A visa for Romania in 2026: work, business, family or other purposes. Which route applies?

For most people planning to come to Romania, the goal is already clear: they want to work, build a business, bring their family, or settle here for another purpose.

The difficulty arises when that goal has to be turned into a concrete legal procedure, and when it has to be determined which steps are needed before and after entering Romania.

A trip for business meetings is not the same as building a company in Romania. Setting up an SRL (a Romanian limited liability company) does not automatically grant a right of residence, and an employment contract alone is not enough for a foreign national to work and live legally in Romania.

Likewise, obtaining a long-stay visa does not complete the procedure. After entering Romania, the next stage is usually extending the right of residence and obtaining the corresponding permit.

That is why the procedure should be assessed from the outset against the real purpose of the stay and the steps that will follow.

In this article, we cover the main situations we see in practice and how the right route is built for work, business, family or other purposes of stay in Romania.

1. Short-stay visa or long-stay visa?

The first important distinction is between the short-stay visa (type C) and the national long-stay visa (type D).

The short-stay visa (type C)

The short-stay visa is intended for temporary trips and generally allows a stay of up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area.

It can be relevant for tourism, visits, business meetings, negotiations or other trips that do not involve settling in Romania long term. For citizens of countries exempt from the visa requirement, the same 90/180 rule applies to visa-free stays.

A temporary business trip, however, should not be confused with actually building an activity and settling in Romania.

The long-stay visa (type D)

If the purpose is work, building a business, family reunification, studies or another purpose provided by law, the corresponding long-stay visa category needs to be assessed.

As a rule, the long-stay visa is granted for 90 days and allows entry into Romania for the purpose for which it was issued. To continue the stay, the applicant then goes through the applicable procedure with the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI).

In practice, the route can look like this:

1. D visa
   ↓
2. Entry into Romania
   ↓
3. Residence permit
   ↓
4. Extension

2. Planning to work in Romania?

For citizens from outside the European Union who want to work for a company in Romania, the procedure depends both on the worker's situation and on the Romanian employer.

Following the 2026 legislative changes, the long-stay visa for employment is identified by two categories: D/AM1 and D/AM2.

Also need to recruit staff? MUNCITOREȘTI (opens in a new tab)

D/AM1

The D/AM1 procedure is intended for certain categories of foreign nationals, for whom the single application is completed by the employer through the WorkInRomania platform.

These include, under the conditions provided by law, highly qualified workers, certain categories of teaching, scientific or specially qualified staff, professional athletes, and citizens of the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and the Republic of Serbia employed in Romania under a full-time individual employment contract.

D/AM2

The D/AM2 procedure applies to permanent, seasonal and cross-border workers.

In this case, the single application is made through the electronic platform, and the legal framework allows it to be filed through a placement agency for foreign nationals or, under the conditions provided by law, directly by an authorized employer.

That is why, for an international recruitment project, simply identifying a candidate is not enough.

It must be determined which category the worker falls into, who can initiate the procedure, which conditions the company must meet and which documents are needed for the employment and the stay to be legal.

When the company also needs to recruit staff

For companies that have not yet identified candidates, the process can start with recruiting and selecting workers.

Within BOSFORA Group, this component is handled by MUNCITOREȘTI, the company specialized and authorized to place foreign nationals on the Romanian labor market.

So when a project involves recruiting from outside the European Union, identifying candidates, placing them and the immigration procedure can be coordinated according to the applicable category and the employer's situation.

3. Planning to do business in Romania?

The phrase "business visa" is widely used, but it can describe two very different situations.

You come temporarily for business

If the purpose is to attend meetings, negotiations or commercial discussions, the short-stay regime for business may be relevant.

This remains a temporary trip, however, and should not be confused with settling in Romania to actually build a company.

You want to build a business in Romania

If the person wants to take a direct stake in a Romanian company as a partner or shareholder and to build a commercial activity, the long-stay visa for business activities (D/AC) may become relevant.

In this case, simply setting up an SRL does not automatically create a right of residence.

The procedure requires a business project that meets the conditions provided by law, including a business plan and the specialist technical approval of the Romanian Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (ARICE).

You want to be the director of a company

Separately, there is the situation of a person appointed as director of a Romanian company.

For this, the D/AS category (other purposes) may be relevant, provided the special conditions set by law are met, including those on the applicant's position in the company and the company's structure.

So when a foreign national wants to open or run a company in Romania, it is important to establish from the outset what role they will have in the company.

The same company can lead to different immigration procedures depending on the structure chosen.

Read also: Golden Visa in Romania? Residence options for foreign investors and entrepreneurs

4. Planning to bring your family to Romania?

For a person living legally in Romania, the family reunification procedure may become relevant.

If the sponsor is a citizen of a country outside the European Union and holds a right of residence in Romania, the procedure requires, in the cases provided by law, prior approval from the General Inspectorate for Immigration.

Once the reunification is approved, the family member applies for the D/VF long-stay visa and, after entering Romania, continues the procedure for their own right of residence.

Family members of Romanian citizens

A separate regime applies to family members of Romanian citizens.

