What does emigrating to Romania cost?
A few short questions, and you have an honest range for your situation — with for every item whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. On the paper side this is a cheap route: you take the registration certificate home the same day, the driving licence stays valid, the car's registration certificate costs 76 lei, and the Netherlands refunds the remaining bpm. The money sits in the distance — a good two thousand kilometres — in the inspection and insurance of the car, and with a purchased home in the notary and the land registry. Romania counts in lei, so the exchange rate is in the budget.
Looking for the whole route to Romania, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 1.300 – € 3.900
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 1.200 – € 3.200
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 35 – € 200
- De verhuizing
- € 60 – € 300
- De eerste maanden
- € 1.200 – € 3.400
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Registration certificate, passport photos and copies(estimate)€ 5 – € 25
- Certificates, model forms and the sworn translator(estimate)€ 30 – € 200
De verhuizing
- The journey(estimate)€ 60 – € 300
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 1.200 – € 3.200
Deposit and first rent, furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you're still running double. Bucharest and Cluj rent at the level of a mid-sized Dutch city; the smaller cities and the countryside sit far below that. Count the winter in: heating an old village house inland is a real item, and the rent is in lei, so the exchange rate counts.
- Bank, phone and the first counters(estimate)€ 50 – € 200
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 1 to 3% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 2.500 to € 7.500.
In Romania the transfer tax is for the seller: three percent of the purchase price if they held the property for less than three years, one percent above that, withheld by the notary. As the buyer you pay the notary and the entry in the land registry of the ANCPI; count on one to three percent together, with the notary as the largest item. As an EU citizen you need no permit for a home, and you're the owner on entry. After that the municipality charges an annual building tax of 0.08 to 0.2 percent of the taxable value.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
Agricultural land outside a built-up area you may buy as an EU citizen since 2014, but with a pre-emption right on it: co-owners, tenants, neighbours and the state go first in that order, and the municipality posts the offer for thirty days before it's your turn. A village house with an orchard behind it can therefore be a land transaction — have the notary check the zoning in the land registry before you sign.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 5 October 2026.
Ready to get started with Romania?
The whole journey in the right order, with your documents, your costs and all your cancellation letters. € 199 one-off, no subscription.
One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once and every cancellation and notification letter is ready — health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund — with the date by which each has to go out. € 49 one-off; it's also included in every plan.
Your complete, personal cost picture — with your route, your documents and your deadlines — you get in Vertrekklaar.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with a few questions; the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates on your real situation — who's coming, household contents along or not, car along or not — and watches the clocks: three months for the registration certificate, thirteen weeks for the bpm, thirty days after day 183 for the tax authority, and the S1 before departure. A one-off € 199, no subscription.
Leaving with AOW or a pension? Compare how countries tax your pension
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.
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Forty-nine journeys are fully ready: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.