Romania · No visa required
Emigrating to Romania
As an EU citizen you may be in Romania for three months without conditions, and after that you collect a registration certificate at the immigration service that you take home the same day — with the personal number everything hangs on. The tax here is unusually simple, for an unusual reason: the treaty from 1998 seems to place your occupational pension and your annuity with Romania, but a protocol lets the Netherlands keep taxing and the Dutch tax authority does — on your pension, your annuity and your AOW, without exemption. Romania counts the same income in above an allowance of three thousand lei a month and deducts the Dutch tax. Since 2025 you drive in without a border check; you pay in lei. This page shows how it really works.
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- Kind of journey
- Administrative — registration certificate within three months, issued the same day
- The clocks
- 3 months for the certificate, 13 weeks for the bpm on the car, 30 days after day 183 for the tax authority
- Note
- The Netherlands taxes pension, annuity and AOW (protocol XII); Romania credits — do not apply for an exemption
Last updated: 5 October 2026
Will your departure date work?
Choose your country and your date. You see how much time the plan needs and which steps take longest.
Five phases, from the registration certificate to the orchard
A route with few counters and a tax lesson of one sentence: the Netherlands taxes, Romania credits. The registration certificate within three months, the S1 to the health fund and a family doctor on a list, the car past the RAR and the DGPCI with the thirteen-week bpm clock on the Dutch side — and after one hundred and eighty-three days the tax authority's questionnaire that fixes your tax residence.
- Orientation
Three months, a treaty with a protocol, and a language you can read
Three months free, then a registration certificate you take home the same day. In this phase you learn what the treaty of 1998 does — on paper your occupational pension and your annuity to Romania, but protocol XII lets the Netherlands tax, your AOW and your government pension too — and what Romania does with them: ten percent above an allowance of three thousand lei a month, with a deduction of the Dutch tax. Healthcare runs through the CAK to the health fund of your county. And you explore the region in winter: Bucharest is a different world from a village in Transylvania, and you read Romanian if you know French or Italian.
- Closing the Netherlands
No wage tax exemption — the Netherlands taxes, with protocol XII as the reason
The familiar list with the same lesson as with Bulgaria, for a different reason: do not apply for a wage tax exemption. Article 18 seems to place your pension and annuity with Romania, but protocol XII lets the Netherlands apply its own law as long as Romania doesn't tax them itself, and the Dutch tax authority accordingly puts pension, annuity and AOW on the Dutch side. What the tax adviser does have to look at is the Romanian return with the credit, and work, profit and rent. Further: the S1 at the CAK six weeks before departure, with one of the lowest country-of-residence factors in Europe, the SVB in time, and the eight-month rule next to the Romanian clock of one hundred and eighty-three days.
- The move
Since 2025 without a border, in lei, and thirteen weeks for the bpm
By road, two to three days, without customs and since 1 January 2025 without a border check. The car comes along without a registration tax and the Netherlands refunds the remaining bpm — if it's on Romanian plates within thirteen weeks of the export notification, via the RAR for the identification and the DGPCI for the registration certificate of 76 lei. The first accommodation calls for a landlord who registers the contract with the tax authority, because that is their obligation. The pet needs only chip, jab and the EU pet passport.
- Registration in Romania
First the certificate with the personal number, then the S1, then the family doctor — and after day 183 the tax authority
The order is fixed. First the registration certificate at the IGI, within three months, with proof of means and cover — that gives you the personal number, the same day. Then the S1 to the health fund of your county, and right after that choose a family doctor, because without their referral you get nowhere and changing is only possible after six months. Then the bank, in lei, and the tax authority's portal. And after one hundred and eighty-three days the ANAF's questionnaire, which fixes from when Romania counts your worldwide income in — with a credit for what the Netherlands already withheld.
- Arrival
The licence stays, the house is free — the land with a pre-emption right
An EU driving licence doesn't need exchanging. A home you buy as an EU citizen without a permit; the transfer tax is for the seller, you pay the notary and the land registry, and you're the owner on entry. Agricultural land you may buy since 2014 too, but co-owners, tenants, neighbours and the state go first, and the municipality posts the offer for thirty days. Kindergarten is compulsory from four, with a free language class of one school year beforehand. After five years you apply for the permanent residence card, for 70 lei.
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Romania journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 2.3 of your plan
Know where you'll pay tax — and do not apply for an exemption
- Lead time
- one good conversation
- Costs
- advisory hours — depending on your situation
Article 18 paragraph 1 of the treaty places pensions from past employment and annuities with the country of residence — and protocol XII to that same treaty says that the Netherlands, notwithstanding that paragraph, may apply its national law to those payments until Romania notifies that it taxes them itself and both states determine by mutual agreement to what extent article 18 then applies. That notification hasn't come, and the Dutch tax authority accordingly lists a private pension and an annuity on the Dutch side in its treaty-states table. Your AOW the Netherlands may tax as the paying state (article 18 paragraph 3), your government pension too (article 19 paragraph 2), unless you're a resident and a national of Romania.
