Immigration law firm in Romania

We are glad to know that our country is of interest for you. We can assure you that our law firm has notable experience in immigration law, including:

• the work permit application;
• invitations;
• short and long visas;
• temporary or permanent residency permits.

The services offered by our immigration lawyers include:

• Consultancy to obtain short and long visas;
• Obtaining work permits for foreign citizens;
• Short business invitations for a maximum period of 21 days;
• Representation before the Romanian diplomatic missions (where visas are applied for) and before the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) for the extension of the right of stay;
• Extension of any type of residence permit;
• Establishing of permanent domicile in Romania.

Company owners who are interested in hiring foreign employees can reach out to our lawyers for complete information about hiring permanent foreign nationals or cross-border workers as well as the documents that may be required when hiring these individuals. We remind employers that they will also need to observe the current laws in place for the minimum wage and other employment regulations.

Our team also includes attorneys who specialize particularly in divorce in Romania. If you are a foreign national married to a Romanian citizen, or if you are two foreign nationals who have acquired permanent residency or citizenship in Romania, our team can answer your questions about the grounds for divorce and the process to terminate the marriage in or out of court.

We can also help interested individuals with family reunification matters. Please contact our law firm in Romania if you have questions about the Immigration Law and any specific requirements that may be in place for foreign workers in Romania, especially those who come from non-EU countries.

How can I obtain a long-stay visa in Romania?

Answer:  A long-stay (type D) visa is applied for in person, before travelling, at the Romanian embassy or consulate competent for the applicant's place of residence (in urgent cases, at the Romanian mission in the country where he or she is legally staying), no earlier than 3 months before the intended arrival; the application is decided within 60 days. For employment visas (D/AM1, D/AM2), the employer or an authorised placement agency must first file a single application on WorkinRomania.gov.ro. The purposes for which the long-stay visa is granted are listed further below.

The form, content and security features of the visa are approved by Government decision, on the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after consulting the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in line with European Union standards. Our team of Romanian lawyers can provide more details about this type of visa.

Our lawyers in Romania remind you that there are some limits of the rights conferred by the Romanian Visa.

The Romanian visa shall give the holder the right to enter the Romanian territory only if, at that specific moment, the foreigner presents himself / herself at the frontier crossing check-point and the Romanian Frontier Police Authorities ascertain that there is no reason to interdict the entry in Romania. In case you are interested in getting a long stay visa in another country, for example obtaining residency in Portugal, we recommend our partners.

Are there exemptions from the Romanian visa requirement?

Answer:  Since Romania applies the Schengen rules in full (from 1 January 2025), the list of countries whose citizens need a visa is the EU list in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, and citizens of the countries in Annex II (for example the USA, the United Kingdom, Canada or Australia) do not need a visa for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Romanian law also provides the following cases:

1.Citizens of the state with which Romania has signed agreements in this respect are exempted from the Romanian visa’s compulsoriness, according to the conditions and for the staying intervals established through such agreements.

1.1 The foreigners who are plane pilots and other members of the crew, holders of a flight license or a crew certificate, as provided in annex no.9 of the Chicago convention in International Civil Aviation signed on the 7th of December 1944 shall be exempted from the obligation to bear a passport and visa only when on duty and:

• they do not leave the transit airport;
• they do not leave the destination airport;
• they do not leave the city next to the airport;
• they only leave the airport in order to get to another Romanian airport.

2. The Government may establish, by decision, the unilateral exemption of certain categories of foreigners from the visa requirement.

Do I need a long-term visa to start a business in Romania?

Answer:  Yes. A non-EU citizen who will be a shareholder or associate with management duties in his or her own Romanian company needs a long-stay visa for commercial activities (D/AC). It is granted on the basis of a favourable opinion on the business plan, only if the following conditions are met cumulatively: proof of available funds and an investment of at least EUR 100,000 for an SRL (limited liability company) or EUR 150,000 for an SA (joint-stock company), and the creation of at least 10 (SRL) or 15 (SA) new jobs within 12 months of obtaining the residence permit. Depending on the purpose they are issued for, the visas can be:

• Airport transit visa
• Short stay visa
• Long stay visa, depending on the activity to be performed in Romania by the foreigner receiving the Romanian visa
•         o economic activities
          o professional activities
          o commercial activities
          o employment (D/AM1, D/AM2) and posting of workers (D/DT)
          o studies
          o family reunification
          o religious activities
          o scientific research activities
          o diplomatic visa and service visa (DS)
          o other purposes (D/AS), as well as the working holiday visa (D/VM), under bilateral agreements

Our lawyers in Romania describe each one of these types of Romanian visas below.

