Before you start

A Cluj employer prepared to obtain the aviz de angajare, or another qualifying ground such as study, family or the digital nomad route
A D-series long-stay visa applied for abroad within 60 days of the aviz
Apostilled criminal record certificate with a sworn Romanian translation
Proof of accommodation in Cluj — a registered lease or an owner's declaration
Health insurance covering the period before you enter the Romanian system

Step-by-step

1
Employer obtains the aviz de angajare
IGI checks the role, the employer and the annual quota — 90,000 for 2026 under Government Decision 1169/2025. Roughly a month. The aviz then has a 60-day life in which the visa application must be lodged.
Via employerWho: Your employer≈30 days
2
Apply for the D-series long-stay visa abroad
D/AM for employment, D/AD for digital nomads, D/SD for study, D/VF for family. Applied for at a Romanian embassy or consulate. Consular appointment availability rather than the decision itself is normally what determines the timeline.
In personWho: You
3
Enter Romania and book the IGI Cluj appointment immediately
The long-stay visa admits you for 90 days and the residence permit must be applied for inside that window. Book through the IGI portal on the day you arrive. Cluj is less congested than Bucharest but it is one office covering the whole county, including a large student intake in September.
OnlineWho: YouWithin 90 days of entry
4
Attend with the complete file
Passport, visa, aviz, employment contract, registered lease or owner's declaration, health insurance, apostilled criminal record with sworn Romanian translation, and the fee receipt. A missing sworn translation is the most common reason for being turned away.
In personWho: You
5
Collect the permit and note your CNP
The permit carries the Cod Numeric Personal, which is your national identifier for banking, health, tax and employment. Photograph the card and keep the number accessible.
In personWho: You
6
Renew at least 30 days before expiry
Renewals go to the same IGI office with updated employment and accommodation evidence. Letting a permit expire breaks the continuity that the five-year long-term residence clock depends on — and in a university city where many people's first Romanian permit is a student one, that continuity is easy to lose at graduation.
OnlineWho: You30+ days before expiry

Documents you’ll need

Passport with the D-series long-stay visa
Aviz de angajare and employment contract
Registered lease or notarised accommodation declaration
Criminal record certificate, apostilled and translated by a sworn Romanian translator
Health insurance certificate
Passport photographs to Romanian specification

Things most newcomers don’t know

The chain cannot be started from inside Romania, and the 60-day link between aviz and visa is the trap.

People arrive visa-free, find a Cluj job — which is very possible given how much the tech sector hires — and then discover the employment approval and the long-stay visa must both be obtained before entry. Worse, the aviz has a 60-day life: an employer who takes six weeks to organise the consular paperwork can expire the approval they just spent a month obtaining. Treat the aviz issue date as a countdown, not a milestone.

Source: General Inspectorate for Immigration

Cluj's IGI office is calmer than Bucharest's but it is one office for the whole county.

Bucharest's IGI office handles the largest caseload in the country and appointments are genuinely scarce. Cluj county's office serves a much smaller population and is correspondingly easier — except in September, when the medical, technical and Babeș-Bolyai intakes arrive together and file student permit applications at the same counter. If your appointment falls in that window, book earlier than you think you need to.

Source: General Inspectorate for Immigration

Converting from a student permit to a work permit is where Cluj graduates lose their continuity.

A great many people's first Romanian residence is a student permit obtained for a Cluj degree. Converting to employment requires the employer to obtain an aviz de angajare and the ground to change, and the gap between a student permit expiring in the summer and a job starting in the autumn is exactly where continuity breaks. Because the five-year long-term residence clock requires continuous residence, a two-month gap can cost years. Plan the conversion before the final exams, not after.

Source: General Inspectorate for Immigration

Romania joined Schengen fully on 1 January 2025 and Cluj airport is the practical beneficiary.

Air and sea borders opened in March 2024 and land borders on 1 January 2025 following the Council decision of 12 December 2024. Cluj-Napoca is Romania's second busiest airport and its Schengen routes — Munich, Vienna, Milan, Barcelona and many others — now operate without border checks. For a city whose main historic disadvantage against Bucharest was connectivity, this materially narrowed the gap.

Source: Council of the European Union

Common mistakes to avoid

Arriving visa-free intending to convert a Cluj job offer into a permit from inside Romania.
Letting the 60-day window between the aviz and the visa application lapse.
Booking the IGI Cluj appointment in September alongside the student intake.
Bringing a criminal record certificate apostilled but not translated by a sworn Romanian translator.
Graduating with a gap between the student permit and the first work permit, and breaking continuity.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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