So do not apply for a wage tax exemption — there is nothing to exempt, and whoever tries anyway gets a rejection or an additional assessment. You keep filing a return in the Netherlands as a non-resident taxpayer, on your pension, your annuity and your AOW.
On the Romanian side you declare that same income in the declarația unică: ten percent on what exceeds twelve times the allowance of 3,000 lei per year, with a deduction of the tax paid in the Netherlands up to the Romanian amount (article 24 paragraph 5). Because the Dutch tax almost always comes out above those ten percent, on balance there is rarely anything left. So the conversation with the tax adviser is about the return, not the outcome — and about work, rent and assets, which Romania taxes as the country of residence.
What this step rests on
- Wetten.overheid.nl — the tax treaty, articles 18, 19 and 24 and protocol XII
- Belastingdienst — treaty states IB non-residents 2024, page 89: private pension and annuity under 18 paragraph 1 / protocol XII on the Dutch side
- ANAF — the Fiscal Code, consolidated: articles 64 (ten percent), 100 (the allowance of 3,000 lei), 130 (foreign pension) and 131 (credit)
And this is the dashboard that step lives in, here with the plan for Spain.
This is step 2.3 of 32. The other 31 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
See all 32 steps for RomaniaFive mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Romania: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Romania really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Calculate what your move to Romania costs
Answer a few short questions about your situation. You immediately get a range of what it costs. Free, no account needed.
That was the move. And once you live there?
Who may tax your pension once you live in Romania, is there a favourable regime, and how do you become insured? That depends on where your income comes from. Tick it and you see which rules apply to you — with the source.
See the financial conditionsClosing down the Netherlands: all your letters in one go
Moving to Romania starts with leaving the Netherlands tidily. That's why the plan includes the letter tool: you enter your details once and every cancellation and notification letter is ready.
- Health insurance, rent, energy, subscriptions, GP, school, bank, pension fund — 16 kinds of letters from details you enter once.
- A sending list that counts back from your departure date and your notice period, even when that's three months.
- What an emigrant has to ask for and an ordinary canceller doesn't: your no-claims years in English, your medical file, the school report.
The knowledge base on Romania
Per phase, the articles that are already there. They're written from the same journey and go deeper than what fits above.
- Orientation4 min
Working in Romania: no permit, ten percent tax, and 35 percent in contributions at your expense
As an EU citizen you work in Romania without a work permit, employed or self-employed. Income tax is one rate of 10 percent, but the contributions fall largely on the employee: 25 percent pension and 10 percent health from gross salary. The minimum wage is 4,325 lei a month since 1 July 2026. A self-employed person first registers with the trade register; anyone working without registration risks a fine of 2,000 to 15,000 lei.
Updated 5 October 2026
- Orientation5 min
Healthcare in Romania: from the CAK's S1 to the health fund and the family doctor whose list you must be on
Romania is a treaty country. With a Dutch statutory pension you apply for an S1 at the CAK, up to five months before departure, and get an answer within four weeks. You have that S1 registered at the health fund of your județ, and then choose a family doctor, because every insured person must be on a family doctor's list. If you work, you pay a 10 percent health contribution; if you have no income and don't fall under the S1, you pay that contribution on six minimum wages.
Updated 5 October 2026
- Closing the Netherlands5 min
AOW, pension and tax in Romania: the Netherlands taxes everything, Romania credits
The treaty with Romania from 1998 looks like a residence-state treaty for company pensions and annuities, but the protocol lets the Netherlands apply its national law, and the tax authority does: the Netherlands taxes your company pension, your annuity, your AOW and your government pension. There is no wage tax exemption. Romania taxes pensions only above 3,000 lei a month, at 10 percent, and deducts the Dutch tax from that. Your AOW comes with you in full.
Updated 5 October 2026
- The move5 min
Car and driving licence in Romania: first the municipality, then the RAR, then the registration certificate of 76 lei
Anyone moving to Romania with their own car puts it on Romanian plates at the driving licence and registration service of their județ. For that the car must first be registered for tax with the municipality, have a certificate of authenticity from the RAR and a valid inspection. The registration certificate costs 76 lei; the annual municipal tax depends on engine size. The driving licence is the easy part: an EU licence doesn't have to be exchanged.
Updated 5 October 2026
- The move4 min
Renting in Romania: a written contract, which the landlord registers with the ANAF within thirty days
Finding a rented home in Romania isn't hard, and rents are below the Dutch level: in March 2026 a two-bedroom apartment in Bucharest cost on average 600 to 1,250 euros, in Iași or Timișoara 500 to 550. The contract is in writing and the landlord must register it with the tax agency ANAF within thirty days. That registered contract is your proof of address, so ask for it.
