Working in Romania

Entry depends on nationality, and there are three tracks. Citizens of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland move freely: no visa and no work permit are needed, and employed or self-employed work is open on the same conditions as for Romanian citizens. For everyone else, Romania is a full Schengen member, checks at internal air and sea borders having been lifted on 31 March 2024 and at internal land borders on 1 January 2025, so it applies the common visa policy. Nationals of the countries listed in Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, among them the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Brazil, enter without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period and may not take up gainful employment on that basis. Nationals of the countries listed in Annex I, among them India, China, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey, Vietnam and the Philippines, need a Schengen short-stay visa even for a visit of a few days. Travelers can confirm their own status against the EU visa-requirement lists or with a Romanian consulate.

Working or settling for the long term is a separate authorization whatever the short-stay rule. Since 27 April 2026, Emergency Ordinance 32/2026 has replaced the former work permit (aviz de angajare), whose governing title was repealed on that date, with a single application (cerere unica) filed on the state platform WorkinRomania.gov.ro, and it splits the long-stay employment visa into two symbols. The transitional window has now closed: article 48 of the ordinance applied the single-application provisions until 7 August 2026 exclusively so that the platform could register employers of foreign workers, authorise placement agencies and test the system by simulating filings, and article 50 kept work permit applications for a change of employer with the territorial units of the General Inspectorate for Immigration until that same date. Article 51 governs a different point: from 8 August 2026 a foreign national already holding a temporary right of residence for work under the earlier legislation may change employer under article 56(9) to (12) of Emergency Ordinance 194/2002, and the new employer may file single applications, without going through a placement agency, for at most the previous year's average number of employees. On the practical side the two official statements do not fully agree, and both are recent: the Inspectorate announced on 7 August 2026 that in the first stage of operation the platform handles employer registration and placement-agency authorisation, with the electronic single-application flows following in later stages, while the platform's own employer pages describe uploading single applications for work visas without noting any restriction. D/AM1 is filed by the employer alone and covers highly qualified workers, activities requested by ministries or other central administration bodies including national infrastructure projects, teaching, scientific, specially qualified and artistic personnel in Romanian public higher education and cultural institutions, professional athletes, and nationals of Moldova, Ukraine and Serbia on a full-time employment contract. D/AM2 covers permanent, seasonal and cross-border workers and is filed by a licensed foreign placement agency (agentie de plasare a strainilor) or by an authorized employer rather than by an ordinary employer; the occupation must appear on the shortage occupations list (Lista ocupatiilor deficitare), and D/AM2 visas are the ones counted against the annual government quota of newly admitted foreign workers. Avize issued before 27 April 2026, for employment or for posting, can still support a long-stay visa application for 180 days from the date the employer, or the beneficiary of the services, obtained them, and those applications are decided under the rules that applied before that date. Posting runs on a track of its own. The posting work permit (aviz de detasare) fell with the employment one when Title I of Government Ordinance 25/2014 was repealed, but the long-stay visa for posting survives: it is granted for work carried out in Romania for a beneficiary of the provision of services, it carries the right to work, and it does not go through the single application. Long-stay visas of this kind are granted by Romanian diplomatic missions and consular offices, with the approval of the National Visa Centre and after an opinion from the General Inspectorate for Immigration, the two employment symbols D/AM1 and D/AM2 being the only ones carved out of that route. The status of posted worker is reserved to a qualified worker posted by an employer established in an EU or EEA member state or in Switzerland, for 12 months, extendable to 18 months at most in any 36-month period, on production of the residence permit issued by that state; a posting from an employer established in a third country runs through the intra-corporate transfer route instead. Separately from the immigration step, an undertaking established in another member state or in Switzerland notifies a posting to the territorial labour inspectorate, in Romanian, at least one working day before work starts. The fee set for a long-stay visa is EUR 300. Since the same date Romania also issues a working holiday visa, symbol D/VM, granted under the bilateral working holiday program treaties Romania has concluded with third countries, with multiple entries, for a period set by the applicable treaty and without extension. For EU, EEA and Swiss nationals, a stay of up to three months requires no formality beyond a valid identity document; beyond three months, registering the stay becomes mandatory with the General Inspectorate for Immigration (Inspectoratul General pentru Imigrari), which issues a registration certificate on the same day, valid for up to five years and not less than one year, once you carry out employed or self-employed work, or have sufficient resources and health insurance. Non-EU family members receive a residence card instead, issued within 90 days of filing, and a right of permanent residence is acquired after five years of continuous legal residence, evidenced by a permanent residence card. For third-country nationals, the residence documents that follow the long-stay employment visa are the single permit (permis unic) and the EU Blue Card, and long-term residence can be requested after five years of continuous stay, continuity being broken by absences of six consecutive months or more, or exceeding ten months in total. Since 10 April 2026 the Entry/Exit System has been fully operational across the Schengen area: passport stamping is replaced by a digital record of entries, exits and refusals of entry for non-EU nationals on short stays, with facial image and fingerprints. ETIAS is scheduled to start in the last quarter of 2026 and is not required before then. A personal identification number (CNP) is useful for most everyday administrative steps. This describes the framework in force and is general information, not immigration advice; for any personal situation a qualified professional is recommended.

