Residence in Romania: three months free, then a registration certificate issued the same day

Can you, as a Dutch citizen, go and live in Romania? Yes, without a visa and without a permit. As an EU citizen you have three months' right of residence without any condition, six as a jobseeker. If you stay longer, you report within those three months to the immigration service, the Inspectoratul General pentru Imigrări (IGI), and receive the certificat de înregistrare: a registration certificate issued the same day and valid for five years. The find in the law is article 41: that certificate carries your personal number, the CNP, and the rest of Romania waits for it. The pitfall is not the price but the proof: if you don't work, you show your own means and health cover, and for a pensioner that is the S1 from the CAK.

What may you do in the first three months?

Emergency ordinance OUG 102/2005 governs free movement in Romania. Article 11 gives every EU citizen who enters the country a right of residence for three months from the date of entry, without further conditions; a jobseeker gets six months. You travel on your passport or identity card. Since 1 January 2025 Romania has been fully in Schengen, so there is no check any more at the border with Hungary.

Mind your identity card. The IGI reports that identity cards without a machine-readable zone lose their validity on 3 August 2026 under Regulation (EU) 2025/1208, and that an expired document is no longer accepted at registration. A Dutch card has that zone; still bring your passport if your card is old.

When and where do you register?

If you stay longer than three months, you must have your residence registered at the territorial unit of the IGI in the județ where you live. Article 12 names three grounds for residence beyond three months: you are an employee or self-employed, you have means of subsistence for yourself and your family — as a rule at least the Romanian guaranteed minimum income — plus health insurance, or you are enrolled at an accredited educational institution. Family members follow you.

The certificate is issued the same day and is valid for five years from issue; shorter on request, but not shorter than one year. Before it expires you report again for a new certificate.

	Deadline	Validity or cost
Free stay with passport or ID	3 months, jobseeker 6 months	—
Registration with the IGI	within 3 months of entry	certificate the same day, 5 years (minimum 1 year)
Reporting late	—	fine of 25 to 50 lei
Reporting a change of name, nationality or address	within 30 days	—
Reporting loss or theft of your certificate	within 48 hours to the police, and to the IGI	—
Permanent residence	after 5 years of uninterrupted legal residence	card valid 10 years, 70 lei

Which documents do you bring?

The IGI publishes the list per purpose of stay. If you are employed, you bring the application form, your identity card or passport with a copy, your employment contract or an employer's statement, and a printout from the employee register (Revisal), stamped by the employer. If you are self-employed, the extract from the trade register ONRC replaces that contract. How that works is in working in Romania.

If you live on your own means — a pension, savings, income from the Netherlands — the IGI asks for the form, your identity document, proof of those means and proof of health insurance. For anyone with a Dutch statutory pension, the latter is the S1 form from the CAK; how that continues you read in healthcare in Romania. The law names no fixed amount for the means, only "as a rule at least the guaranteed minimum income"; bring your pension decision and recent bank statements.

Proof of address is not on the list, but the certificate does state your address, and you report changes to it within thirty days. A tenancy agreement in your own name avoids discussion at the counter.

What does the certificate give you?

Everything. Article 41 of the ordinance provides that every EU citizen registered with the IGI is assigned a cod numeric personal, which is entered on the residence document. EURES puts it practically: that number matters for the bank, for taxes and for access to healthcare. Which counters wait for it is in registration and numbers in Romania.

The IGI may give an EU citizen who no longer meets the conditions or becomes an unreasonable burden on social security a decision to leave, with thirty days to leave the country. Anyone who works or lives on their own means does not come across that, but it is the reason the service asks for health cover.

What happens after five years?

After five years of uninterrupted and legal residence you apply for permanent residence. Interruptions don't count if you were away at most six months a year, or up to twelve consecutive months for a valid reason such as pregnancy, serious illness, education or a transfer. You submit the form, your identity document, your registration certificate and proof of the continuity of your residence; the burden of proof is on you. The permanent residence card is valid ten years and costs 70 lei. If you are then away from Romania for more than two consecutive years, the right lapses.

Where registration fits in the order of your whole move is in the step-by-step plan for Romania.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey, step 1.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Romania or go straight to step 1.1 in the open plan.