Getting Visas and the Job Hunt

So… we have finally had our first run-in with the dreaded Romanian bureaucracy. Staying in Romania for 90 days on a “tourist visa” is no problem. The major issues happen when you want to stay for a longer period of time. We went to the office at the police station the other day that is set up to deal with foreigners and visas. My initial plan was to get a visa for “Other goals that do not violate Romanian laws” (and yes, there is really such a thing).

I asked the man at the office for some forms that I needed to fill out in order to get a visa. He asked me what I wanted to do in Romania that would necessitate my staying over the 90-day policy. This is when the “dueling banjos” started to play… the Romanian version.

I said that I wanted to live here because the air is clean and it’s good for the soul (our conversation was in Romanian so don’t laugh).

He agreed with me on the issue but said that I had to have an official reason.

I told him that I was writing a book.

What is the book about? Is it an official book?

It’s a science fiction book.

He opened up his official-looking binder and with his official-looking hand he searched in his official-looking book for the answer. No, this is not a good enough reason. You can write a science fiction book outside of Romania from the ideas in your head.

But I need to be in Romania for this. I draw my inspiration from your culture.

I understand. But you will need an official letter from an official library or some other official institution stating that you need their official documents and/or books in order to complete your research for your book. Your official book.

Well on top of writing a book I would also like to further my learning of the Romanian language so that I don’t arrive at official visa-granting institutions talking like a caveman.

Well this is what you have to do… You must get an official letter from an official institution stating that they are providing official language instruction for the entire period of your stay here. And it must have a stamp on it.

Ok… so he didn’t say anything about the stamp thing. But it for sure was implied. As our friend Alex says, “Romania has an addiction to stamps”. This is true not only for Romania but for other post-communist countries as well. It can be a McDonald’s receipt for a 4-piece Chicken McNuggets without BBQ sauce (they don’t have BBQ sauce in Romania) and as long as it has a stamp on it, it can be used for official purposes in these parts.

So I asked the man for the official forms that I need in order to complete my official mission. I mainly wanted to get a head-start on my official medical examination and my official purchase of Romanian health insurance.

I will give you the forms when you have your official documents.

I left the office at this time and downloaded the documents. Even though he had the official documents next to his official-looking book which was being flipped through by his official hand. Dueling banjos had stopped playing a while ago. I couldn’t keep up and I lost to the inbred child in the form of an antiquated bureaucratic process. But we have yet to get to the part where we have to squeal like a pig.

Hopefully I won’t have to disclose this to you in future emails.

So now we are looking into two different kinds of visas; the aforementioned one, where it apparently needs to be way more official than just the officially-written, “Other Goals that don’t Violate Romanian Laws”. In this case we will find an official institution that will give us Romanian lessons like once a month for a year (one year is the maximum amount of time that you can have a visa for). The other option is to find someone to officially hire us and get a work visa.

I say officially because most places want to hire you under the table in order to avoid paying taxes. We will also need an official document stating that we are living somewhere. This is also a problem at this time because as we mentioned, the landlord for this place won’t give us the official document because he wants to avoid tax problems and, understandably, bureaucracy.

So this is where we are now. We have about another month before the official paperwork needs to be in with nice stamps all over it. Maybe I will submit my BBQ sauce-less receipt for part of it.