Romanian Airport Transit Visa

The airport transit visa (type A) is required from citizens of the third countries listed in Annex IV to the EU Visa Code (Regulation (EC) No 810/2009, which replaced the Common Consular Instructions) when they pass through the international transit area of an airport in the Schengen area; in urgent cases of a mass influx of illegal immigrants, Romania may also require it from citizens of other countries, by joint order of the ministers of foreign affairs and internal affairs. Holders of a valid Schengen visa, national long-stay visa or residence permit issued by a Member State, among others, are exempt.

Short Stay Visa Romania

Short stay Romanian visa is a uniform Schengen visa (type C): it allows a stay in Romania and the other Schengen states, in one or several periods, for purposes other than immigration, of no more than 90 days in any 180-day period. Such type of Visa Romania may be issued with one or multiple entries.

If the date of entry cannot be established (there is no entry record in the EU Entry/Exit System or, for older entries, no entry stamp in the travel document), the authorities may presume that the foreigner does not meet the conditions on the length of stay; the foreigner can rebut this with credible evidence, such as transport tickets (art. 12 of the Schengen Borders Code, Regulation (EU) 2016/399, which replaced Regulation (EC) No 562/2006).

Frequent travellers can obtain multiple-entry visas with a long validity under the EU Visa Code: valid for 1 year if they have obtained and lawfully used three visas within the previous two years, then for 2 years and then for 5 years; a multiple-entry visa valid for up to 5 years may also be issued to applicants who justify the need to travel frequently or regularly (for example on business) and prove their integrity and reliability. In all cases the stay may not exceed 90 days in any 180-day period.

Short stay visa is granted under the conditions and for the purposes set by the EU Visa Code. The most common purposes, as described by our Romanian lawyers:

• mission, to foreigners who for reasons related to their political administrative or public utility office, have to travel to Romania. This type of visa shall be issued to foreigners working for governments, public administrations or international organizations, as well as to those who, by reason of their stay in Romania, are of interest for the relationship between the Romanian state and the state of their origin. Such visa can also be issued to the family members accompanying them;
• tourism, to the foreigner who is to travel to Romania for tourist purposes;
• visit, to the foreigner who intends to travel to Romania in order to visit Romanian citizens of foreigners with a valid stay permit;
• business, to the foreigner who intends to travel to Romania for economic and / or commercial purposes, for contracts negotiations, to learn or to verify the use and operation of goods acquired or sold under commercial and industrial co-operation contracts, as well as to the foreigner that is or will become an associate or shareholder of a Romanian trade company;
• transportation, to the foreigner who is to travel for short periods of time in order to carry out professional activities related to goods or persons transportation;
• sports, to the foreigner who is to enter Romania for a limited interval in order to participate to sportive competitions;
• cultural, scientific, humanitarian activities, short term medical treatment or other activities which do not breach the Romanian legislation, subject to justify the presence in Romania.

The validity of a short-stay visa and/or the length of stay it grants can be extended only exceptionally: for force majeure or humanitarian reasons preventing departure, or for serious personal reasons. In Romania the extension is decided by the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) for visas on ordinary passports (by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for diplomatic and service passports), and a refusal cannot be challenged.

Romanian Long Stay Visa

A long-stay visa shall be granted to the foreigner, upon request for a period of 90 days, with one or multiple entries, for the following purposes:

• economic activities, to foreigners who are to carry out in Romania economic activities organised and regulated by special laws;
• professional activities, to foreigners who are to practise in Romania liberal professions regulated by special laws;
• carrying out commercial activities, to foreigners who are or will become shareholders or associates in Romanian trade companies, having responsibilities for running and administering them;
• employment (visa D/AM1 or D/AM2), to foreigners who are to enter Romania in order to be employed; since OUG 32/2026 there is no separate work permit: the employer (or an authorised placement agency) first files a single application on WorkinRomania.gov.ro, and after entry IGI issues the single permit (residence and work). The visa granted for such purpose shall be issued also to sportsmen who are to perform in certain clubs and teams in Romania, based on an individual employment contract, under the terms of the law. Employees of a company based abroad who are posted to work in Romania receive a separate long-stay visa for posting (D/DT);
• studies, to foreigners who are to enter Romania for attending high school, university or post-university courses, as the case may be, or for obtaining scientific titles within public or accredited private institutions, according to the law;
• family reunification, to foreigners who are to enter Romania in order to regain family unity;
• religious activities, to foreigners who are to enter Romania in order to carry out activities in the field of recognised religious denominations, at their request;
• scientific research activities, to foreigners who are to enter Romania in order to carry out scientific research activities;
• other purposes

2. Long stay visa allows the foreigners who enter the Romanian territory to request a renewal of the temporary stay and to obtain a stay permit. The immigration experts at our Romanian law firm can provide more details.

