Romania
Romania Digital Nomad Visa: health insurance requirements
Yes: health insurance is required
Romania's digital nomad visa, launched in 2021, lets non-EU nationals who work remotely for companies or clients outside Romania live there legally. It carries a high income bar (about three times the national average gross salary) and a mandatory €30,000 private health insurance policy for the entire stay. The long-stay visa converts to a residence permit renewable to roughly three years, and since January 2025 Romania is a full Schengen member.
The requirements at a glance
| Minimum coverage | €30,000 |
|---|---|
| Repatriation required | Not required |
| Minimum policy duration | Full duration of stay |
| Local-licensed insurer required | No: compliant international IPMI is accepted |
| Accepted proof | Private health insurance policy document valid throughout Romania for the full stay, showing coverage of at least €30,000; ordinary travel insurance is not accepted. |
Income of at least three times the Romanian average gross monthly salary for the six months before applying and throughout the stay (recently roughly €4,000-€5,600/month as the average wage rises). Applicant must work for a company or clients based outside Romania. Also requires a valid passport, accommodation proof, and a clean criminal record certificate. The visa leads to a residence permit renewable to a total of around three years.
Who qualifies for the Romania nomad visa
The income bar is what decides most applications, and it is the number people look for first. Here is the current one, with the conditions that come attached to it.
- Income required
- ≈ €3,700/mo (3× avg salary)
- Length of permit
- 12 monthsrenewable
- Who can apply
- Employed remotely, Freelancer, Business owner
- Nationality restrictions
- Non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals only.
Bar is 3× Romania's average gross salary (proven for 6 months) and rises over time — verify the current figure.
Tax
Income-tax and social-contribution exemption for the first 6 months; tax resident after 183+ days.
That is a summary of the rule, not tax advice. Residence for immigration and residence for tax are decided separately, and the second one tends to arrive quietly, usually after you have been in the country long enough to stop thinking about it. Take proper advice before the year you need it.
What the income bar really means
Two things get people rejected on income even when they earn enough. The first is proving it: consulates want a documented, repeating history, usually bank statements and contracts covering several months, not a screenshot of a good quarter. Irregular freelance income clears the bar on average and fails on paper. The second is dependants, who almost always raise the threshold, and by a percentage of the base figure rather than a flat amount.
Treat the number above as the floor for the paperwork, not as a comfortable income for living there. It is set by the country’s own cost of living or minimum wage, which means it moves, and in several countries it is re-set every year.
Romania's digital nomad visa requires proof of income at three times the national average gross salary, one of the higher income bars among EU nomad visas, alongside a €30,000 health insurance minimum.
Our take
The €30,000 minimum is the EU-standard floor and is genuinely enforced: this is a long-stay health insurance requirement, not a cheap travel policy, so buy a proper nomad or expat health plan that names Romania and runs for the whole permit period. Confirm the wording meets the Ministry of Foreign Affairs figure before you submit.
Because Romania is now full Schengen, a policy valid across the Schengen area is sensible so a single plan covers both your Romanian base and your 90-day trips elsewhere in Europe. Repatriation cover is not explicitly mandated but is worth having, since getting home for serious treatment is the realistic large cost.
What happens if you get it wrong
A travel-insurance certificate instead of a health insurance policy. Consulates distinguish between the two, and a short-term travel plan will usually be rejected even if its coverage figure looks high enough.
A policy that lapses before the permit ends or does not clearly state Romania-wide validity and the €30,000 coverage. The cover must span the full stay, so a 12-month plan against a longer permit, or one with gaps, can sink the application or a renewal.
Interactive
Verified pricesWhat would it cost in Romania without insurance?
The textbook traveller emergency. It cannot wait, it cannot be treated at a pharmacy, and it ends in an operating theatre.
| Emergency room, on arrival | $430–$1,075 |
| A scan to confirm it | $107–$213 |
| The operation | $3,250 |
| Three nights recovering | not verified here |
| At least | $3,787–$4,538 |
One step in this bill has no verified price for Romania yet, so the real total sits above this one. We would rather leave the line blank than guess at it.
Priced as one lump instead of itemised, a serious admission in Romania runs $1,500 to $7,000.
That is the bill you carry alone. Insurance exists for exactly this.
See what cover costsTypical private-care estimates for illustration, not a quote. Actual bills vary by hospital, city and severity.
FAQ
Yes. You must hold a private health insurance policy valid for the entire stay covering at least €30,000 in medical costs, a figure set out in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa documentation.
No. Authorities expect long-term private health insurance, not a short-stay travel policy, even if the travel policy's coverage limit appears high. Buy a health plan that names Romania and the full permit period.
At least three times the Romanian average gross monthly salary for the six months before applying and during your stay. As the average wage has risen this has worked out to roughly €4,000 to €5,600 a month, so verify the current figure with the consulate.
The long-stay visa is the entry document; on arrival you apply for a residence permit, which is renewable to a total of around three years provided you keep meeting the income and insurance conditions.
Yes. Romania became a full Schengen member in January 2025, so a Romanian residence permit lets you travel within the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
How to apply
- Processing time
- Statutory decision limit is up to 60 days; in practice sources report from about 10 to 14 working days up to roughly two to three months overall.
- Government fee
- EUR 120 long-stay (D/AD) visa fee paid to the consulate or portal; a separate residence-permit card fee applies in Romania after arrival.
- Where to apply
- Online via the MFA e-visa portal (eviza.mae.ro) or a Romanian embassy or consulate; then the residence permit at the General Inspectorate for Immigration after arrival.
- 1
Confirm you meet the income test: average monthly income of at least three times Romania's average gross monthly wage over the last six months (well over EUR 3,000 per month; the exact figure updates yearly), earned from remote work for a company registered outside Romania or your own foreign company.
- 2
Gather documents: passport, application form, proof of remote work, proof of income for the last six months, health insurance with at least EUR 30,000 cover, accommodation details and a criminal-record certificate, with foreign documents translated into Romanian and legalised or apostilled.
- 3
Apply for the long-stay visa for digital nomads (D/AD) online through the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs e-visa portal (eviza.mae.ro), or in person at a Romanian embassy or consulate.
- 4
Pay the EUR 120 visa fee, submit, and track the application on the e-visa portal.
- 5
After arriving in Romania, apply for the temporary residence permit at the General Inspectorate for Immigration to stay for the full period. The visa and permit cover one year and are renewable once.
Fees and processing times move, sometimes without announcement, and a consulate can add a document the published checklist does not mention. Treat the above as the shape of the process rather than a guarantee, and check the current requirement with the mission handling your application before you book anything.
What policy actually satisfies this visa
Romania publishes a figure, which makes this simpler than most: your certificate has to show at least €30,000 of medical cover. Clear that and the paperwork is satisfied.
A compliant international policy is accepted, so you are not forced into a local insurer. That matters more than it sounds: it means one policy can follow you when you leave, instead of expiring at the border.
Repatriation is not named as a condition, though it is the benefit you would most want to have if the worst happened, and it costs very little to add.
The dates are the other thing that gets applications rejected: full duration of stay
Ask your insurer for a certificate of cover that states your full name as it appears on your passport, the exact policy period, the territory covered, and the benefit amounts. That is a normal request and any decent insurer issues it without fuss. The insurance being real and the paperwork still failing is a more common way to lose an application than being uninsured.
The visa tells you the minimum. It does not tell you what to actually carry. Those are different questions, and the paperwork minimum is nearly always the smaller of the two answers.
Get a policy that satisfies this visa
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