Visa for Romania from China: price, documents and processing time 2026

Yes. An ordinary Chinese passport does not exempt you from a visa for Romania, whatever the purpose of the short stay: tourism, family visit, business or cultural event. The short-stay visa, a Schengen-type visa since Romania belongs to that area, allows 90 days of presence in any 180-day period, counted across all Schengen countries visited. It must always be applied for before departure, at the competent Romanian embassy or consulate or at the submission provider it designates.

The published fee is the government charge alone. Two or three other lines are added before the visa is in the passport, and they are what makes the final bill.

• Government fee90 EUR

  Schengen scale: €90 for an adult, €45 for a child aged 6 to 11, free below 6. Some facilitation agreements set a lower rate, the consulate confirms which applies to you.

• Application centre feeCapped at €45

  The Visa Code caps an external provider’s service fee at half the visa fee. It is charged on top, and it is not refunded either.

• Agency or online serviceOptional, added on top

  Never compulsory. An intermediary fills the form for you, it does not change the decision or the processing time.

• ExtrasVariable

  Courier return, SMS tracking, compliant photo, insurance, sworn translation or legalisation, depending on what the post requires.

We only display amounts published by an official source. Confirm the total before paying anything.

A typical file includes the signed form, compliant passport photos, a valid passport with blank pages, travel insurance covering medical care, proof of accommodation (booking or invitation letter), evidence of financial means (bank statements, employer letter) and a round-trip transport booking. The visa fee is 90 EUR, payable at submission according to the method indicated by the mission. The exact list of documents and any service fee charged by the submission centre are published on the official portal.

Book an appointment with the Romanian mission responsible for your province of residence, or with the submission centre it has approved, following the procedure described on the official portal. Fill in the application form, gather the documents, then attend the appointment in person: the passport is handed in, fingerprints are taken and the fee is paid at that point. The file then goes into processing; you collect the passport, with or without a sticker, once the decision is made. Never hand your passport to an unapproved intermediary.

• Your application goes to the state that is your main destination. If Romania is where you spend the longest, it handles the file, whatever the entry point.
• With no main destination, the competent state is the one you enter first.
• If Romania has no consulate in China, another Schengen state may act on its behalf under a representation arrangement, or the file goes to the post accredited for your country.

Then the application goes to the post accredited for China, often in a neighbouring capital, or to a state acting on its behalf. Confirm which post is competent with the official source before travelling to a third country to apply, a rejected file at the wrong counter costs the trip and the fee.

The regime follows your nationality, not where you live. If you reside in China but travel on another country's passport, the rule on this page is not yours. Filing usually still happens from your country of residence, at the post competent for it, but the requirement itself comes from your passport.

Processing takes 15 to 45 days from the submission of a complete file; plan accordingly, especially before Chinese holiday periods or the European summer. Book flexible or refundable tickets and do not commit to non-refundable expenses before the visa is in your passport. Provide supporting documents that are consistent with each other (booking dates, itinerary, funds) and respond quickly to any request for additional documents. If refused, the decision states the reason and the appeal route.

Buying non-refundable tickets before the decision, providing insurance that does not cover the whole stay or the whole Schengen area, submitting incomplete bank statements or a hotel booking cancelled before submission are the most common reasons for refusal. Another mistake: assuming the visa can be obtained at the Romanian border or online, when the consular route is the only one for this journey. Finally, exceeding the 90 days allowed in any 180-day period in the Schengen area weighs heavily on future applications.