Entry on the Romanian territory may be permitted to foreigners who fulfill the following conditions:

• possess a valid document for crossing the state border, which is accepted by the Romanian state;
• possess a visa or residence permit granted under GEO no.194 / 2002 or, if applicable, have any authorization entitling the holder to transit or stay in Romania based on EU legislation, mandatory and applicable to Romania if, through international agreement, it wasn’t otherwise agreed;
• shows documents justifying the purpose and conditions of their stay and which prove the existence of appropriate means both for maintenance during the stay, and for return to the country of origin or transit to another state where there is there is a certainty that the person will be allowed entry;
• provides guarantees that the person will be allowed entry into the State of destination or that he/she will leave the territory of Romania, in case of foreigners in transit;
• their names are not placed under alerts in the NISA system for the purpose of refusing the entry on the Romanian territory;
• there are no alerts on their name in the Schengen Information System for the purpose of refusing the entry;
• they do not endanger the national defense and security, public order, public health or ethics.

1. Foreigner – the person who does not have Romanian citizenship, citizenship of another member state of the European Union, European Economic Area or Swiss Confederation citizenship;

Short-stay visa

If you wish to travel to Romania for a short period of time and are a national of a State which requires a visa, you must obtain a short-stay visa (symbol C).

Consult the list of countries whose citizens do not need visas to enter Romania.

Consult the list of countries whose citizens need a visa to enter Romania.

Short-stay visa allows you to request entry on the Romanian territory for reasons other than immigration, for an uninterrupted stay or for several stays whose duration should not exceed 90 days within any period of 180 days preceding each day of stay in Romania. This type of visa can be issued with one or more entries.

Also, the travel document in which the visa is to be applied must meet the following criteria: its validity must exceed the validity of the requested visa by at least 3 months and it must have been released in the last 10 years.

For some of the countries whose citizens need a visa to enter Romania, it is required to get an invitation approved by the General Inspectorate for Immigration.

The invitation can be made by an individual or legal person, Romanian or foreign citizen residing in Romania.(See the list of countries whose citizens need an invitation in order to obtain a visa to enter Romania).

Short-stay visa entitles you to visit Romania for a limited time and cannot be extended. If you want to stay for a longer period of time in Romania, you must obtain a long-stay visa and subsequently a residence permit in Romania.

You can get a short-stay visa from diplomatic missions and consular offices. (See list of these).

The right to stay in Romania, which will be conferred by the short-stay visa cannot be extended. However, if, for objective reasons, you cannot leave Romania within the validity of the given visa, you can get a return decision from the territorial units of the General Inspectorate for Immigration.

The visa fee is 60 Euro and it is paid to the Romanian diplomatic mission in the state in which you are requesting it.

Types of visa

Consult the list of documents required to obtain visas for short stay, depending on the purpose of your coming in Romania:

• Tourism
• Visit
• Business
• Transport
• Sport Activities
• Cultural, scientific, humanitarian, medical treatment of short duration or other activities that do not breach Romanian laws

When short-stay visa is conditioned by invitation

If you hold a simple passport, you can get short-stay visa with one or more entries as long as you present to the diplomatic missions and consular offices a written invitation (see pattern here), approved by the General Inspectorate for Immigration, from the part of an individual or legal person in Romania.

The invitation, accompanied by a series of documents, depending on the purpose, is filled in under (two copies) and then submitted to the territorial unit of the General Inspectorate for Immigration for approval. See list of documents required for the endorsement of the invitations depending on the reason of coming to Romania: visit , tourism , business.

Invitations are approved within 60 days from the submission date.

For foreigners who want to come in Romania for tourism, in organized groups of minimum 20 people, at the request of companies regulated by the Law no.31 / 1990, republished, with subsequent amendments, members of the National Association of Travel Agencies of Romania, the approval of the invitations is made within 30 days from the submission date.

If approved, a copy of the invitation will be handed to the inviter, who will forward it to you. You will present the invitation, in original, to the diplomatic missions or the consular office, accompanied by the other documents, in order to obtain the Romanian visa. You must apply for a visa within 30 days of the approval of the invitation, otherwise it loses its validity.

The inviter, person or entity, shall pay the expenses incurred by the removal from Romania of the invited foreigners. The invitation shall be enforceable in case the invited foreigner does not leave Romania until the date the right to stay established through visa ceases.

The right of residence in Romania may not exceed the right of residence conferred by the visas / residence permits in question.

You can calculate your right to your residence by using the following link http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-vis… made available in this respect by the European Commission.

Exceptions for short-stay visa

There are certain situations when for obtaining a short-stay visa you no longer need an invitation endorsed by the General Inspectorate for Immigration; in this situation you will apply for a visa to the diplomatic or consular offices based on a legalised invitation. (See exceptions from the invitation procedure).

For the approval of a short-stay visa, the National Visa Center requires the official point of view of the General Inspectorate for Immigration thus increasing the term of granting the visa. The General Inspectorate for Immigration must reply regarding the short-stay visa within 7 working days of receipt of the request and in duly justified cases the deadline may be extended by another 7 days. There are also situations where there is no need for General Inspectorate for Immigration’ s official point of view.  (See list of exceptions to the opinion GII)

If you are a citizen of states whose nationals need a visa (see list) you can enter Romania without a visa if you find yourself in the following situations:

• you are a holder of uniform visas (with two or more entries), of visas with limited territorial validity, of long-stay visas or of residence permits issued by Schengen Member States, as well as of visas for short stay or long stay and of residence permits issued by Bulgaria, Cyprus and Croatia – for transit and stays whose total duration does not exceed 90 days within any period of 180 days preceding each day of stay in Romania, if the documents submitted are within the validity period and the number of entries and the duration of the authorized stay have not been exceeded.
• you hold a valid long-term residence permit issued by an EU member state – for an uninterrupted stay or for several stays whose total duration does not exceed 90 days within any period of 180 days preceding each day of stay on Romania’s territory;
• you own a small traffic permit issued in accordance with GEO no. 194/2002 on foreigners in Romania and with European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No. 1931/2006 of 20 December 2006 laying down rules on local border traffic at the external land borders of the Member States and amending the Schengen Convention, provided that you exercise your right to move in line with the small border traffic regime.  
• you are the holder of travel documents with a red or blue cover, issued by the United Nations, except for those with a blue cover and the numerical series preceded by the letter A  – for an uninterrupted stay or several stays not exceeding 90 days in during any period of 180 days prior to each day of stay in Romania. In each case, the foreign national must present, together with the travel document, a certificate attesting that the holder is traveling for official purposes, as referred to in the United Nations Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.
• you are a citizen of the Arab Republic of Egypt, holder of a valid diplomatic and service passport  – for transit and stays of no more than 90 days in any 180 days.
• you are a citizen of the Arab Republic of Egypt, a member of diplomatic missions and consular offices, trade offices and representations of international organizations in Romania, holder of a valid diplomatic and service passport   – during the mission, with prior notice of their names. The same facilities shall be enjoyed by the family members of the above-mentioned persons, who live with them, themselves holders of valid diplomatic passports, during the mission of these persons.
• you are citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, members of diplomatic missions and consular posts, holders of valid diplomatic and service passports, as well as family members with whom they manage together, holders of valid diplomatic and service passports  – are exempt from the visa requirement for the entire duration of the holder’s mission, provided that their appointment is notified in writing, through diplomatic channels, 30 (thirty) days before the start of their official mission.