Question: Bulgarian citizenship?

@OrientalPlovdiv

I guess the biggest hurdle would be that you need to be fluent in Bulgarian.

If you have no Bulgarian descent, then you have to have been a permanent resident for at least 5 years (3 if you're married to a Bulgarian citizen).  There's a pretty stiff interview and exam to pass - in Bulgarian.  You also need to have a clean criminal record check.  There's one other "small" snag: in order to become a Bulgarian citizen (apart from by descent), you are required to renounce any other nationality(ies) that you hold.

@OrientalPlovdiv

It's a lot less aggravation to stop after you have your PR. In theory, there are some EU mobility rights for those that have lived 5 years in the EU. Plus the downside of relinquishing your UK citizenship. Unless you're desperate to vote. :-)

@SimCityAT

I agree with that. I have studied the language for 6 months now and honestly it is difficult to master in listening and speaking.

@JimJ

I understand there are some exemptions for not having to renounce your other nationalities. For example, if you are married, I believe you don't have to.

@JimJ
I understand there are some exemptions for not having to renounce your other nationalities. For example, if you are married, I believe you don't have to. - @VillageLife

Dual citizenship is available only for those born in Bulgaria.

@SimCityAT

Wrong!!

Bulgaria permits dual citizenship only for native-born citizens, citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland, countries in a reciprocity agreement with Bulgaria, as well as spouses of Bulgarian citizens. Naturalised citizens who prove they are of Bulgarian origin are also permitted.

@VillageLife

I don't believe that is the case - and I can't see any logic behind the notion either (which doesn't mean it isn't the case, of course: Тук е България! 😎). It's always possible that the law has changed recently, but I'm not aware of any such changes.

There are slightly different conditions for Golden Visa holders, who are not required to renounce any existing citizenship(s) they may hold; however they DO need to invest a minimum of €512,000 in AIFs/ETFs in order to qualify for a GV.

@VillageLife
I don't believe that is the case - and I can't see any logic behind the notion either (which doesn't mean it isn't the case, of course: Тук е България! 😎). It's always possible that the law has changed recently, but I'm not aware of any such changes.
There are slightly different conditions for Golden Visa holders, who are not required to renounce any existing citizenship(s) they may hold; however they DO need to invest a minimum of €512,000 in AIFs/ETFs in order to qualify for a GV. - @JimJ

That was in reference to your "exemption if you're married" post. 🙂

@JimJ

Its definitely not a recent change .

And also not uncommon.

Hopefully it helps someone.

(2) No release from their previous citizenship shall be required for:

1. persons – spouses of Bulgarian citizens;

2. citizens of a Member State of the European Union, of a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or of the Swiss Confederation;

3. Citizens of countries with which the Republic of Bulgaria has concluded treaties establishing reciprocity.

@VillageLife

That's from Article 12 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law.

I think we're talking at cross purposes here:

EU law supersedes member states' national laws in such circumstances, so EU nationals can't be required to renounce their existing EU (or EEA/Swiss) citizenship(s) by another EU state , but that's not really relevant here as we're talking in a primarily British milieu.

AFAIK, the UK has no reciprocal Agreement with Bulgaria regarding nationality.

Which leaves us back where we started: talking about your original statement - that you can't be required to surrender your existing citizenship "if you're married". That only applies if you're married to a Bulgarian citizen.

It's also worth noting that all naturalised Bulgarian citizens are only legally citizens once a presidential decree to that effect has been issued. As with so many other aspects of the legal system here, the Citizenship Law is more honoured in the breach than the observance, and additionally is ambiguous/subject to the whims of official interpretation. The Presidential Decree is only issued once the President's office has been advised that all the relevant requirements have been met; there are two Boards which determine this. The current situation is that many, but not all, TCN applicants receive official notification that their application has been successful - subject to them supplying proof that they have renounced any existing citizenship. The legal validity of this request is disputable, but its effect is that without this proof the Presidential Decree, quite possibly "illegally", isn't issued because the final Board agreement isn't forthcoming. Anyone in this situation then has the choice of renouncing their existing citizenship(s) or challenging the non-issue of the Declaration in court - a long and expensive process, made problematic by the President's immunity to legal action on any grounds, and by one of the Boards only issuing an "opinion", which carries weight with the President's office but is difficult to challenge in court as "everyone's entitled to have an opinion". There are lawyers making a good living out of these, and other, legal niceties here...unfortunately for the average person, having "legal rights" in Bulgaria and actually managing to exercise them are two very different things! 😎

