Residency in Bulgaria

I am still in the UK, but post-Brexit, I understand it's 90 days every 180 days, unless you applied for residency before December 31, 2020, the Brexit cut-off date. It's possible to apply for residency still, but it's a lot more hoop-jumping and expense now than it used to be.

Also, I believe there's an issue with our UK pensions if we move post Brexit. I could be wrong (hope I am!), but I think the UK govt changed the law so the pension stays what it was on the date we move abroad, we don't get the cost-of-living / inflation adjustments that people who moved before December 31 (or stay in the UK) will get.

Basically, any UK citizens with residency in the EU prior to Brexit are treated under the old rules, anyone who moves post-Brexit gets a far different deal. Unfortunately due to Covid I missed my chance to apply for Bulgarian residency last year.

Assuming you don’t have residency - you can visit max 90 days in any 180 day period. Beyond that you’ll need a long stay D visa, then I believe you can apply for residency after that.

It’s not as easy and will cost more money than getting residency pre-Brexit. Even though we won’t move til later this year or early next, we got residency last year as a precaution, as I don’t think we would qualify for the visa.

When you mention “residency “ how long is it for?

Hi
We’re thinking the same  I brought my place 10 years ago with a view to living there when I retire   Which hopefully will be next  dependent on this covid 🤞
Happy for 90 days stay  ax we decided we won’t move permanently but thinking maybe a visa would be good for a longer stay as I would like to spend longer there at times
Advise on how to  best get a visa for me and the wife would be greatly appreciated  cheers greg

My understanding is that the 90 days per 180 days is no problem, that's the same as any other EU country post Brexit.
The type D visa which is a prerequisite for applying for residency is initially for 6 months, and has more requirements.
But you need to go to the Bulgarian embassy's website to get the most accurate information.

Many thanks for the heads up.

My wife and I bought the house last year but we didn't know about the resident visas until this year,

But don’t worry, getting visa or residency is not a great problem. Especially, if you have your own house. You can do it by yourself or with assistance.

We are thinking to lease a house until we find something  we would like to buy. we are Canadian living currently in the US. I think for us this would be a good way to know the area and have a great place to stay in the meantime. Anyone with a house please feel free to contact us.

I’ve just been told that the D visa may not be be necessary if you own a house, you just apply straight for residency 🤨 or should I say someone said their sister just did that in the last month 🤷‍♀️ Maybe there’s a reason they managed to do it, maybe it’s a fluke

Hi Helen! I wonder,  was your friend's sister already living in Bulgaria before December 31? It makes a big difference to which set of rules apply, whether it's the pre-Brexit rules or post-Brexit. Also, it's possible if your friend has residency she could have applied as a family member.

The site probably won't let me post the link, but here https://www.mvr.bg/en/about-the-ministr … out-brexit , on the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior website, it says this about Brits who already had the old long-term residency cards (under the pre-Brexit rules):

"If you have resided legally (on the basis of a long-term residence permit) and continuously in Bulgaria in the last five years, you and your family members are entitled to apply for a permanent residence permit.

To that end, up to three days prior to the expiry of your current long-term residence permit or before the end of 2021, whichever comes first, you have to submit an application for issuance of a permanent residence document."

There is also a bit about people who moved before December 31 but haven't yet applied for a long-term residency permit:

"For UK citizens arriving during the transition period (01.02 – 31.12.2020)

Within 3 months from your entry in Bulgaria you must submit an application with the respective Migration Office as per your address of residence and provide the documents specified in the respective sub-sections below."

So someone who moved to Bg in December 2020 and didn't have the old long-term permit could still get permanent residency under the old rules, provided they apply within 3 months of arriving. It could be that depending on whoever one deals with in the Migration Office, they would get lucky and have their paperwork dealt with by someone who interprets that more loosely and lets any Brit applying before the end of March get in under the old rules.  It could be worth chancing it, but it's risky.

As far as I know, Brits moving after January 1 need to apply under the new rules, whether they own a house or not. Brits are now treated the same as Americans, Canadians, Auutralians, and other non-EU citizens wanting to move there.  That means applying for a D visa to stay longer than the 90 days permitted. I'll be very happy to be wrong on this! Someone, please prove me wrong! But that's how I interpret the information on the Bulgarian goverment website and the London embassy site.