Diplomatic Visa and Service Visa

The diplomatic visa and service visa shall allow the entry in Romania usually for a long stay period of time, to the foreigners holding a diplomatic or a service passport, respectively, who are to occupy an official position as members of a diplomatic representative office or of a consular office of the state of origin in Romania. Those who wish to open a business in the country can reach out to our attorneys in Romania for more details.

Such types of visas shall be issued to holders of diplomatic or service passports, or of passports assimilated to those, upon request of the Ministry of External Affairs of the submitting state or of its diplomatic or consular representative office, as well as to the family members with whom the holder lives and shall be valid during their mission or in accordance with the bilateral agreements to which Romania is a party.

Granting the Romanian Visa

The Romanian visa (long-stay visa) is granted only if the following conditions are met (short-stay Schengen visas are granted under the conditions of the EU Visa Code):

• the conditions regarding the entry in Romania
• there is no reason to forbid to enter the Romanian territory
• on the name of the foreigner was not introduced an alert regarding the refusal of issuing visa in the Integrated Information System for Migration and Asylum Management;
• the foreigner is not the subject of an alert for refusal of entry entered in the Schengen Information System by another Schengen state (in that case the visa may be granted only for justified reasons, especially humanitarian ones or international obligations, after consulting that state);
• there are no reasons to consider that the visa is requested for illegal migration purposes;
• the foreigner was not finally sentenced for having committed offences abroad, incompatible with the purpose for which he/she requested the visa;
• the general conditions provided under this section, as well as the special conditions for visa granting depending on the purpose for which the visa is requested, are complied with; in addition, the travel document must not be counterfeit or falsified, there must be no reasonable doubts about the authenticity of the supporting documents, the truth of their content or the reliability of the applicant's statements, and for a minor the notarised consent of the parents (or of the legal representative) must be presented.

 Conditions Regarding the Validity of Travel Documents

The travel document on which the visa is to be affixed must be valid for at least three months after the intended date of departure from the Schengen area (after the last intended departure, in the case of several visits), must have been issued within the previous 10 years and must contain at least two blank pages; the same rules apply to long-stay visas.

In a justified case of emergency, the three-month validity requirement may be waived.

Conditions for Visa Requests

The visa application for a long-stay visa must be accompanied by a valid travel document (see above) on which the visa can be affixed, as well as the documents, that justify the purpose and the conditions of the travel, and the proof that he/she dispose of financial means of support during the stay in Romania, as well as for leaving Romania. For short-stay (Schengen) visas, the supporting documents and the travel medical insurance (minimum cover of EUR 30,000) are those required by the EU Visa Code.

Cash in convertible currency, travel checks, cheque books for a foreign-currency account, credit cards with a statement of account dated no more than two days prior to the request of the visa or any other method allowing the justification of a guarantee of the financial resources, may be accepted as a proof of financial means.

When submitting the request for the Romanian Visa the applicant is usually invited for interview.

A long-stay visa application is not accepted (it is inadmissible and its examination stops) if:

• it is lodged more than 3 months before the intended date of arrival in Romania, the completed and signed application form and two photographs are not presented, or the visa fee has not been paid;
• for employment visas (D/AM1, D/AM2), the single application filed on WorkinRomania.gov.ro was rejected or the employer no longer meets the legal conditions. Separately, the visa is refused if the general and special conditions for granting it are not met.

Upon requesting the entry visa for Romania, foreigners must appear in person at the Romanian embassy or consulate competent to grant the visa (or at an external service provider contracted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), where their biometric data (facial image and fingerprints) are collected.

Foreign nationals residing in the country who are also interested in buying property in Romania can request our assistance. You can trust us with legal guidance and representation both in front of the seller, as well as the Romanian authorities, such as the National Agency for Cadastre and Real Estate Advertising (ANCPI). Please reach out to us for more information.

Apart from immigration services, our solutions for individuals also include those that concern divorce in Romania. A lawyer from our team will help you file for divorce, as well as determine how the division of your matrimonial assets should be handled. We also provide court representation during the divorce proceedings that take place at the competent court.

If you plan to visit Romania, we are here to help you, so you won’t have to worry about any legal issues, while you are fully focused on your business and personal matters. Through our law office, we have a team competent lawyers in Romania, ready to explain every possible aspect related to your visa. For a free case consultation, please call us now!