It will be interesting to see what happens with the current President once his final term expires: his immunity from prosecution lapses once he leaves office, and there are apparently those who suspect him of acting as a foreign agent while in that office. Who knows where he might decide to spend his well-earned retirement...😂

@JimJ

Haha - at this point I think your just playing with me. We are obviously talking about being married to a Bulgarian citizen (as per what I pasted from the Bulgarian law a couple of times)

Anyway.....hopefully it helps some people on this forum as it's not clear (especially with all this opinion and bluster).

"1. persons – spouses of Bulgarian citizens;".

All citizens married to Bulgarian citizens....it doesn't matter if that is UK, US or any other don't need to surrender their original Citizenship (which is significant when deciding if you want to go for citizenship via naturalisation).

Thanks.

Changing the topic, and to offer a different opinion (although I can already imagine the usual responses .

In terms of the language criteria, the written multiple choice test doesn't seem too prohibitive. Looking at the examples, they seem to follow the same format (e.g a few paragraphs on a historical event or figure from history). In theory this could almost be studied for if your Bulgarian is not great. (For example focussing study on understanding the typical questions and key words to try to eliminate the answer from the multiple choice). It seems you can keep having a go and taking this test as well, up to a certain max per year (and it might even be free!).

The interview is therefore the real hurdle (if your not fluent......in Bulgarian). I have read accounts from some that have done an introduction in Bulgarian and basic conversation at the beginning of their interview but then switched to English for the rest of the interview (answering some geographic questions and history of Bulgaria etc). I am not sure how true this is and no doubt, if true, would vary widely on where and who you do the interview with etc. It would be interesting to hear some other first hand accounts if anyone here has actually gone through the process?.

@VillageLife

"Opinion and bluster", eh?  I wonder who you could possibly be referring to... 😁

Since reading seems to be a bit of a sticking point here, let me just remind you that "unless you're married" and "unless you're married to a Bulgarian citizen" aren't synonymous, and something that's mentioned subsequently doesn't necessarily apply retrospectively.

Anyway, I think we're all on the same page now - so it's back to opinion and bluster for me, and, I assume, obfuscation and speculation for you.. 🙂

Thank you all for the information provided. It seems that it is not a straightforward process although the language issue can still be overcome. Let's hope that they may change the rules to make it easier in future.

Cheers mate!

@OrientalPlovdiv

Just out of curiosity, would you have to give up your current citizenship (passport) or are you lucky and fall into one of the exemptions (e.g already an EU citizen or married to a Bulgarian Citizen?).

For me,  if I had to renounce my current citizenship(s) I wouldn't do it. Instead I would just stick with permanent residence status.

I am not so sure about whether Brexit withdrawal beneficiaries are still regarded as European citizens. I heard about different versions from various sources that Article 50 residence permit holders are still subject to the same requirements (i.e. exempted). This needs to be clarified by the authority or lawyers.

Of course I do not want to renounce my current citizenship. Just a plan to think about it.

:-)

I had a look for some example language tests. This isn't an official government site, but does have a few sample test papers: https://www.bulgarian-citizenship.com/b … uage-exam/

I'm not even up to A2 level yet in spoken Bulgarian so would surely fail the spoken interview! But though the paper test looks daunting at first glance, after reading one through I am fairly confident I'd have a chance of getting 12/20 of these questions correct.

Giving up current citizenship is a huge decision. Though I do wonder with the move to the right and the growing anti-foreigner feelings all across Europe and the UK, if permanent residency will become an insecure option.

I am not so sure about whether Brexit withdrawal beneficiaries are still regarded as European citizens. I heard about different versions from various sources that Article 50 residence permit holders are still subject to the same requirements (i.e. exempted). This needs to be clarified by the authority or lawyers.
Of course I do not want to renounce my current citizenship. Just a plan to think about it.

:-) - @OrientalPlovdiv

This is an interesting point which needs to be looked at.

@SimCityAT

Agreed a really interesting point.

Would be interesting to hear from an lawyer?.

@janemulberry

This was exactly my thoughts with the written test. A bit of targeted studying, based on the examples on the internet, and actually one could scrape a pass without proficiency in Bulgarian.