa is 60 Euro and is paid with the state authorities where the request is filed.

See the list of documents necessary for obtaining the short term residence visa, depending on the purpose of your arrival in Romania:
– Tourism
– Visitation
– Business
– Transportation
– Sports activities
– Cultural, scientific, humanitarian activities, short term medical treatment or other activities which do not violate the Romanian laws

If the short term residence visa is conditioned by the procurement of the invitationIf you are the holder of a simple Passport, you can obtain the short term residence visa for one or several trips if you submit a written invitation (click here for the pattern) to the diplomatic missions and consular offices, endorsed by the General Inspectorate for Immigration, from a Romanian natural or legal person.

The invitation, accompanied by a series of documents, function on its purpose, will be collected, filled in in two counterparts and submitted at the headquarters of the territorial formations of the Romanian Office for Immigration, for endorsement purposes.
See the list of documents necessary for the endorsement of the invitation in the purpose of coming to Romania:
Visitation, Tourism, Business

Invitations will be approved within 60 days since the submission thereof.
In case the invitation is approved, a counterpart thereof will be handed over to the inviting person, which will transmit it to you. You will submit the invitation, in original, to the diplomatic mission or to the consular office, accompanied by the other documents, in order to obtain the Romanian visa. You must apply for the visa within 30 days since the approval of your invitation, otherwise it loses validity.

The inviting person, either a natural or a legal person, will bear the expenses incurred for the removal of the invited foreign citizens off the Romanian territory. The invitation represents an enforcing title in case the invited foreign citizen does not leave Romania by the date of expiry of his/her residence right, established in the visa.

There are certain situations when you no longer need the invitation endorsed by the General Inspectorate for Immigration in order to obtain a short term residence visa, in which case you will request the visa from the diplomatic missions or consular offices based on an invitation authenticated by a Notary Public. (See the exceptions of the invitation procedure).

In the purpose of obtaining a short term residence visa, the Ministry of External Affairs usually requests the endorsement of the General Inspectorate for Immigration (this is an internal procedure), thus the term for granting the visa being extended. The General Inspectorate for Immigration issues the endorsement for the short term residence visa within 7 working days since the reception of the request, and in very well grounded cases, the term can be extended by additional 7 working days. However, there are cases when such endorsement is no longer necessary. (See the list of exceptions of the endorsement granted by The General Inspectorate for Immigration).

You can enter in Romania without a visa in case you belong to one of the following situations:
– you are a family member of a EU/EEA citizen and you hold a residence permit for this purpose in a EU/EEA State;
– you hold a valid permanent residence permit in a EU/EEA State;
– you hold a valid visa for a State belonging to the Schengen Area, in which case you can cross the Romanian territory (maximum 5 days stay);
– you hold a permit for small border traffic, issued in accordance with the E.G.O. no. 194/2002 concerning the regime of foreign citizens in Romania and the Regulation of the European Parliament and Council (EC) no. 1931/2006 of 20th of December 2006 laying down the rules on local border traffic at the external land borders of the Member States and amending the provisions of the Schengen Convention, if you exert your circulation right, in line with the small border traffic regime.

If you are the citizen of a non UE/EES state, you have valid residence granted, in Romania and wish to obtain a long-stay visa in Romania, you must comply with and fulfill the following conditions:

You must go through the following steps: apply for long-term residency with the territorial factions of the General Inspectorate for Immigration, within the county where you reside and if you receive a positive reply to your application, submit the documents needed in order to obtain the long-term residency permit. You can obtain this right as the family member of a romanian citizen, as well as in order to carry out other activities in Romania (for example : employment, trading activities, family reunification, etc.)

The long-stay visa is valid for a 10 year period if you are the family member of a romanian citizen and for 5 years if you stay in Romania has been granted pursuant to the other purposes foreseen by law.

In order to obtain long-term residence right you should have had continuous residence in Romania over the past five years. Residence is considered continuous when the period of absence from the Romanian territory is less than 6 consecutive months and does not exceeding a total of 10 months and if against you no action has been ordered for removal from the national territory.

