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The Romania Digital Nomad Visa (D/AS) is a long-stay visa under Law 22/2022 + Law 69/2023 for non-EU/EEA/Swiss remote workers earning ≥ €5,560/month gross (3× Romanian average gross salary) from non-Romanian employers/clients. Pairs with a 12-month income-tax exemption on foreign salary, then 10% flat PIT once you become Romanian tax resident at 183 days — the lowest income-tax rate in the EU. Romania joined Schengen fully January 2025 (land borders), so the visa now grants frictionless 90/180 access across the bloc.
TL;DR
- 🇷🇴 Income floor: €5,560/month gross = 3× Romanian average wage (re-evaluated annually)
- 📋 Eligibility: non-EU/EEA/Swiss only — employee of foreign company OR own/admin foreign company for ≥ 3 years
- ⏱ Processing time: 14-90 days at consulate
- 🏠 Permit length: 12 months initial (D/AS visa) → convertible to residence permit
- 🧾 12-month tax exemption: 0% Romanian PIT on foreign salary for the first year of residence (Law 69/2023)
- 🧾 Post-183-day: 10% flat PIT — lowest in the EU; CAS (social) and CASS (health) contributions also apply
- 🇪🇺 Schengen since Jan 2025: full integration — D/AS days don’t count against 90/180 short-stay, but free movement across Schengen is also capped at 90/180
- 🏠 Cost-of-living: Bucharest €500-900/mo (1-bed); Cluj-Napoca €450-800; Brașov / Iași 30-40% cheaper
Romania introduced a digital-nomad framework in early 2022 (Law 22/2022) and bolted on an income-tax exemption a year later (Law 69/2023). In 2026 it sits in an interesting spot: full Schengen membership since January 2025, a 10% flat income tax that’s among the lowest in the EU, and a 12-month exemption on foreign-source salary that lets new arrivals stack savings before residency triggers kick in.
The income threshold is high in absolute terms (~€5,560/month, anchored to 3× the average gross salary), and Romanian administrative procedure runs in Romanian with limited English support. But Cluj, Bucharest, and Timișoara have real dev scenes, rent is materially below western EU, and the regime is tax-friendly to a degree that’s hard to find inside Schengen.
This guide walks through what remote developers need to plan around in 2026.
What Is the Romania Digital Nomad Visa?
The legal name is viză de lungă ședere pentru alte scopuri (D/AS) — nomazi digitali — long-stay visa for “other purposes,” digital-nomad subcategory. It was introduced by Law 22/2022, which amended the Aliens Act (OUG 194/2002) to add the digital-nomad definition and framework.
Per the statute, a digital nomad is a foreigner who:
- Holds an employment contract with a company registered outside Romania, OR
- Owns or administers (proven for ≥3 years before application) a company registered outside Romania
- Performs the work remotely via information and communication technology
The visa is available to third-country nationals (non-EU/EEA/Swiss) only. EU citizens use freedom-of-movement registration. The Romanian Immigration Office (IGI) is the canonical reference.
Income Requirements
The statute pegs the income floor to Romania’s average gross salary, published by INS (the statistical office) each January:
- Statutory multiplier: ≥3× average gross monthly salary
- INS figure (January 2026): 9,220 RON gross monthly average (insse.ro press release cs01r25)
- 2026 threshold: 3 × 9,220 RON = 27,660 RON/month ≈ €5,560/month at the BNR daily reference rate (~4.97 RON/EUR; confirm at application time via bnr.ro)
- Annualised: ~€66,720/year
You must demonstrate the threshold both for the six months before application and for the full visa period. Acceptable evidence:
- Six months of bank statements
- Tax-compliance certificate from your country’s tax authority (clean record, no fraud)
- Employment contract OR proof of foreign-company ownership ≥3 years
This is the highest income threshold among the active EU digital-nomad visas — Spain runs €2,762, Portugal €3,480, Croatia €3,622, Greece €3,500. Romania’s bar reflects the 3× average-salary formula rather than a fixed target, which means it ratchets with Romanian wage growth.