At least the D visa looks reasonably straightforward to get, but it's only good for 6 months and needs more paperwork--medical insurance, proof of  somewhere to live, and proof of income or savings equivalent to the Bulgarian minimum wage, which I think for 2021 is 650 BGN a month.

The forms can be found on the Bulgarian Embassy website: http://bulgarianembassy-london.org/cons … ces/visas/

That's the London embassy, but the form for D visa application is identical to the one on the US site.

Hi - if I missed something, HelenDinBg, apologies, but are you talking about a UK citizen, or some other country? UK citizens already living in Bulgaria have different rules than citizens of the US, or Canada, or other countries. I didn't seen that mentioned in the original post, and it does make a difference to what the rules are.

Ginny, the original poster is from the UK, so I'm guessing Helen replied talking about UK citizens. I'm in the UK, too.

But you are totally correct. The special rules applying to UK citizens officially ended on January 1. So now Brits who haven't already applied for permanent residency, unless there are exceptional circumstances, are treated under the same rules as any other non-EU citizen, with the exception being able to stay up to 90 days per 180 days. It does get confusing, and a lot of Brits still aren't sure about which rules apply to them, especially Brits who owned property in Bulgaria pre-Brexit but didn't apply for residency as they could travel and stay there freely as EU citizens.

If you needed to apply for a long-stay in Bg using a D visa, how did you find the process? Any tips for how to make sure the application goes smoothly? It's a whole new Europe for Brits now, and we have a lot of adjustments to make!

That was my guess, also, but this is a forum for people from many different countries.  When asking for help or advice, it might be helpful for a poster to mention the relevant nationality so that people wanting to help or offer suggestions don't have to guess.

Good point.

As the original poster will now need to apply for a D visa as will those wanting to move to Bg from any non-EU country, that's why I asked if you had any experience with it.

hi
I admit  i  dont  no  about  the  Visas  if  you  already  own  a  property  in  Bg.
However  im  not  quite  ready   to  retire  yet so  as  far  as  the information  i received  from the Uk  . gov   and  it  was  a  personal answer by  the  way. 90 days is  ALL you can  stay then  you  have  to  leave. iv  touched  on  this  before people like  myself at   best  would  be  BG 90 days then  say  Rumania for   90 days.
In  other words  renting if  it  does  happen  is  the only  option not  buying. Unless your  happy  to  spend  6  months  a  year.....in  BG  Etc.

phil666 wrote:

hi
I admit  i  dont  no  about  the  Visas  if  you  already  own  a  property  in  Bg.
However  im  not  quite  ready   to  retire  yet so  as  far  as  the information  i received  from the Uk  . gov   and  it  was  a  personal answer by  the  way. 90 days is  ALL you can  stay then  you  have  to  leave. iv  touched  on  this  before people like  myself at   best  would  be  BG 90 days then say  Rumania for   90 days.
In  other words  renting if  it  does  happen  is  the only  option not  buying. Unless your  happy  to  spend  6  months  a  year.....in  BG  Etc.

No you cannot do that you will have to go back to the UK for that period. The 90 days period is for the whole EU, so after the 90 days you will have to go back home for 90 days.

Has anyone here of any nationality applied for a D visa for Bulgaria? The paperwork looks fairly straightforward, but tips from someone who has already been through the process would be welcome.

Thank you so much for that advise I was worried about getting a visa 😱 with all this covid issue and personal issues here in uk we completely forgot about sorting out residential or visas never gave it a thought,as we have owned a house in Bulgaria for 10 years in readiness to retire next year we plan on staying for the summer season first, all being well  can you advise on what documentation we need to have to apply for this  visa please and how long it would take. ? Is it best to applyf for this visa  in Bulgaria ?
Many thanks in advance  stay safe 🌈😊

I obtained a D visa from a non-EU country (US). I now have residency.

Ginnyhench
Lovely thanks we are in the uk
We don’t think we want to live in Bulgaria permanent just be able to spend the season in our home all any any information on getting a visa and advise is very welcomed Thankyou

GinnyHench wrote:

That was my guess, also, but this is a forum for people from many different countries.  When asking for help or advice, it might be helpful for a poster to mention the relevant nationality so that people wanting to help or offer suggestions don't have to guess.

