The paper written by D. Sandu, C. Radu, M. Constantinescu and O. Ciobanu gives an overview of the patterns of Romanian international migration after 1989. The focus is on temporary migration abroad. This is by far the most important form of Romanian migration as compared to permanent external migration and internal migration streams. Its emergence and patterns are put into relation with other components of the Romanian migration system (permanent emigration and forms of internal migration such as rural-urban, urban-rural migration or village to city commuting). The stages of temporary emigration abroad after 1989 are highly connected to the stages of permanent emigration and internal migration. An inventory of the main factors influencing temporary emigration is done by reference to community and regional constraints, community and regional opportunities, family opportunities for circulation abroad and local ideologies toward temporary emigration. The causal approach is mainly oriented to the identification of the origin factors. The temporary emigration from villages was higher for the larger villages of higher educational stock, smaller percentage of elderly people and having a high cultural (especially religious) diversity. Villages of high rates of migration abroad are mainly located in the proximity of small towns from poor counties into non-isolated areas. Three case studies on migration toward Yugoslavia, Hungary and Spain give more details on the patterns of temporary migration abroad. Chain migration is noticed in the case of the movement of Romanians that go to Yugoslavia for temporary work replacing Yugoslavians that went to work in Western Europe. For all the three cases of temporary emigration towards Yugoslavia, Hungary and Spain there was a clear impact of bilateral regulations between Romania and the destination country on the migration behavior. It is also obvious that border-crossing involves different patterns as compared to going to work in distant countries like Spain. Migration outcomes are also a function of the changes in the European status of some neighboring countries such as Hungary. Its inclusion into the EU has had an impact on the patterns of goods traffic among Romania and Hungary in the border area. All the case studies indicate an increase in the role of the state as a significant actor in regulating the flows of temporary international migration.