Application Process
Step 1: Apply at a Romanian consulate abroad
Applications go to the Romanian diplomatic mission or consulate in your country of residence. The visa is type D/AS (long-stay, other purposes). See mae.ro long-stay visa overview.
Step 2: Assemble the documents
Required file per OUG 194/2002 Art. 49 + IGI guidance:
- Valid passport (validity ≥6 months beyond visa period)
- Employment contract OR proof of foreign-company ownership ≥3 years, with sworn Romanian translation
- Company letter (identification, business domain, your role, legal representatives)
- Letter of intent
- Proof of income — last 6 months bank statements + tax-compliance certificate from issuing-country tax authority
- Proof of accommodation in Romania
- Criminal-record certificate from country of residence
- Travel medical insurance — minimum €30,000 coverage, valid for the full visa period
Step 3: Pay fees and wait
- Consular visa fee: €120 (standard long-stay D fee; verify your specific mission’s tariff)
- Statutory decision window: up to 60 days for D visas
Real-world variance exists; some missions move faster, others slower. Plan four to twelve weeks.
Step 4: Convert to a residence permit after arrival
The D/AS entry visa is valid up to 12 months. Before it expires (recommended ≥30 days in advance), you apply at your local IGI territorial office to convert the visa into a permis de ședere temporară (temporary residence permit). Initial extension is for 6 months, renewable on continued compliance + a fresh income certificate.
Step 5: Get your NIF or CNP
Non-residents need a NIF (Numar de Identificare Fiscala) from ANAF for any tax filing or property contract. Once you have the residence permit, you’re issued a CNP (personal numeric code), which subsumes the NIF for residents.
Tax Implications
This is the part that makes Romania interesting in the medium term.
The 12-month exemption (Law 69/2023)
Under Law 69/2023 (published in Monitorul Oficial nr. 265 of 30 March 2023), which amended the Fiscal Code (Codul Fiscal art. 60 + 76):
Digital nomads are expressly exempt from Romanian income tax AND from CAS/CASS social/health contributions on foreign-source salary income, provided they hold digital-nomad status under the Aliens Act AND are present in Romania ≤ 183 days in any rolling 12-month period ending in the calendar year concerned.
Translation: if you stay under 183 days, your foreign salary is fully tax-free in Romania. This is functionally similar to Croatia’s Article 9(1)(26) exemption but bounded by the 183-day window.
After 183 days — full Romanian fiscal residency
Once you cross 183 days in any rolling 12-month period, you become a Romanian tax resident on worldwide income from day one of presence (per ANAF guidance — see the 2021 ANAF guide on fiscal residency).
The 2026 rates (Codul Fiscal, unchanged for salaries):
- 10% flat income tax on salary income
- CAS 25% + CASS 10% social and health contributions on employment income
- Dividends / capital gains / crypto: 16% effective 2026 (raised from 10%)
The 10% flat rate is one of the lowest in the EU. The catch is the social contributions stack — total effective cost on a Romanian-resident salary lands around 41–43% before any deductions.
Strategic play: use the 12-month window deliberately
Many remote developers use the Romania regime as a one-year tax-friendly base: arrive, stay under 183 days, bank the foreign-salary exemption, then either leave or restructure (incorporate locally, switch to a Romanian employer) to manage the residency cliff. Talk to a Romanian accountant before structuring around it — the rules are clear but the timing math matters.
Healthcare
Mandatory travel medical insurance with minimum €30,000 coverage must be valid for the full visa period (Law 22/2022, as cited above). Budget €30–€80/month for an international plan.
Once you become a Romanian tax resident (>183 days), CASS contributions (10%) become due, which gives you access to the public CNAS health system. Private insurance is still recommended for waiting-time avoidance; Romania’s public system is functional but waits at popular Bucharest/Cluj clinics can stretch.
Cost of Living in Romania
Romania is genuinely cheap by EU standards. Numbers below are 1-bed apartment rent in city centre, from Numbeo (retrieved May 2026):
| City | 1-bed centre (approx) |
|---|---|
| Bucharest | €610/month |
| Cluj-Napoca | €500–€600/month |
| Timișoara | €400–€500/month |
| Iași | €330–€400/month |
Cluj and Bucharest are the priciest; Timișoara is the sweet spot for cost vs amenities; Iași is the budget option. Coworking runs €100–€180/month at established spaces; day passes typically €8–€12.
