Chinese passport · Romania · Schengen C visa
Romania Schengen Visa 2026: Interactive Guide for Chinese Passport Holders
Romania has been a full Schengen member since 1 January 2025. A uniform C visa issued by Romania is in principle valid across the whole Schengen Area — within the sticker's validity, entries and duration, and the 90/180 ceiling (LTV visas excepted).
Based on official information available on 30 September 2026; the consul decides whether to issue a visa.
The checklist follows the EU harmonised list for China. The consul may request additional supporting documents or waive some supporting documents (Visa Code Art. 14(6) and Art. 21(8)). The passport requirements below still apply, with only the stated emergency exception to the three-month validity rule. Before applying, check the Romanian MFA and mission websites.
Step 1: routing — where do you lodge?
Three questions determine competence. Any answer landing in “special case” means: ask official channels, do not use this checklist.
Question 1: is Romania the sole destination or the longest stop of this Schengen trip?
Pick one. Rule: sole destination → that state; longest stay → that state; equal days → first-entry state (European Commission page).
Question 2: which consular district holds your legal residence?
Pick one. Verify districts on the mission sites. Hong Kong and Macao appear in neither published district, and there is no representation arrangement — contact the Beijing consular section.
Question 3: purpose of travel?
Pick one. This checklist covers only tourism, business and family-visit C visas; the rest below.
Your route: First check whether Romania is responsible for your application, then confirm your consular district and travel purpose. If Romania is responsible, you live in the Beijing or Shanghai district, and you are travelling for tourism, business or a family visit, continue to the checklist. For other cases, contact the relevant authority.
Special cases (outside this checklist)
- Lodge elsewhere: another Schengen state with the longest stay (or first entry at equal days) — this list does not apply.
- Hong Kong, Macao, abroad: no Romanian mission and no representation arrangement (MFA list: Angola, DR Congo, Sri Lanka etc.). Ask Beijing.
- D visa: orientation only — a D visa authorises long stay only in Romania but allows 90/180 short visits elsewhere in Schengen (EU Immigration Portal).
- Everything else: work, study, diplomatic/service passports, EU/EEA/Swiss family, airport transit, cascade, LTV visas, fee waivers — official channels.
Step 2: your baseline document list
The list follows the EU harmonised list for China, C(2024) 6135. The consul may request additional supporting documents or waive some supporting documents. The passport requirements below still apply, with only the stated emergency exception to the three-month validity rule. Choose the profile that fits you to narrow the list, or view every document.
- Passport: valid for at least three months after your intended departure from the Schengen Area, with at least two blank pages, and issued within the previous ten years. For several visits, use the last intended departure date. Only the three-month validity requirement may be waived in a justified emergency. Official requirements.
- Form: filled online in eViza, then lodged in person with originals.
- Photo: 35×45 mm, white background (harmonised Schengen standard). Note: 3×4 cm is the dead national-visa format — do not use it.
- Hukou (户口本): all used pages. Harmonised list: no translation needed.
- Bank statements: last 3 months showing flows (not just a deposit certificate).
- Employer letter (在职证明): in English, or Chinese+English; stamp + signature, company contacts, name/title/salary/seniority, leave approval.
- Business licence copy (营业执照): as required by the harmonised list.
- Retirement + pension proof.
- Spouse employment/income + marriage notary WITH Apostille: spouse's job and income proof; marriage notarised with a Chinese MFA Apostille (附加证明书； Hague Convention in force for China since 7 Nov 2023).
- Student card + school letter.
- Family-relation notary WITH Apostille; travelling alone/with one parent needs a travel-consent notary too.
- Tourism pieces: round-trip reservation + whole-stay accommodation + travel programme.
- Business invitation + solvency: Romanian invitation (programme, cost bearer, return guarantee) + company solvency; work-permit cases separate.
- Family ties + invitation: kinship proof + Romanian invitation (consul may ask for more).
