Romania will soon launch a digital nomad visa program to attract foreign remote workers, joining a growing list of European countries offering similar initiatives.
The visa program, which was passed by the Romanian Senate in late September, will allow digital nomads to live and work in Romania on a long-term basis. Under current rules, nomads can only stay in the country for 90 days at a time on a tourist visa.
The Romanian government hopes the new visa program will bolster the country’s economic sector, which has suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials project the visa will attract at least 2,000 digital nomads each year, pumping around €50 million into the economy.
Chamber of Deputies member Diana Buzoinu developed the visa program in collaboration with the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Buzoinu said she initiated the project because she saw the positive economic impact similar programs have had in other European countries.
The details of the digital nomad visa program have yet to be released. However, under the terms of the program’s draft law, applicants will be required to:
- Prove they work for a foreign company or own a foreign business
- Prove they earn at least €1,100 per month
- Maintain valid health insurance for the duration of their stay
If those terms remain unchanged, Romania’s digital nomad visa program will have the lowest monthly income requirement in Europe. That title currently belongs to Georgia’s visa program, which requires remote workers to earn at least €1,655 per month.
Other European countries offering digital nomad visas include Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Iceland, Germany and Spain.
Non-European destinations such as Antigua, Barbados, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Curacao, Mexico and Thailand also offer special visas for remote workers.