The original post does say they are in U.K., as am I, so everything I’ve said is only relevant to U.K. citizens trying to move to BG post Brexit

Ramses K. wrote:

phil666 wrote:

hi
I admit  i  dont  no  about  the  Visas  if  you  already  own  a  property  in  Bg.
However  im  not  quite  ready   to  retire  yet so  as  far  as  the information  i received  from the Uk  . gov   and  it  was  a  personal answer by  the  way. 90 days is  ALL you can  stay then  you  have  to  leave. iv  touched  on  this  before people like  myself at   best  would  be  BG 90 days then say  Rumania for   90 days.
In  other words  renting if  it  does  happen  is  the only  option not  buying. Unless your  happy  to  spend  6  months  a  year.....in  BG  Etc.

No you cannot do that you will have to go back to the UK for that period. The 90 days period is for the whole EU, so after the 90 days you will have to go back home for 90 days.

Not correct, as BG is not in Schengen area (yet) you could spend 90 days in BG, 90 days elsewhere in EU, 90 days in BG again, 90 days in EU again

Gregsue2318 wrote:

Ginnyhench
Lovely thanks we are in the uk
We don’t think we want to live in Bulgaria permanent just be able to spend the season in our home all any any information on getting a visa and advise is very welcomed Thankyou

You need to apply for the visa in U.K. so look up the consulate in London or theEmbassy in Sofia are very helpful.

Thank-you very much  for that we will look into that ASAP 🌈😊

I’ve only heard of direct experience of obtaining a D visa from one person and it was for education. It was not easy. I’ve heard other people struggling to find out exactly what they need to do,  the criteria are pretty specific but not actually written anywhere. Links to official BG web pages were not working.

But....It’s very early days so there aren’t going to be many cases to go by for a while, it takes time for information to be updated and disseminated, best to let things settle down and keep an eye on the various sites, forums and FB groups and revisit the question nearer the time you want to apply.

This is what I had to do -- I don't think the requirements have changed, but I don't know for sure.
First, the "D" visa must be applied for in your home country.  You should look online at the different categories, because there will likely be different documentation required for some of them.  I am retired, so I applied for the retiree visa.  I had to provide the following documents: Proof of my pension, a criminal background check (for the U.S., you get it from the FBI - don't know about UK), proof that I had the minimum amount in a bank account in Bulgaria (the equivalent of 6 months minimum wage), proof of health insurance (this is basically what is called "excess major medical" in the U.S.  I also had to provide proof that I had a place to live - this was a notarized lease, and a notarized letter from my landlord that I'm actually living in the apartment.  I think that's it.  All the non-Bulgarian documents had to be notarized, and then apostilled. An apostille is more or less the same as a notarization, but it's international.  For my background check, I had to get the apostille from the U.S. State Department, and for my pensions (I have 2) I got the apostille through the office of the state's attorney general.  The bank letter had to be signed and sealed by a representative of the bank.  Then all the documents that were in English had to be translated to Bulgarian by a certified translator, and the translations had to be notarized.  I submitted all the documentation to the nearest consulate to my US residence, then phoned for an in-person interview appointment. (Not sure whether they're doing in-person any more, because of COVID-19).  I was given an appointment, and showed up. It was pretty basic. They took my photo, then about 3 weeks later, issued my visa.  I had to FedEx my passport to the consulate in Los Angeles to have the visa put into my passport.  That's it.  With the "D" visa, you can come and go freely, as long as you do not exceed 180 days. The 180 days ran from the date of issue, so there is a stated expiration date.  Of course, if you think you want to stay longer, you should apply for a residence permit.  I applied for mine within weeks of landing with my D visa. So, for example, if you're in Bulgaria on D visas, and plan to return, but then close to the date of return the COVID situation starts to look tricky - travel restrictions, or whatever - you could apply for residency as late as 2 weeks before the expiration of the D visas. That wouldn't obligate you to reside permanently, but it would keep you from overstaying your visa, for which there can be serious repercussions.
Of course, I had been here a couple of times for visits first, and I set up the bank account, the insurance, etc., and then returned to the US to complete the D visa process. My lawyer is also a certified interpreter, so he did the translations, included in his fees.

Thank you 😊 hopefully it will settle down like this covid situation soon and it will be clearer ok the visa process stay safe

All the joys of Brexit!

