A tourist visa is valid for thirty days within three months of issue and costs ?33/A$60/NZ$60 if issued in advance; applications can either be lodged in person at the embassy or by post. You will need to show a current passport, and if you're applying by post you'll also need to enclose a money order for the full amount along with a photograph and an SAE. Citizens of Canada, Norway, Israel and Switzerland may also buy visas on arrival, which is usually cheaper, at about ?21/CAN$50. For a thirty-day stay, US and EU citizens simply need to fill in an immigration form on arrival at the airport or at the border.

Transit visas , valid for three days' stay within one month of issue, cost ?20/US$30 at the border (?25/US$45 at an embassy); double transit visas (two three-day visas) cost ?33/US$55.

Overstaying is an offence generally solved by paying a fine to the border police, but it is preferable, and slightly cheaper, to obtain a visa extension from any judet (county) police headquarters or the office at Str. Luigi Cazzavillan 11, Bucharest (Mon, Thurs & Fri 8.30am-1pm, Tues 8.30am-1pm & 5.30-7pm; tel 01/650 3050). You'll be sent to the CEC bank (in Bucharest this is on Strada Ion Campineanu) to pay your fee (another $25 plus $6 for "urgent" service, in lei), and then you must return with the bank receipt for hard currency; they may tell you to return in a day or two, although there is no reason for this and a few dollars will speed things up.