Length of residence for study purposes is calculated at half for long-term residence and residence under short-stay visa, diplomatic or service visa is not consider and nor the one obtained for carrying out activities as seasonal workers.

See complete list of the requirements for permanent residence and the exceptions thereto.

You can not get a long term residence right in Romania if you fall into one of these categories: you have a temporary residence right for studies, you are an asylum seeker or recipient of temporary humanitarian protection or temporary protection of the Romanian state, you are in Romania with short-stay visa or visa / residence right conferred by diplomatic or service visa.

The first step to establish domicile in Romania is getting the long term residence right. In this regard you must submit the following documents:
– application;
– border crossing document (passport, travel document, etc..) in copy and original;
– proofing documents on the living space (original and copy);
– evidence of social and health insurance;
– evidence of themeans of support (family members of Romanian citizens are exempted);
– criminal record certificate issued by the Romanian authorities;
– civil status documents (if appropriate);
– taxes.

You may apply for long term residence right for your child only in case you’ve got this right yourself.
– application;
– border crossing document (passport, travel document, etc..) in copy and original;
– proofing documents of the living space (original and copy);
– translated and legalized/ apostille birth certificate (depending on the issuing state of the document);
– authenticated consent of the parent that has no long term residence right in Romania;
– taxes.

Applications for long term residence right will be settled within maximum 6 months and for objective reasons this period may be extended by 3 more months with notice to the applicant.

You will be answered to in writing within 15 working days of the application settlement.
If the answer is positive, within 30 days of receipt of communication, you must submit the documents required for issuing the long-term residence permit to the territorial units of the General Inspectorate for Immigration where application was filed.

Refusal of granting long-term residence, as well as the reasons behind it is communicated in writing to the applicant within 15 working days from the application settlement.
Refusal of granting long-term residence can be appealed within 30 days from the communication, with Bucharest Court of Appeal.
Refusal of granting long-term residence produces no legal effect on the residence rights of the Applicant.

– application;
– border crossing document (passport, travel document, etc..) in copy and original;
– proofing documents of the living space (original and copy);
– taxes.

– application;
– proofing documents of the living space (original and copy);
– taxes

If you hold a long-term residence permit in Romania you receive equal treatment with Romanian citizens under the law, as follows:
– in Romania you can work without work permit, based on an individual employment contract approved by the Labor Inspectorate.
– You have access to all forms and levels of education and training, including providing scholarships, education and recognition of equivalence of diplomas, certificates, certificates of competency and professional skills, you enjoy security and social protection, health care and social benefit of income tax deductions and tax exemptions, you have access to goods and services, including obtaining housing, freedom of association and affiliation and membership of a trade or professional union.

Long-term residence permit shall cease: in case of cancellation or revocation, for obtaining a long term residence right in another State, in case of absence from the Romanian territory for a period exceeding 12 consecutive months, except in the situation that, at this time, you received a temporary stay in a member state of the European Union, in case of absence from the Romanian territory for more than 6 consecutive years, even if in this period you have received a temporary stay in a member state of the European Union, on request, upon attainment of the Romanian citizenship or in case of absence from the territory of EU, the European Economic Area or Swiss Confederation Member States, for more than 2 consecutive years, of the long-term resident, who holds a long-term residence permit with the words “Former EU blue Card holder”, or of his family members who were granted long-term resident status.

In case, upon termination of the long term residence right, you are in Romania, within 30 days from the communication, you can apply for a temporary residence permit for the purposes and under the conditions provided in Ordinance 194/2002 as amended and supplemented (details in section Legislation).

If the long-term residence right will cease under par.(3) letter b) or c) of Ordinance 194/2002 with its subsequent amendments, you may be granted a new long term residence permit, under the conditions of the emergency ordinance, after a legal and continuous residence in Romania for 12 months.

Long-term residence right of a former EU Blue Card holder does not cease if the alien can prove that it was absent from the territory of the EU, the European Economic Area or Swiss Confederation Member States, to exercise economic activity as an employed or self-employed person to perform an activity on a voluntary basis or study in the country of origin.