Government Emergency Ordinance (OUG) no. 194/2002 separately regulates the possibility of extending the right of residence for the spouse of a Romanian citizen, children, certain relatives in the ascending line and the other categories provided by law.

A practical example is the situation of citizens of the Republic of Moldova who hold biometric passports.

They are exempt from the visa requirement for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

If a Moldovan citizen legally present in Romania is, for example, the spouse of a Romanian citizen, their situation should not be treated as the ordinary reunification procedure between two third-country nationals.

The law allows family members of Romanian citizens to apply for an extension of the right of residence for family reunification under art. 62 of OUG no. 194/2002, and the general rule on keeping the same purpose of stay contains an express exception for this category.

In practice, if the legal conditions are met and the person is still within their period of legal stay, it may be possible to file directly in Romania for a residence permit as a family member of a Romanian citizen, without first going through a D/VF procedure from abroad.

The situation should, however, be checked against the family relationship, the civil status documents and the applicant's specific status.

5. Other purposes: digital nomads, professional activities and other situations

Not everyone who wants to live in Romania comes under an individual employment contract with a Romanian employer or to build their own company.

There are other categories too.

Digital nomad

For people who work remotely for a company registered outside Romania, or through their own company abroad, the procedure for digital nomads, included in the D/AS category, may be relevant.

It has its own conditions regarding the activity carried out, income and supporting documents.

Professional activities

For practicing certain regulated professions in Romania, the D/AP visa (professional activities) may become relevant.

In this case, before the immigration procedure, it must be checked whether the person meets the conditions set by the special legislation for practicing that profession in Romania.

Other situations

The D/AS category also covers other cases expressly provided by law, each with its own conditions and its own set of documents. The eViza page (opens in a new tab) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs covers D/AS and its related documents separately.

In practice, the difference matters: employment by a Romanian company, managing a company, remote work for a company abroad and practicing a regulated profession are different legal situations.

6. The visa and the residence permit: the 30-day deadline matters

Obtaining the long-stay visa does not complete the procedure.

To continue staying in Romania, you must apply to extend the right of residence and, as applicable, for the corresponding residence document.

Art. 51(1) of OUG no. 194/2002 provides that the extension application must be filed at least 30 days before the approved period of stay expires.

This deadline has an important practical consequence.

A person who enters Romania on a 90-day long-stay visa should not wait until the last days of the visa to start preparing the permit.

Documents may be missing, the file may need to be completed, and issues may come up regarding housing, insurance, the company, the contract or other conditions specific to the purpose of stay.

Failing to file at least 30 days in advance is a minor offense and, under the current form of OUG no. 194/2002, is punishable by a fine of 400 to 800 lei.

There is, however, an essential difference between filing late while the person is still within their period of legal stay and the situation in which the right of residence has already expired.

If the application is filed while the foreign national is still legally in Romania, the law provides that the right of residence is maintained until the application is decided.

If, however, the right of residence expires without the situation being regularized, the person may end up staying illegally, with separate consequences, including fines and, as applicable, return measures. For overstaying the right of residence, fines vary with the length of the illegal stay.

For this reason, the permit procedure should be prepared before the deadline becomes a problem.

7. Already in Romania and your situation has changed?

Another common scenario arises when a person is already legally in Romania but their professional or personal situation changes.

This may involve:

• a change of employer;
• a change of position;
• the termination of the employment contract;
• a move toward a business project;
• a new basis for the stay.

In such a situation, it must be checked whether the change can be made from within Romania, which procedure is needed and whether the current right of residence needs to be updated or extended.

Timing matters.

A procedure that can be used while documents are valid can become considerably harder after the right of residence expires.

That is why a change of employer, position or purpose of stay should be assessed before the existing documents expire.

BOSFORA includes this component as a distinct part of its immigration services, alongside extending and maintaining the right of residence.

The immigration procedure must be built around the specific situation

In practice, the immigration procedure cannot always be assessed separately from the person's professional, family or business situation.

For a foreign worker, it is not only the worker's situation that must be checked, but also whether the employer can complete the required procedure and which category the employment falls into.

For an entrepreneur, the company's structure, the role they will hold in the company, the business plan and, as applicable, the investment can directly influence the type of visa and right of residence that can be applied for.

For a director, the way the company is organized and their legal position in the company must be compatible with the conditions of the applicable procedure.

In family reunification, what matters is who the person already in Romania is, what right of residence they hold and which category the family member applying for entry or stay falls into.

The situation also needs to be followed after the first permit is obtained. Extension deadlines, changes of employer or position, changes to the company's structure or a different purpose of stay may come up. Some of these changes must be handled before the existing documents expire.

Not every case involves the same stages, or the same services. What matters is identifying from the outset the applicable procedure, the right order of steps and the elements that affect one another.

BOSFORA assesses the specific situation and, where needed, coordinates the legal, immigration and business components so that no stage is prepared without taking into account what comes next.

The goal is for the chosen procedure to match the person's real situation and to be supported, documented and carried forward correctly at every stage.