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🇷🇴 Romania visa and residence routes
An EU and Schengen base with fast internet, a 10% flat tax and low costs — but its nomad visa carries one of the highest income bars in Eastern Europe.
The lowest published bar starts from €3,700 a month in income. The single documented route is remote work / self-employment. Naturalisation becomes possible after roughly 8 years of qualifying residence.
How Romania compares
Living costs sit mid-table for this list, at roughly €1,200 a month for one person. As an EU member state, it also opens the rest of the Union to anyone who eventually naturalises here.
Who these routes are built for
Based on the routes currently included in our database for Romania, these options suit people earning from remote work or their own foreign clients.
They are a poor fit for retirees, since no passive-income route is published.
What the bar means in practice
The lowest income requirement, €3,700 a month on the Digital Nomad Visa (D/AD), sits against living costs of about €1,200 a month. That is about 3.1 times what one person typically spends here, so the bar is set well above the cost of actually living in the country — these routes are screening for comfort, not survival. If that is out of reach, the nearest lower bar in Europe is 🇬🇷 Greece, which starts at €3,500 a month.
Routes at a glance
| Route | Built for | Financial bar | Processing | Leads to residency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Nomad Visa (D/AD) | Remote work / self-employment | €3,700/mo | 1–2 mo | Yes |
The financial bar is the main money test for that route — a monthly income floor, or the savings to show where no income floor applies. Figures are for a single applicant; most programmes scale upward for a partner or children.
Which of these would actually take you?
This page lists the routes currently included in our database for Romania. The free 3-minute check compares those rules against your own passport, income, savings, age and family, and stamps each route clear, stretch or blocked — with the reason.
No account, no card, results in 3 minutes.
Routes in our database, in detail
Digital Nomad Visa (D/AD)
Created by Law 22/2022 for non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens. Requires at least 3x the Romanian average gross salary — approximately EUR 3,700/month in early 2026 — for each of the 6 months before the visa application and for the visa period, plus qualifying remote employment or ownership of a company registered outside Romania for at least 3 years. The residence-extension rules keep the same 3x income test; the first extension is granted for 6 months, with later extensions possible while the conditions continue to be met. No local employment or Romanian clients are allowed. Tax residence depends on the individual facts, including length of stay; obtain tax advice before assuming the 10% Romanian rate applies.
Before you rely on any of this
Visa and residence requirements on this page are compiled from the linked official sources and current as of 2026-08-07. Cost of living, English, healthcare and cross-country comparison indicators are ExpatSuccess estimates, not government figures. Governments change immigration rules without notice and consulates apply them with discretion, so confirm on the linked official portal before making decisions or spending money. This page is research, not legal, immigration, tax or financial advice.
Other Europe destinations
🇵🇹 Portugal · 🇪🇸 Spain · 🇫🇷 France · 🇩🇪 Germany · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · 🇮🇹 Italy · 🇬🇷 Greece · 🇲🇹 Malta