The long-stay visa is granted to foreign citizens for various purposes, such as economic, professional, and commercial activities, secondment, studies, family reunification, employment, etc. 

Below, we will outline the most important information for obtaining a long-stay visa for the purpose of employment.

After obtaining the work permit, the employer sends this permit to the foreign citizen, and based on it, the foreign citizen must obtain a long-stay visa for employment from the diplomatic missions or consular offices of Romania.

The long-stay visa for employment is identified by the symbol D/AM. 

This long-stay visa is granted to foreign citizens, upon request, for a period of 90 days with one or more entries. Through this visa, foreigners are granted the right to temporary residence and the possibility to request an extension and obtain a residence permit.

The foreigner can apply for a long-stay visa for employment within 180 days from the date of obtaining the work permit from the employer. 

The visa is approved by the National Visa Center within 20 days from the date of submitting the visa issuance request, without the need for approval from the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI). For categories of foreign citizens engaged in gainful activities without a work permit, the visa is granted with the approval of the General Inspectorate for Immigration.

To obtain the long-stay visa, foreign citizens must meet certain mandatory conditions, including those related to entry into Romania or those related to the fact that they have not been convicted abroad for offenses committed abroad that are incompatible with the purpose for which the visa is requested, and the travel document is not fake or forged, etc.

To obtain the long-stay visa, the application must be accompanied by a series of documents, including a copy of the work permit issued for employment in Romania, a certificate of criminal record, or another document of equivalent legal value issued by the authorities in the country of domicile or residence, etc.

There are also exceptions when the presentation of a copy of the foreign citizen’s work permit is no longer necessary for obtaining the long-stay visa. This includes situations where access to the labor market in Romania is established by treaties concluded by Romania with other states or for foreigners who carry out activities requested by ministries or other organs of public/local administration or by autonomous administrative authorities.

The right to temporary residence of foreign citizens who have entered Romania based on a long-stay visa can be successively extended for periods of up to one year only if certain conditions are met. For example, conditions related to entry into Romania are still met, there is no danger to the defense and security of Romania, the extension is requested for the same purpose for which the long-stay visa was granted or extended, etc.

There are also situations where foreign citizens are exempted from the obligation to obtain long-stay visas, namely citizens of states with which Romania has concluded agreements in this regard, under the conditions and for the periods of stay established by these agreements. This category includes Canadian and Japanese citizens who are unilaterally exempt from the obligation to obtain a long-stay visa for a stay of 3 months in Romania, and upon expiration of the 3 months, they are obliged to request an extension of the right to residence.

The fees for obtaining the long-stay visa must be paid in the state where the foreign citizen submits the application for obtaining the long-stay visa.

Author: Atty. Felicia Cioflan