Getting into Moldova. I am writing as an Australian. Members of the Eu, USA,Turkey, Israel. and some former USSR states are not contstrained by exactly the same requirements. Western countries do however have similar constraints. Firstly a letter of invitatation is needed. It must be an original and must be shown at the border. This invitation is obtained by your hotel, travel agent, or contact in Moldova, and should be sent to you, before you arrive. You should have it on you. It is obtained inside Moldova from the official giovernment Dept of Tourism, and is not simply a handwritten letter inviting your visit. It is an Official Document You can meet your contact at the time you enter, at the border, if they carry the original invite and so save time having it sent to you . But I advise you have a duplicate faxed or emailed. Upon arriving with your invitation,you need to buy a visa at Chisinau airport if arriving by air( check curent price). If not arriving by air, you must have bought this visa at the Moldovan Embassy in the country you are entering from ( or another) before attempting to cross the border. eg Kiev , Bucharest. In the city itself. DO NOT THINK YOU CAN BUY YOUR VISA AT THE BORDER CROSSING if it is not Chisinau airport. The invitation alone is not enough. In October during the wine festival the visa is free but you still need an invitation. This could be from a wine company for example.Once admitted if staying more than 3 days, you need to register with the authorities. If you are staying in a hotel, this is done automatically when you sign the register. If you are staying privately, or with friends, the proceedure is a little more complicated, and involves you paying a fee at the tax office in Stephan cel Mare. Accompanied by your host, you need to state the address where you will be staying and whoever you are staying with needs to be with you and to show ID and proof that they reside at that address .. It is a good idea to take some passport size photos with you... Recently limits on foreign currency imports without declaration have been increased, but check, they could just as quickly be decreased. Better to declare, especially if going on to Ukraine and you want to take cash out with you from there. Believe it or not, Moldova does claim that it wants to encourage tourism and international commerce !!!.................. It is now late 2009 and since I wrote this the M government has changed requirements and the society changed in many ways. and an Aussie ( and many others) cannot enter Moldova easily, In fact it is extremely difficult. Somewhat surprising so treating travellers from an affluent country and one representing travellers that have the 2nd highest percentage of passport ownership in the world, and who started even the Lonely Planet trade in Tourism. Moldov a could learn alot from our citizens, havinhg created even a wine industry in decades rather than centuries ( which Moldova would dearly cheerish) You now must go to a Moldovan Embassy to obtain a visa, accompanied with your letter of invite as above, plus $ US .. that is before entry into Moldova, and check the Embassy opening times. They may well be sleeping off a drinking binge. If you get there, mind your wallet in Moldova plus your safety. Any recent reviews otherwise should be viewed with extreme suss. The Moldovans are very adept at deception. Even my Russian friends say not to F..k with the Moldovans.. so be very careful. Even your so called friends there may rob you... and not without violence !! Be very very careful in today's climate. Safety is the gift of a wealthy society and Moldova is POOR.. Poor, and very POOR. No the poorest country in Europe. Consider this recent post before going there.