Obtaining the approval and the certificate for carrying out commercial activities, after obtaining the visa for commercial purposes

In order to obtain a long-stay visa for commercial purposes, but also for the subsequent extension of the right of residence, it is necessary to obtain the approval and the certificate for carrying out commercial activities from the Ministry of Business Environment, Trade, and Entrepreneurship (MEEMA).

It should be mentioned that the visa for commercial purposes is granted to foreigners who are, or are going to become shareholders or associates with attributions of management and administration of some Romanian companies and who are going to make an investment, in accordance with the law.

In order to obtain this type of visa, it is necessary to meet certain conditions, in addition to showing all the reasons and information related to the business, embodied in a very well-prepared business plan and other information such as the investment to be made, the number of jobs that will be set up and the like.

Obtaining the specialized technical approval aims to guarantee investments and jobs, and its purpose is to obtain the visa to enter Romania of the future entrepreneur.

After obtaining the entry visa, it is necessary to obtain the certificate which will extend the right of residence, in order to further carry out the commercial activities on the Romanian territory.

Following the submission of the file for obtaining the certificate, an expertise will be performed by an accountant accredited according to the law, who will certify that the investment was made in accordance with the business plan submitted at the stage of obtaining the approval.

It is essential for the approval to be effectively created, within a maximum of 12 months from the date of obtaining the residence permit, a number of 10 jobs for limited liability companies and at least 15 jobs for joint-stock companies, as originally provided for in the business plan, when the technical approval was obtained.

At the same time, the investment must be made within a maximum of 12 months from the date of obtaining the residence permit, according to the business plan, by bringing as a contribution of capital or technology a minimum of 100,000 Euros for limited liability companies and 150,000 Euros for joint-stock companies.

Practically, all the specialized technical conditions are verified along the way, the investment being made gradually, the employments being made as the commercial activity develops.

The analysis of the documentation both for obtaining the approval and subsequently for obtaining the certificate will be performed within a maximum of 30 working days from the date of receipt of the request for granting the certificate.

Thus, the right to stay can be extended successively for periods of up to 1 year, and for investments of more than 500,000 Euros or the creation of over 50 jobs, it will even be possible to request extensions of up to 3 years.