Updated 5 October 2026
- The move4 min
Taking your pet to Romania: microchip, rabies shot and the EU passport, and the puppy rule that doesn't work on the way
To Romania your dog, cat or ferret travels with a microchip, a valid rabies vaccination and the European pet passport; there is no titre test or quarantine, and the tapeworm treatment applies only to Finland, Ireland, Malta and Norway. Romania is one of few countries that also admits a puppy without full rabies protection, but the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Hungary do not, and you drive through them. In Romania the vet microchips and registers your dog in the national register RECS.
Updated 5 October 2026
21 more articles about Romania and about leaving the Netherlands
Registratie in Roemenië
- 4 min
Bank and payments in Romania: the leu, the basic account you are entitled to, and why your Dutch account keeps working
Romania counts in lei, not in euros, so for the rent, the groceries and the municipality you need an account in lei or a card that withdraws lei. As a legal resident you are entitled to a basic payment account, which a bank may only refuse for money-laundering rules or because you already have one. Your AOW arrives in euros on a SEPA account for at most 0.48 euro in costs, and nobody in the EU may refuse your Dutch IBAN.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 5 min
The personal number in Romania: the CNP comes with your certificate, and then the tax office follows
In Romania you need one number to arrange anything: the cod numeric personal, the CNP. You don't get it on its own, but entered on the registration certificate of the immigration service IGI. Then come the tax agency ANAF, which after 183 days wants a questionnaire on your tax residence, the municipal tax office for your car, and the health fund for your S1.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 5 min
Residence in Romania: three months free, then a registration certificate issued the same day
As an EU citizen you may stay in Romania for three months without conditions, six as a jobseeker. If you stay longer, you register within those three months with the immigration service IGI and receive a registration certificate the same day, valid five years, with your personal number on it. The conditions are work, or your own means plus health cover. After five years comes permanent residence, with a card of 70 lei.
Updated 5 October 2026
Arrival
- 5 min
Buying a house in Romania: at the notary, with 21 percent VAT on new builds and a municipal tax of a tenth of a percent
As an EU citizen you buy a house or apartment in Romania like a Romanian, at the notary. Agricultural land outside the built-up area is allowed too, but with the pre-emption rights of neighbours, tenants and the state. Since VAT rose to 21 percent, new apartments are dearer: in March 2026 they cost 3,279 euros per square metre in Cluj-Napoca. The annual municipal tax is low: in Timișoara 0.1 percent of a notional value.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 4 min
Your first weeks in Romania: three months for the IGI, thirty days for every change, and the ANAF's clock that starts later
In your first weeks in Romania several clocks run at once. For the immigration service IGI you have three months, and the certificate with your personal number comes the same day. Then the health fund and the family doctor, the bank and the municipality wait for that number. The car has no Romanian deadline we could verify, but it does have a Dutch one: thirteen weeks for the bpm. And after 183 days the tax agency's clock starts.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 4 min
School in Romania: compulsory from four, the preparatory class at six, and the district that decides your place
In Romania education is compulsory from the middle kindergarten group, so from age four, and free at public schools, including full-day kindergarten. At six your child goes to the clasa pregătitoare, the preparatory class, and for that the address counts: schools first guarantee places for the children from their own circumscripție. Lessons are in Romanian, or at a fee-paying international school. Child benefit is 292 lei a month from age two.
Updated 5 October 2026
Leaving the Netherlands — for every destination
- 5 min
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 5 min
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 6 min
Emigrating on a Dutch benefit: what comes with you and what stops, with Turkey as the example
A WIA, WAO or WAZ benefit comes with you to the EU and to a country the Netherlands has a treaty with; beyond that it stops. WW comes along for three months at most within Europe, Wajong and social assistance stop. Per benefit what you report, when, and what is left of it in Turkey.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 4 min
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 5 min
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 4 min
The M form: the tax return for the year in which you emigrated
For the year of your departure you lived partly inside and partly outside the Netherlands, and a separate return goes with that. Nowadays it can be done online — but you have to think of it yourself, because an invitation rarely comes by itself.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 4 min
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 25 September 2026
- 5 min
Your Dutch pension abroad: what travels with you, and who taxes it
The AOW travels in full to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a 2001 treaty. Your company pension too, but where you pay tax on it depends on the tax treaty, and you arrange the exemption yourself.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 4 min
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 4 min
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 5 min
Partner coming along without a job of their own: deregistering, healthcare, AOW and the house
Your partner has a job, a visa or a right of residence there; you go along without a job of your own. Administratively you are no passenger: the deregistration, the end of your health insurance and your AOW accrual apply to you separately. What you get back if you arrange it well, what it costs if you let it slide — and when "simply staying registered" is allowed.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 4 min
Stopping benefits on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Rent benefit, healthcare benefit, childcare benefit and the child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run receives a claw-back months later — this is what you arrange per benefit.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 5 min
Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then
Deregistering from the BRP is only possible from five days before departure, and is compulsory as soon as you're away for more than eight months a year. What stops at that moment, what stays, and which piece of paper you have to ask for right away.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 5 min
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 26 September 2026
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