Moving to Romania: A First-Steps Guide for Expats

Romania surprises people twice. First when they see the internet speeds, which are among the best in Europe and are a legacy of how the country’s networks were built. Then again when they realise the scale of its technology sector - Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara and Iași host a large outsourcing and product engineering industry that has been growing for two decades.

Add costs that remain among the lowest in the EU, a Romance language that is easier for many people than any of its Slavic neighbours, and landscape from the Carpathians to the Black Sea, and it is a more serious proposition than its reputation suggests.

The right to stay, and the Schengen change

Romania joined the Schengen area - first for air and sea travel, subsequently for land borders - which removed internal border checks and changed the practical experience of living there considerably. It remains outside the eurozone, using the leu.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens may live and work here, registering their residence with the immigration inspectorate after a few months and obtaining a registration certificate.

Non-EU nationals apply for a long-stay visa for a defined purpose before travelling - employment, which generally requires the employer to obtain approval first, business, study, family reunification, or the remote-work route Romania introduced for people employed by or running foreign companies. After arrival you convert this into a residence permit.

Current routes are in the Romania visa section, and the general two-stage structure is in visas and residence permits explained.

The CNP and getting started

The CNP - personal numeric code - is Romania’s identifier, and non-residents may receive an equivalent identification number for tax purposes. You will need it for banking, employment and administration.

Register your address, open a bank account - Romanian banking apps and contactless coverage are genuinely excellent, better than in several richer countries - and register for health insurance if you are employed.

One practical Romanian note: bureaucracy still runs on paper and stamps in places, and the gap between the very modern private sector and the more traditional public administration is wide. The survival approach in dealing with bureaucracy abroad applies.

Healthcare

Public health insurance is funded through contributions and covers the insured and their dependants, with a national health insurance card. Emergency care is available regardless of status.

The honest picture: the public system is underfunded relative to demand, facility standards vary widely, and there is a large and inexpensive private sector that most professionals use - private clinic subscriptions are a common employer benefit and cost a fraction of what equivalent cover would elsewhere. Many foreign residents combine public insurance with a private package.

Details in the Romania healthcare section, and the general framing in public versus private healthcare.

Money and tax

Romania applies a flat rate of personal income tax rather than a progressive scale, with social insurance and health contributions on top, which together are a substantial share of gross pay. The structure is simple by European standards.

Romania has historically offered favourable treatment to IT sector employees, and the terms of that have been revised - it is precisely the sort of thing to confirm with an accountant rather than assume, because it has been a significant factor in net pay for a large number of people.

The leu means currency exposure if you are paid in euros and spend in lei, or vice versa. It has been relatively stable, but the point in transferring money abroad without losing it to fees applies.

Structure is in the Romania tax section.

Cost of living and cities

Romania remains among the most affordable EU countries for rent, groceries, transport, eating out and services. Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca have seen substantial increases and Cluj in particular is now expensive relative to local salaries, driven by its tech sector and student population.

Timișoara, Iași, Brașov and Sibiu offer real urban life at lower cost, and Brașov and Sibiu in Transylvania are notably attractive - Saxon architecture, mountains immediately behind, and a very different feel from Bucharest.

Bucharest itself divides opinion. It is large, busy, architecturally chaotic after the demolitions of the communist period, and has genuine energy, good food and a cultural scene. Its traffic is the standard complaint.

Language and daily life

Romanian is a Romance language, which surprises people expecting a Slavic one. If you have Italian, Spanish or French, you will find a great deal that is familiar, and it is one of the more accessible languages in the region for a western European learner - though it has taken in Slavic vocabulary and retains cases.

English proficiency is high among younger people and in the tech and business sectors. Administration runs in Romanian. Hungarian is widely spoken in parts of Transylvania.

Romanian social life is hospitable and generous in a way that catches people off guard - being fed extensively is a standard part of being welcomed. Family ties are strong and orthodox religious holidays structure the year.

The technology job market

Romania’s technology sector is the reason a large share of foreign professionals are here, and it has two quite different halves worth distinguishing.

The larger half is outsourcing and shared services - multinationals running engineering, support, finance and business process centres in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara and Iași. English is the working language, the employers are international, and hiring foreign staff is routine. This is the most accessible entry point.

The smaller and faster-growing half is product companies and startups, several of which have grown into significant international businesses. Salaries at the top of this segment are strong by regional standards.

What both share is a labour market where good engineers are genuinely scarce and companies compete hard, which means benefits packages - private medical subscriptions, meal vouchers, extra leave - are a substantial part of compensation and are negotiable.

The other thing to understand is the prevalence of contracting arrangements rather than employment, which changes your tax, social insurance and employment protection position considerably. Understand what is being proposed before agreeing - see registering as freelance or self-employed and finding a job abroad.

What catches people out

The gap between the modern private sector and the more traditional public administration. Assuming the IT tax treatment is unchanged from what they read. Cluj prices relative to Cluj salaries. And underestimating Bucharest traffic when choosing where to live relative to work.

For neighbours, moving to Bulgaria is directly south with a similar cost base and a flat tax of its own, and moving to Hungary is west with a different language family entirely.

Regional detail, permit routes and cost breakdowns are in the Romania country guide and the cost of living section. For current immigration inspectorate experiences, the visa and immigration forum is the place to ask.