Groceries, transit, and dining run 40–50% below Berlin or Amsterdam. Fast fibre is widely available (Romania ranks consistently high on EU broadband-speed indexes); €15–€25/month for symmetric gigabit at home is normal.
Practical Realities
Schengen since January 2025
Romania joined Schengen for air and sea borders on 31 March 2024 and for land borders on 1 January 2025 (European Commission statement). Days spent in Romania on the D/AS permit do not count against the 90/180 Schengen short-stay allowance — but free movement across Schengen on this permit is also capped at 90/180.
The 183-day trap
Every day in Romania counts against both the tax exemption AND the Schengen-residency thresholds. If you want to stay under 183 days, track carefully — calendar days, not business days. A long weekend trip out doesn’t reset the rolling counter.
Residence-permit timing
Apply for the residence permit at IGI at least 30 days before your entry visa expires. The 60-day statutory decision window plus the renewal applications run on Romanian timelines — don’t leave it to the last week. Initial residence-permit fee is ~€120 (additional to the consular visa fee).
Romanian-language admin
ANAF, IGI, and the Land Registry portals operate primarily in Romanian. English partial coverage exists but isn’t reliable. Sworn Romanian translation is required for foreign civil documents (criminal record, marriage certificate). Budget €20–€40 per document.
Strong tech infrastructure, weaker EN-only services
Romania has one of the EU’s strongest fibre/5G rollouts and a deep developer talent pool, but consumer services (banking apps, utility portals, government interactions) lean Romanian-only. Cluj and Bucharest have more English support than smaller cities.
Dev-Friendly Cities
Cluj-Napoca is Romania’s tech capital. IT employs the largest share of the local workforce, salaries are the highest outside Bucharest, and the ecosystem is dense — Cluj Hub, ClujCowork, active JS/Python/Go meetups, the Cluj IT cluster. Lifestyle is studenty (Babeș-Bolyai University) but more cosmopolitan than the population (~325k) suggests. Coldest winters of the four cities.
Bucharest has the largest absolute scene, the most international firms (Oracle, Microsoft, EY, McKinsey Digital), the fastest fibre and the most direct international flights. Impact Hub Bucharest, Commons, and Nod Makerspace anchor coworking. Trade-off: traffic and a less coherent city-centre feel than Cluj. Rents are highest of the four but still cheap by EU standards.
Timișoara carries 2023 European Capital of Culture infrastructure, a strong dev community (Continental, Visma, NTT DATA), and lower rents than Cluj. Coworking: Ambasada, Cowork Timișoara. Mild winters, Habsburg-era architecture, growing nomad scene. The arbitrage pick of the three.
Romania vs Bulgaria vs Hungary: How Does It Stack Up?
| Romania D/AS | Bulgaria | Hungary White Card | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Min income / month | €5,560 | ~€2,500 (proof of income only) | ~€2,000 |
| Initial visa term | 12 months | 6 months type D | 1 year |
| Renewal path | 6-mo renewable temporary residence | Path varies | 1-year extensions |
| Tax on foreign salary | 0% for first 183 days; 10% flat after | Standard 10% PIT | 15% PIT after residency |
| Schengen | Yes (Jan 2025) | Yes (Jan 2025) | Yes |
| Tech-scene depth | Strong (Cluj, Bucharest) | Moderate (Sofia) | Strong (Budapest) |
Romania wins on the 12-month tax exemption + the Cluj/Bucharest tech-scene depth. Bulgaria wins on income threshold and is a serious budget play. Hungary wins on Budapest’s overall liveability but the regime is less generous on tax.
Should You Apply?
Apply if you’re a non-EU remote employee clearing €5,560/month comfortably, want a low-cost Schengen base for 6–18 months, and either intend to play the 183-day exemption strategically or are comfortable with the 41–43% post-residency total tax burden in exchange for Cluj/Bucharest tech-scene access.
Skip it if your income is below €5,500, you need a residency-path commitment from day one (Spain or Portugal have clearer paths), or Romanian-language administrative friction will be a blocker.
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