VisaMoldova requires separate residence approval for family-visa holders
Moldova’s migration authority publishes distinct procedures for family-reunification approval and temporary residence. A family visa application also has its own checklist, so relatives should identify the next stage before collecting or paying for documents.
Official source date: 2026-11-02
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Identify the family approval needed for the visa stage
Families arranging residence in Moldova should distinguish the migration authority's family-reunification approval from the visa and the later right of residence. This current guide explains existing procedures. IGM describes its family notification as one condition for obtaining a long-stay family visa.
The authority's notification page distinguishes applications sponsored by Moldovan citizens residing in Moldova from those sponsored by foreigners with residence rights. It sets out eligible relationship categories, including spouses and children, with particular conditions for dependent parents, adult children unable to support themselves for medical reasons, and other specified cases.
The applicant submits the approval request personally. Use IGM's notification page to establish the sponsor category and supporting relationship evidence; being related does not eliminate the remaining requirements of the relevant route.
Prepare the D/VF visa dossier separately
The Foreign Ministry's visa guidance identifies family reunification as category D/VF. It asks for the competent migration authority's acceptance that the statutory family conditions are met, alongside evidence of family ties. The approval is therefore part of the visa evidence, rather than a substitute for submitting a visa application.
The ministry lists a completed form, a recent photograph and a passport issued within the previous ten years, valid at least three months beyond the intended departure date. It also lists a criminal record, translated into Romanian or English and legalised or apostilled as applicable, with an exception for children under sixteen.
Travel medical insurance must cover Moldova for the expected stay and the listed emergency and repatriation risks, with minimum coverage of EUR 30,000. The published consular fee is EUR 40, plus additional charges where applicable. Check the mission's payment arrangements and the nationality-dependent invitation requirement before filing. Those costs and documents belong to the visa stage; they do not establish that a residence card has been approved.
Match the residence checklist to the sponsor and relationship
IGM's temporary-family-residence page separates applications involving a Moldovan citizen, a foreign resident and an unmarried Moldovan partner with a common child. Choose the matching checklist before ordering civil records or translations. For example, the Moldovan-citizen family checklist requires the relevant marriage or child's birth record transcribed in Moldova's civil register; the foreign-sponsor checklist instead identifies the family member's valid residence document.
The page also calls for evidence of the right to own or use the accommodation, such as the specified cadastral extract or a lease with proof of tax registration. Criminal records require the prescribed authentication and Romanian translation, subject to the stated minor exemption. Residence-stage health-insurance requirements should be checked separately from the travel policy used for the visa.
IGM directs filing at least thirty days before the authorised stay ends, or at least fifteen days beforehand for EU citizens. Its relevant family checklists require both family members to attend. Calculate the applicable deadline from the applicant's authorised stay.
Confirm the current service channel without assuming extra lawful stay
IGM's 12 October service notice announced a temporary pause in identity-document processing at its one-stop counters from 29 October through 3 November, with resumption planned from 4 November. It stated that other IGM services would continue normally. Readers should distinguish that identity-document stage from submitting evidence or seeking the substantive family approval.
The same notice said the former e-migrare platform stopped operating from 17 October and identified the former online employment and investment filing cut-off. It did not describe that retired platform as a replacement family-application channel. Use IGM's family service instructions and confirm the appropriate counter or appointment before sending sensitive civil records through any online service.
The service notice does not grant an extension of a relative's authorised stay or waive the family filing deadlines. If the remaining lawful-stay period is short, ask IGM how to lodge the correct request and retain evidence of the instructions and submission. Family approval does not itself complete every immigration stage.
