What changes financially when you move to Romania?
Tick where your income comes from. You then see which rules Romania and the Netherlands apply to your situation — which country may tax, which schemes exist and how you become insured. With the source, so you can check it.
This applies to everyone who moves. Tick above what applies to you, and the rest is added.
What you have to show
Which financial requirements does the country set before you may stay?
You apply for the registration certificate within three months, with proof of means and cover
Whoever stays longer than three months registers their residence at the regional office of the immigration service IGI. The certificat de înregistrare is issued the same day and is valid for up to five years, but not shorter than one year.
You bring your passport or identity card, and if you live on your own means proof of those means — a pension slip of at most three months old, your latest tax return or a bank statement — and proof of healthcare cover: the S1 from the CAK or a private policy that covers at least the Romanian basic package. The certificate carries your personal number, which the bank, the health fund and the tax authority ask for.
- apply
- within 3 months of entry
- validity
- up to 5 years, at least 1 year
Source: IGI — registering your residence as an EU citizen: whoever stays longer than three months registers at the territorial unit of the IGI; the certificat de înregistrare is issued the same day and is valid for up to five years, but not less than one year — checked on 2026-10-05
Read the whole storySpecial regimes
Is there a favourable regime, and do you qualify?
After 183 days you're a tax resident, and you report that within 30 days with a questionnaire
Whoever stays in Romania for more than 183 days within a period of twelve months completes the chestionar pentru stabilirea rezidenței fiscale within 30 days after those 183 days have passed; the tax authority lets them know within 30 days whether they're a resident and from when.
From that date Romania taxes your worldwide income and the treaty starts working. The questionnaire goes to the tax office of your place of residence, with a copy of your passport and your registration certificate. Whoever skips the form isn't any less of a resident — just later in line.
- threshold
- more than 183 days in 12 months
- deadline
- 30 days after day 183
What the Netherlands doesn't let go of
Which Dutch obligation travels with you?
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — it can be repaired, within one year
This is about the accrual, not the payment. What you've built up until you leave stays yours, but as soon as you're no longer insured in the Netherlands you build up nothing more, and every year until your AOW age costs 2% of your later AOW. If you already receive AOW, this no longer applies.
For most emigrants the insurance ends at the moment of departure; whoever keeps working in the Netherlands or is posted abroad can stay insured. Voluntary continued insurance with the SVB closes the gap, for ten years at most, but only if the application is in within one year of your compulsory insurance ending — and you were insured for at least a year directly before that. The premium depends on your income and is revised annually, so no amount is given here. Put that date in your diary before you go.
- reduction per uninsured year
- 2% of your AOW
- application for voluntary insurance
- no later than 1 year after your insurance ends
- duration of voluntary insurance
- 10 years at most
Source: Algemene Ouderdomswet (General Old Age Pensions Act) — article 13(1) (2% reduction per uninsured calendar year), article 35(1) (voluntary insurance, ten years at most) and article 36(1) (application no later than one year after the compulsory insurance ends) — checked on 2026-10-05
Read the whole storyThis is not tax advice
These are the rules that apply to your situation, not the outcome of them. With Romania the outcome for pension, annuity and AOW is unusual: the treaty looks like a residence-state treaty, but a protocol lets the Netherlands tax and the Dutch tax authority does — there is nothing to exempt. Romania counts the same income in above an allowance and gives a credit. What that yields on balance, and what happens with work, rent and assets, is the work of a tax adviser who knows both countries. Take this list to that conversation.
Still deciding between countries? Put the rules of two or three countries side by side
And then the journey itself
Knowing which rules apply is the first half. The second is applying them in time: in the right order, with the deadlines watched and the documents at hand.
Five 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.