- Travel medical insurance: minimum COVER €30,000 (cover, not premium), whole trip. The “€50,000” on agent blogs is wrong.
Purpose filter: Profile and purpose combine; default is the full baseline.
Fee, insurance, means: three separate sums
| Visa fee (non-refundable) | Adults and 12+: €90; 6 to under 12: €45. The 6th and 12th birthdays are the band edges (MFA fees page; waivers out of scope). |
|---|---|
| Insurance (cover, not cost) | Minimum cover €30,000. No premium stated — it varies. |
| Means (reference arithmetic) | MFA/IGI materials of 2020–2024 used €50 × days, min €500 as a subsistence reference (stay + return). Note: the current eViza page says only “sufficient means” with no figure — the reference's current force is unverified. The calculator below is arithmetic only. |
eViza: online first, then in person
- File online: exclusively via evisa.mae.ro; other channels are not processed (Embassy page).
- File specs: ≤2 MB each; jpeg/jpg/tif/png/bmp/txt/rtf/pdf; Latin filenames. Drafts kept 30 days.
- Translations: non-RO/EN documents with Romanian or English translations (hukou: all used pages, no translation).
- In-person lodging with originals: every applicant appears in person; the examination clock starts at appearance, not at online filing.
- Window: no earlier than 6 months, no later than 15 days before travel; normal examination 15 days (Commission + MFA FAQ). The leftover “2 weeks/3 months” on the eViza homepage is stale text.
- Fraud warning: appointments are free; beware self-declared “partners” of the mission (Embassy warns: fraud/identity theft). The real address is
evisa.mae.ro;evisa-*domains are lookalikes.
Three visa rules that have changed
- “A Romanian visa is only good for Romania”
- Expired. Since 1 January 2025 the uniform C is in principle valid across Schengen (sticker + 90/180, no LTV). Pre-31-March-2024 guides are dead.
- “Insurance must cover €50,000”
- Wrong. The MFA uniform-visa page says minimum cover €30,000 (Visa Code Art. 15). The €50,000 figure circulates on agent blogs.
- “Visa on arrival / visa-free”
- Wrong. Holders of ordinary Chinese passports need a visa before travel. The Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully operational at Schengen external borders since 10 April 2026, replacing passport stamps with electronic entry and exit records. Fingerprints collected from short-stay visa applicants are kept in the Visa Information System (VIS), not stored again in EES; border officers can compare them with the VIS record. EES also records a facial image. Children under 12 do not give fingerprints with a visa application.
90/180 helper (enter ALL Schengen stays)
Rule: at most 90 days in any 180-day window — days in Romania count together with days in France, Germany and other Schengen countries, and may not exceed the duration printed on your visa. This tool is illustrative; use the European Commission's official calculator for the official calculation.
Frequently asked
- Can a Romanian-issued Schengen visa take me to France or Germany?
- A uniform C visa, in principle yes — within the sticker's validity, entries and duration, under the 90/180 ceiling. Exception: LTV visas — read the remarks.
- Beijing or Shanghai?
- By legal residence: Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang → Shanghai; the rest of mainland China + Beijing/Tianjin/Chongqing → Beijing (verify on mission sites). Hong Kong/Macao/abroad → ask Beijing.
- Must I appear in person?
- Yes. After online filing, every applicant lodges in person with originals; examination runs from appearance.
- How far ahead?
- Earliest 6 months, latest 15 days before travel; processing normally takes 15 days. This page does not check live slots.
- How much in the bank statements?
- The list wants 3 months of flows (not just a deposit certificate). The old €50 × days (€500 floor) reference is arithmetic only — current pages give no figure.
- Does the hukou need translation or notary?
- No: all used pages, no translation. Notary + Apostille only in set cases: marriage (no own income), minors' kinship (plus travel consent).
- How much insurance?
- Read the cover, not the premium: minimum €30,000, whole trip, whole Schengen.
- Refunded if refused?
- No (€90/€45 by age). That is why routing comes before the file.