Moldova Travel Guide
Visa summary
247 passport nationalities researched for entry into Moldova.
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Guide
Moldova is straightforwardly open to more than 100 nationalities, EU, UK, US, Canadian, Australian, Japanese, South Korean, Norwegian, Swiss, most CIS, and several Balkan passport holders can all enter visa free for up to 90 days within any six month period. At Chișinău International Airport and the three main land crossings, Leușeni, Sculeni, and Cahul, the process is described as straightforward provided you have your passport, a return ticket, proof of lodging, and enough visible funds ready for a possible inspection. A US passport specifically needs at least three months of validity to be admitted.
Transnistria, the breakaway region in Moldova's east, adds a genuine wrinkle. US citizens are permitted to enter Moldova through Transnistria, but doing so does not automatically register your presence the way a standard entry does, anyone who enters this way has to separately register within three days of reaching right-bank, western Moldova, either at the Ministry of Information Development's registration office on A. Pușkin Street or at the Bureau of Migration and Asylum on Boulevard Ștefan cel Mare, both in central Chișinău.
Border crossings
- Chișinău International Airport
The main air gateway, where the standard visa free process applies for the long list of eligible nationalities.
- Leușeni, Sculeni, and Cahul, the main land crossings
The three principal overland routes, following the same documentation expectations as the airport.
- Transnistria, a separate registration requirement
Entering Moldova through this breakaway region specifically requires you to register within three days once you reach the rest of the country, a step the standard airport or land crossing entry does not require.
Transit routes
- Register within three days if you entered via Transnistria
A specific and easy to miss requirement, since the crossing itself does not handle it automatically the way a standard border post does.
- Keep visible funds and lodging proof on hand at any entry point
Guides describe inspection as a real possibility, not just a formality, so have the documentation ready rather than assumed.
Entry point notes
- Ninety days within six months, a broad and generous allowance
Covers a genuinely wide range of nationalities without any visa process.
- Transnistria entry is legally permitted but administratively different
Worth understanding the registration step in advance if that route is part of your plan, rather than discovering it after the fact.