Student — long-stay study visa D/SD
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Student — viza de lungă şedere cu scopul studii (simbol D/SD) as of 2026-08-25[5][7] Article 2 lit. n^2), read directly in the consolidated text, names and defines 'student' as a foreigner accepted by a state or private higher-education institution, accredited or provisionally authorised under the law, on a bachelor's, master's, doctoral or postdoctoral programme, in full-time form. |
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| Official name (English) | Student — long-stay study visa D/SD as of 2026-08-25[5][7] Translation of the statutory term; no official English name was found. |
| Legal basis | Ordonanţa de urgenţă a Guvernului nr. 194/2002, republicată, cu modificările şi completările ulterioare, art. 2 lit. n^2), astfel cum a fost introdusă prin Legea nr. 247 din 5 noiembrie 2018; Legea nr. 95/2006 privind reforma în domeniul sănătăţii pentru asigurarea socială de sănătate a studenţilor peste 26 de ani as of 2026-08-25[5][7] Article 2 lit. n^2) was read directly with its amendment note. Legea nr. 95/2006 is IGI's own citation for the health-insurance condition on students over 26. The articles carrying the study conditions themselves are behind the retrieval ceiling. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-25[5] A D/SD long-stay visa for 90 days, then a residence permit. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA as of 2026-08-25[2][7] |
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| Minimum age | Not established from a qualifying source Not established for the student limb. Parental or guardian consent to the stay is required if the applicant is a minor, which contemplates minors on this route without setting a floor. |
| Criminal-record condition | Yes as of 2026-08-25[5] A criminal record certificate or another document of the same legal value is among the visa documents for the student limb. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | Not established from a qualifying source |
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| How the initial term is set | matches the course |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-25[5] The permit is renewed at least 30 days before the previous one expires, and IGI sets out the documents for extension expressly. |
| Maximum total duration | Not established from a qualifying source Not established as a fixed cap. The total is the studies' own duration, plus at most one further year to finish them, plus the post-study extensions recorded in post_study_duration. |
| Work rights | hours capped as of 2026-08-25[5] |
Permanent residence and citizenship
Requirements
| Enrolment status required | admitted as of 2026-08-25[5][7] At the visa stage the applicant produces the dovada de acceptare la studii issued by the Ministry of Education, showing they will follow a full-time form of study at an accredited or provisionally authorised institution – acceptance, not yet enrolment. The acceptance letter is asked for only at the FIRST extension; at every extension an adeverinta from the institution proves actual enrolment. |
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| Means requirement | 1 × national minimum gross base wage guaranteed in payment per month as of 2026-08-25[5] At the visa stage, means of maintenance of at least the national minimum gross base wage guaranteed in payment, MONTHLY, for the whole period written in the visa. At the permit stage, the same figure FOR A PERIOD OF AT LEAST 6 MONTHS. Two exemptions IGI states expressly: scholarship holders of the Romanian state and of accredited state universities on full-time courses need prove neither the tuition payment nor the means, and are also exempt from the consular and permit fees; and foreigners of Romanian ethnicity, having an ascendant who had or has Romanian citizenship, need not prove means. |
| Work-hours cap | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-08-25[5] The cap is 6 HOURS A DAY on a part-time individual employment contract, with no work aviz needed. This field holds hours per WEEK. Romania states no weekly figure, and multiplying 6 by any number of days would invent one – a five-day reading gives 30 and a six-day reading gives 36, and the source chooses neither. Recorded not_expressible with the daily figure stated, per schema section 4. |
| Post-study route exists | Yes as of 2026-08-25[5] Two distinct post-study extensions of this same permit, not separate instruments. The residence right for studies may be extended by AT MOST 6 MONTHS after graduation to settle the school or university record and authenticate the study documents; and by 9 MONTHS after graduation to look for a job and carry out employment formalities or to open a business, on production of the documents attesting completion of the studies. |
| Post-study permit duration | up to 9 months as of 2026-08-25[5] The job-search and business-opening extension: 9 months after graduation. The separate 6-month extension for settling the academic record runs on a different purpose and is stated in post_study_route. |
| Post-study income requirement | Not established from a qualifying source Not established. IGI states the two post-study extensions and the documents attesting completion of studies, and states no means condition on either. |
Process
| Where to apply from | from abroad only as of 2026-08-25[5] The D/SD long-stay study visa is obtained from a Romanian diplomatic mission or consular post, for 90 days with one or more journeys, after the institution has accepted the applicant. Internally the National Visa Centre approves it only after IGI's aviz, issued within at most 30 days of the request, extendable by 15 days. The residence permit follows in country, filed at least 30 days before the residence right conferred by the visa expires. |
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| Statutory processing time | up to 30 days as of 2026-08-25[5] The D/SD long-stay study visa is obtained from a Romanian diplomatic mission or consular post, for 90 days with one or more journeys, after the institution has accepted the applicant. Internally the National Visa Centre approves it only after IGI's aviz, issued within at most 30 days of the request, extendable by 15 days. The residence permit follows in country, filed at least 30 days before the residence right conferred by the visa expires. The application to grant or extend the residence right is decided within 30 days of submission, extendable by at most 15 days where further checks are needed. Where the information or documents supplied are inadequate, IGI sets a reasonable deadline of no more than 30 days for the applicant to supply more and the 30-day clock is suspended until they arrive; if they do not, the application may be rejected. |
| Fees |
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| Quota |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-25[5] No presence or absence condition on the current permit is stated. The half-weight counting of study time towards long-term residence is a qualifying rule and lives in the country block. |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Not established from a qualifying source Not established. Students are not among the sponsors IGI names for family reunification, but IGI does not say they are excluded either. |
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Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 7 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 7 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-08-25 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-25 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-26 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Perceperea taxei de viza
Ministerul Afacerilor Externe — Centrul National de Vize · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25 - [2] Tipuri de vize şi scopurile deplasării
Ministerul Afacerilor Externe – Centrul Naţional de Vize (eViza) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25 - [3] Permisul unic / Cartea albastra a UE — obtinerea si prelungirea dreptului de sedere in scop de munca si de detasare
Inspectoratul General pentru Imigrari · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25 - [4] Informare privind dreptul de şedere pe termen lung, condiţiile de acordare şi când încetează acesta
Inspectoratul General pentru Imigrări · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2023-03-29 · Accessed 2026-08-25 - [5] Studii — viza de lunga sedere si permisul de sedere in scop de studii
Inspectoratul General pentru Imigrari · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25 - [6] Taxele pe care trebuie sa le achitati pentru obtinerea permisului de sedere
Inspectoratul General pentru Imigrari · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25 - [7] Ordonanţa de urgenţă a Guvernului nr. 194/2002 privind regimul străinilor în România, republicată – formă consolidată valabilă la 30 aprilie 2026 (publicată de IGI)
Inspectoratul General pentru Imigrări / Guvernul României · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2008-06-05 · Accessed 2026-08-25