Romania Digital Nomad Visa

Romania's digital nomad visa is a 90-day long-stay D visa for citizens of non-EU and non-EEA countries who work remotely, either under an employment contract with a company registered outside Romania or through their own foreign company. An owner's company must have been registered for at least three years when the application is filed. Romanian employment is not allowed.

The income test is three times Romania's average gross monthly salary, which works out to RON 27,576 a month in 2026 (about €5,167 or $5,800). It applies to each of the last six months before filing and to the whole period on the visa. The consular fee is €300 for applications filed from 27 April 2026, up from €120. Health insurance must cover at least €30,000 across the EU.

After entry, you apply to the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) for a residence permit marked “nomad digital”. The first permit lasts 6 months and renewals run for up to 1 year each. The tax exemption for digital nomads covers stays of up to 183 days in any 12 months, so staying for the full length of the permit goes past that limit and brings Romanian tax residency.

The route suits salaried remote workers and owners of established foreign companies. It does not suit people living on pensions, Social Security or investment income, because the income test counts only earnings from the remote work itself. Romania's long-term residence and citizenship timelines run on separate clocks of five and eight years.

Tax residency in Romania

Romanian law makes you a tax resident if your domicile is in Romania, your centre of vital interests is there, or you spend more than 183 days in the country in a year. A tax resident is taxed on worldwide income. A non-resident is taxed only on Romanian-source income, which this permit does not allow you to earn.

The 183-day exemption

Law 69/2023 gives digital nomads a temporary exemption. While you are present in Romania for no more than 183 days in total across any 12 consecutive months ending in the tax year, salary income from the foreign employer, or pay drawn as administrator of your foreign company, bears no Romanian income tax. You are also outside the Romanian public pension and health insurance systems for that income, so no pension (CAS) or health (CASS) contributions are due. The ordinary rates the exemption displaces are 10% income tax, 25% CAS and 10% CASS.

The first stay on this permit runs for about nine months, and renewals add up to a year at a time. A stay of that length crosses 183 days, at which point the exemption ends and standard Romanian rules apply to your income.

Investment income

The rates on investment income rose from 2026. Dividends are taxed at 16%, up from 10%. Gains on securities sold through intermediaries resident in Romania are taxed at 3% when the securities were held for at least 365 days and 6% when held for less. Gains on securities sold through intermediaries outside Romania, such as a US brokerage, are taxed at 16%, and so are virtual currency gains. Interest is taxed at 10%. Investment income can also trigger a separate health contribution. These rates apply to Romanian tax residents.

The US–Romania tax treaty

The United States and Romania have an income tax convention signed on 4 December 1973 and in force since 26 February 1976. It sets withholding limits on dividends, interest and royalties and deals with business and personal service income.

For US citizens and green card holders

US persons keep their full US filing obligations while living in Romania. Salary and self-employment income earned abroad can be excluded on Form 2555 up to $132,900 for 2026, but the exclusion does not reach dividends, capital gains, pensions or Social Security. Qualifying takes either the physical presence test, which counts 330 full days in a foreign country or countries during any 12 consecutive months, or the bona fide residence test, which looks at whether you have made a foreign country your home for a full tax year. The 330 days do not have to be consecutive or spent in Romania.

Where Romania taxes your income, the foreign tax credit on Form 1116 offsets US tax on it. Income inside the 183-day exemption produces no Romanian tax to credit, and income you exclude under Form 2555 cannot also be credited.

FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) is due when the combined value of your foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point in the year. The maximum non-willful penalty is $16,536 per report for 2026. A Romanian account opened for rent and daily spending counts toward that total together with every other foreign account you hold.