Romania

Romania has one route written for remote workers and one for business owners. The digital nomad visa suits people employed by, or owning, a company registered abroad. The D/AC business visa suits shareholders and associates who will run a Romanian company. Romania has no golden visa.

Choosing between them

• Remote workers with foreign income: the nomad route needs income of three times the average gross salary, currently RON 27,576 a month, and pay from the foreign company is exempt from Romanian income tax while the holder spends no more than 183 days in Romania in any 12 months.
• Company owners abroad: they qualify for the nomad visa if their company has been registered outside Romania for at least 3 years.
• Investors and founders in Romania: the commercial activities route ties residence to a Romanian company, with capital, job and income targets at renewal.
• Families: the digital nomad rules say nothing about family members, so families should check the general residence rules with IGI.

Visits without a visa

Romania is in the Schengen area. On membership, the official record reads: Croatia joined Jan. 1, 2023 (checks at internal air borders lifted March 26, 2023). Bulgaria and Romania joined for air and sea travel on March 31, 2024 and became full members when internal land border checks were lifted on Jan. 1, 2025. Cyprus is not yet a member.

Nationals of visa-exempt countries can stay 90 days in any 180-day period, and that allowance is shared across every Schengen country rather than counted per country. Days on a residence permit or long-stay visa don't count toward it.

The EU's Entry/Exit System has registered short-stay visitors at external borders since Oct. 12, 2025, taking fingerprints and a facial image. On ETIAS, the travel authorization planned for visa-exempt visitors, the official position is this: Not yet operating and no official start date. The EU says it will announce the date several months before launch. The earlier official target, the last quarter of 2026, was removed from the official ETIAS website on July 14-17, 2026.

Fees

Romania's long-stay visa fee is €300 for applications filed from April 27, 2026. A residence permit card costs RON 265.

Romania's big cities cost roughly the same, with Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca at the top. The figures below are Numbeo's crowd-sourced averages for a one-bedroom apartment, plus Numbeo's estimate of a single person's other monthly costs without rent.

• Bucharest (Numbeo, July 2026): about 2,120 lei a month for a one-bedroom outside the center and 3,200 lei in the center, plus about 3,510 lei in other costs, or roughly 5,630 to 6,710 lei.
• Cluj-Napoca (May 2026): 2,490 to 3,170 lei in rent plus about 3,480 lei, or roughly 5,970 to 6,650 lei.
• Iași (July 2026): 1,990 to 2,490 lei in rent plus about 3,150 lei, or roughly 5,140 to 5,640 lei.
• Timișoara (May 2026): 1,620 to 2,550 lei in rent plus about 3,070 lei, or roughly 4,690 to 5,620 lei.

A single remote worker renting outside central Bucharest can plan on about 5,600 lei a month, near $1,200 at the Sept. 24, 2026 exchange rate. That's well below the nomad visa's income test, which follows salary levels rather than living costs.

Bucharest is the largest city, with the most coworking spaces, flights and nightlife and the highest rents in Numbeo's data. It suits people who want a capital-city base.

Cluj-Napoca is a university and tech city in Transylvania with costs close to Bucharest's. It suits people who want a smaller city with a tech community.

Timișoara has the lowest monthly budget of the four cities in Numbeo's data and sits near the Hungarian and Serbian borders. It suits a lower-cost western base.

Brașov sits in the Carpathian Mountains, with hiking and skiing nearby. It suits people who want the outdoors and can live with a smaller coworking scene.

Iași, in the northeast, is another university city with rents below Bucharest's. It suits a quieter, cheaper base.

Fixed broadband in Romania is fast. The Speedtest Global Index for August 2026 puts Romania's median fixed download speed at 359.65 Mbps and its median mobile speed at 134.9 Mbps.

Bucharest has the most coworking spaces, including international chains, and Cluj-Napoca and Timișoara have established scenes with day passes and monthly desks. Smaller cities such as Brașov, Sibiu and Iași have fewer options.

Prepaid SIM cards from the main operators and data-only eSIMs are both easy to find, so most people are online on arrival.

Romania gives digital nomads a specific exemption. Since April 2, 2023, the Fiscal Code rule is this: Salary or company income of a digital nomad from work for a company registered outside Romania is exempt from Romanian income tax, and the holder is outside the pension and health contribution systems, while present in Romania no more than 183 days in any 12-month period. Beyond that, the general residency test applies.

The general residence test covers everyone else and nomads past the limit: a person is resident when present in Romania for more than 183 days in total in any 12 months, or with a domicile or center of vital interests in Romania.

Later nomad residence extensions need an income certificate from the Romanian tax authority, the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF). Points to check:

• Days in Romania across any 12-month period, not only the calendar year
• Whether the pay comes from a company registered outside Romania, as the exemption requires
• The tax treaty between Romania and the home country, and home-country rules on income earned abroad

• Emergencies: dial 112, the European emergency number, free of charge anywhere in the EU.
• Residence formalities: digital nomads apply to IGI for the residence permit at least 30 days before the visa's right of stay ends, in person or through the IGI online portal.
• Health insurance: the nomad visa needs medical insurance valid in Romania for the whole visa period with at least €30,000 of cover, and IGI asks for health insurance again at the first extension.
• Money: Romania uses the leu (RON), not the euro.
• Getting around: ride-hailing apps operate in the big cities, and trains and intercity buses link the main cities.
• Mobile data: prepaid SIM cards are sold at airports and in operator shops, and an eSIM bought before arrival is an alternative.