Romania visa regulations

For most people this is a gimmie: No visa necessary! You simply need a passport not set to expire for at least six month after your visit. That includes citizens of all EU countries , USA , Canada , Japan and many other countries for stays up to 90 days 

Unlike some blasé countries in Western Europe, you need to keep an eye on that 90 day deadline, as your entry date will be checked upon your exit. Although Romanian border guards have cleaned up their acts significantly to appease EU officials, they’ll have a field day with your sorry butt if you over-stay, and it will be a very expensive field day, I promise you that. Furthermore, Romania’s entry into the EU has meant the ol’ border hop visa renewal trick for people staying long term is no longer an option. Americans can only stay in country for up to 90 days during a six month period. Other non-EU nationals will probably find themselves in similar straits. An extension can be acquired in Romania if necessary, though no details have been made available about cost or effort.

Australians and New Zealanders: “Starting with 1 January 2007 (the date of Romania’s accession to the European Union), the Australian and New-Zealander citizens will be exempted from obtaining short stay visas to enter Romania (visas for stays not longer than 90 days within 6 months, from the date of the first entry into Romania).” [Taken from Embassy of Romania Canberra web site]

Check with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the latest details, including a list of nationalities that need a visa, but do not need a letter of invitation.

Romania issues two types of tourist visas; single-entry and transit.

Regular single-entry visas are valid for 90 days from the day of arrival. Depending on the work ethic of the consulate in question, single-entry visas are usually issued within a week, but an extra fee can ramp this up to a blistering 48 hours.

If you’re coming overland from a country that is not one of Romania’s immediate neighbors, be sure to check your visa requirements for Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, Bulgaria or Ukraine, if you’re itinerary takes you through any of these places.

Transit visas (for citizens of countries that were not mentioned above) are for stays of no longer than three days, and cannot be bought at the border. Transit visas can be either single-entry (60 euros) – valid for five days – or double-entry, allowing you to enter the country twice and stay for five days on each pass-through.

To apply for a visa you need a passport, one recent passport photograph and the completed visa application form accompanied by the appropriate fee.

Citizens of some countries (mainly African) need a formal invitation from a person or company in order to apply for a visa; again, see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website for details.

If you are taking the Bucharest-St Petersburg train, you may need a Ukrainian and definitely a Belarusian transit visa on top of the Russian visa.

Why can’t we all just get along?