The Romanian labor market is dynamic, with structurally low unemployment. International profiles are sought in technology and software, business services (shared-service centers and outsourcing, known as SSC and BPO), industry and automotive, energy and agri-food. Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Iasi and Brasov concentrate these activities.

Shared-service and outsourcing centers operate from Romania for Western European markets and recruit for support functions (customer relations, finance, human resources) on language skills as much as on sector experience. English covers most day-to-day work in these centers and in IT, and the centers serving French-speaking markets also recruit French speakers: for someone who does not yet speak Romanian, these are among the more accessible entry points. For third-country nationals, none of this removes the authorization stage described above, which runs through the WorkinRomania.gov.ro platform. Typical salary ranges by sector appear below.

Romania levies personal income tax at a single flat rate rather than on a progressive scale. The Fiscal Code (Law 227/2015), article 64, sets that rate at 10% and applies it to most income categories: income from independent activities, intellectual property rights, salaries and salary-equivalents, rental of assets, investments, pensions, agriculture, forestry and fishing, prizes and other sources. The same article reserves a different rate where one is expressly provided, and one such case is recent: Law 141/2025 sets the dividend rate at 16% for dividends distributed from 1 January 2026, dividends distributed during 2025 on interim financial statements remaining at 10%. Social contributions for pension and health apply in addition to the tax. Tax residence is defined in article 7 of the same code: it follows from domicile in Romania, from the center of vital interests, from presence in Romania totaling more than 183 days in any 12 consecutive months ending in the calendar year concerned, or from working abroad as an official or employee of the Romanian state.

Cross-border situations are governed by bilateral double-taxation treaties, and Romania has an extensive network of them. Treaties are in force with the United States (income tax treaty of 1973), with Canada (signed 8 April 2004, in force 31 December 2004) and with Australia (signed 2 February 2000, in force 11 April 2001, as modified by the multilateral instrument). The United Kingdom treaty was recently replaced: the agreement signed on 13 November 2024 entered into force on 23 December 2025 and takes effect in Romania from 1 January 2026, and in the United Kingdom from 1 April 2026 for Corporation Tax and 6 April 2026 for Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax. Which treaty applies, and what relief it gives, depends on tax residence and on the type of income, so the reference text is the treaty between Romania and your own country of tax residence. For any personal situation, and for up-to-date figures, a qualified professional is recommended.

Citizens of the European Union and the European Economic Area can acquire a home in Romania without a prior permit or authorization, with the same rights as Romanian nationals. For other nationalities, what Romanian law restricts is land rather than built housing: article 44(2) of the Romanian Constitution provides that foreign citizens and stateless persons may acquire private ownership of land only under the conditions arising from Romania's accession to the European Union and from other international treaties to which Romania is a party, on a basis of reciprocity, under the conditions laid down by an organic law, and by legal inheritance. The detail of that land regime is set by the organic law the Constitution refers to.

Two points deserve attention. First, separate rules apply to certain categories of land, notably agricultural and forest land, including for EU nationals. Second, owning property gives no right of residence: ownership and residence are distinct matters. Support from a qualified professional is recommended to secure the transaction.

The cost of living in Romania is markedly lower than in most of Western Europe: Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca stand out as the country's most expensive cities while remaining cheaper than major Western capitals, and regional cities are cheaper still, with housing the main line item, rising in the large cities. Amounts are expressed in leu (RON), as Romania has not adopted the euro, and vary with the exchange rate. Rather than fixed amounts, it is more reliable to think in terms of real purchasing power and to use the calculator for an up-to-date estimate based on your income.