The Republic of Moldova has relaxed its visa policy for the citizens of 60 states and has simplified the process of obtaining permanent residence permits for foreign investors.
“[The new changes] will substantially increase the country’s investment attractiveness, as well as the number of tourists,” said Pavel Filip, Moldova’s prime minister.
According to the new rules, a visa application form and valid passport will suffice for the issuance of visas for tourist or business trips to Moldova. Before the change, citizens of many countries needed to prove that they had medical insurance, a round-trip ticket, financial means for subsistence and a hotel reservation before a visa could be issued.
Furthermore, the issuance of residence permits for work and business purposes will also be simplified, so as to attract foreign investment and enhance the labour market. The amendments to the legislation envisage the lessening of the number of application documents, an increase in the validity period of residence permits and faster procedures.
The proposed changes will see a reduction in the number of documents for residence permit applications from 10 to six. Moreover, the validity of the residence permit for immigrants engaged in investment projects will be prolonged from one to either two or three years, depending on the nature of the project.
Applications submitted by foreign workers in order to obtain temporary work residence permits will be accelerated, reducing the time taken for a response to 15 days from 25.
Currently, the citizens of 100 countries – including EU states, the US and Canada – are exempt from visa requirements in order to enter the territories of the Republic of Moldova, but passport holders from a number of countries, such as India and South Africa, still require visas.
Add Comment