Moldova
Located at the geographical crossroad between Europe and the ancient Russian Empire, Moldova has in the last 20 years gained a major standing in the political and trading landscape of Eastern Europe.
ETIAS for Moldova Citizens in brief
Moldova Nationals required to for ETIAS starting from 2024 to allow short visit journey towards 34 European Destination Countries
ETIAS applicants must have a valid biometric passport issued by the Republic of Moldova
ETIAS application available through online systems exclusively
ETIAS to be compulsory for business, tourism/family visit, transit and medical treatment journeys
Combined permanence in the ETIAS Member Countries must never surpass the limit of 90 days within 6 months.
Bonds between Moldova and the European Union
Located at the geographical crossroad between Europe and the ancient Russian Empire, Moldova has in the last 20 years gained a major standing in the political and trading landscape of Eastern Europe.
UN Member basically since its independence the Republic of Moldova, thanks to its growing diplomatic prestige has quickly achieved the Visa Waiver rights that benefit its citizens when travelling towards the EU / Schengen Area Countries for short term visits.
The diplomatic and trading synergy between EU and the Republic of Moldova has been renewed in 2016 when the Union, tracing the roadmap to ETIAS, reconfirmed the new Visa Waiver protocol named ETIAS will, starting from its very inception in 2025, also benefit the citizens of Moldova.
As a matter of fact, Nationals of Moldova with a valid biometric passport will, from 2024, be able to electronically apply for European Union’s Visa Waiver named ETIAS.ETIAS for Moldovans: application process
The ETIAS application procedure for Moldova biometric passport holders is easy to handle and is expected to require each petitioner no more than 10 minutes to input their data in the electronic application form.
Such data include:- personal information like full name and surname, birthplace, birth country, birth date
- scheduled travel to EU related information
- eligibility and background questions
- contact details including a valid e-mail address
It is very important to notice that applicants from Moldova must be in possession of a valid biometric passport in order to be eligible for EU’s Visa Waiver and that such passport must have at least three months of remaining validity until the date of departure from ETIAS Area.
Those who do not hold such kind of passport are required to apply for a Visa at the relevant Consulate of the Schengen Country they wish to visit.
The same obligation applies to all those voyagers from Moldova whose travel to EU do not fit in the purpose and duration of stay limits as mentioned above. For more details on ETIAS terms of use click here.
Family visit trips are covered for instance under the touristic purpose. While this is not true for long term family reunion.
The same principle applies to study visits.
Although ETIAS is not fit for long term study programs in the EU, ETIAS Visa Waiver can indeed be used by Nationals of Moldova for short training programs (such as language classes, cooking classes and company organized training courses) if the stay in the ETIAS countries area will not exceed the limit of 90 days within 6 months.ETIAS outcome notification
Once the application has been submitted Moldova Citizens will in most cases receive the outcome within 72 hours on their personal e-mail.
Since the ETIAS approval will only be sent directly to the applicants’ personal e-mail it is very important for each candidate to input a valid and working e-mail account when they fill out the required form.
Once received the positive outcome, ETIAS Visa Waiver to citizens of Moldova is valid for 3 years or until the passport expiry date (whichever incurs first) and allows for multiple trips to the EU/Schengen Area and it will be valid to enter the 34 ETIAS Member States from either air, land and sea borders.On ETIAS geographical limitations
It is to be underlined that ETIAS is only valid for journeys to the 34 EU Countries that are part of the Schengen Area or its future or de facto Members. There currently is solely 1 EU Member Nation that is not to any legal extent linked to such Area and that therefore will not be applying the obligation for ETIAS to Visa Waiver Visitors. That country is the Republic of Ireland (EIRE).
The same condition applies to other countries that despite being located in Europe are outside of the Schengen Area such as, for instance, UK, Albania, Serbia, and Turkey.