Lol your right there ! 😊

Right! Gotta love Brexit - not!
Ginny, thanks for that information! The process for Brits now will be identical, except we do it via the Bulgarian Embassy in London. We can't apply for it from within Bulgaria, so no good going for the permitted first 90 days, deciding we want to stay longer, and trying for the D visa.
Sue, you only need the D visa to stay for more than 90 days, so if you intend to spend just a season a year in your house there, you may not need it at all. It's really for those who aim to stay longer-term. But all the info is on the London Embassy website. I did link to it in one of my comments, but I think the link was blocked! Here it is again: http://bulgarianembassy-london.org/cons … ces/visas/

Nor did we it’s a minefield to 😱

Thanks Janemullberry 😊
Just a bit daunting we didn’t realise the implications of brexit tbh and we were planing on  going for the season next year all being well 🤞 as I’ve been shielding we thought let’s take earlier retirement  and enjoy bulgaria more  maybe from Late March to  September time as we wanted to spend time relaxing in our hone and putting a new kitchen in plus her bedroom stuff etc as we’ve had it for ten years it needs a little updating it’s still in great condition but we rent it out and want to use it just for us now if we can
Will it be easier to get a D visa as we own a home ?
We never thought about living there permanently just seasonally but miffed now we’ve paid the mortgage on it and it seems we can’t enjoy it as we wanted to  😊

Yes, owning a home will help with getting a D visa, because one of the things you need  is to prove you have somewhere to live. You'll also need proof of income (or adequate money in the bank to live on for six months), health insurance, criminal background check.

It's unfortunate that a lot of Brits didn't realize the implications of Brexit. Bulgaria is actually being helpful, extending the handover period, allowing Brits a 90 day stay without a visa. But since Britain chose not to be part of the Europe club, a lot inevitably changes.

Hi - You're very welcome.  As for applying at the Bulgarian Embassy in London, that's the same (in principle, but obviously not in geography) as what I did. I see my post wasn't clear on this point.  All non-EU applicants have to apply from their home country.  I came to Bulgaria to visit a few times before applying for the D visa, and on my last visit before applying, I met with a lawyer, set up the bank account, and did the other things that would be hard to do without being here.  I could not have actually applied for the D visa from Bulgaria, however.  As a Hawai`i resident, once I had submitted my paperwork and been approved subject to interview,  I had to fly to Los Angeles for my interview. There is no Bulgarian consulate in Hawai`i, so L.A. was nearest (2,700 miles one way).  I FedExed my passport after the visa was granted rather than repeat the round trip flight from Honolulu to L.A. (plus staying in a hotel waiting for the processing.) So, what I did was essentially the same.  The Bulgarian Embassy in the U.S. is, of course, in D.C., which is six time zones from Honolulu.  I opted for L.A., which is only 3 time zones from Honolulu.

HelenDinBG wrote:

Ramses K. wrote:

phil666 wrote:

hi
I admit  i  dont  no  about  the  Visas  if  you  already  own  a  property  in  Bg.
However  im  not  quite  ready   to  retire  yet so  as  far  as  the information  i received  from the Uk  . gov   and  it  was  a  personal answer by  the  way. 90 days is  ALL you can  stay then  you  have  to  leave. iv  touched  on  this  before people like  myself at   best  would  be  BG 90 days then say  Rumania for   90 days.
In  other words  renting if  it  does  happen  is  the only  option not  buying. Unless your  happy  to  spend  6  months  a  year.....in  BG  Etc.

No you cannot do that you will have to go back to the UK for that period. The 90 days period is for the whole EU, so after the 90 days you will have to go back home for 90 days.

Not correct, as BG is not in Schengen area (yet) you could spend 90 days in BG, 90 days elsewhere in EU, 90 days in BG again, 90 days in EU again

Sorry to disappoint you but you are wrong. Both countries are in the EU. It's true Bulgaria is not in the Schengen area, but you still cannot do what he said. Look it up it cannot be done.

UK citizens can stay in BG (without a visa) for 90 days out of 180. This should be fine until you actually retire, and want to move more permanently.

You have to apply for D Visa (any BG Embassy) before you can apply for Residence Permit. D Visa (and residence) are pretty straightforward for retirees with a pension, so I'd be inclined to wait until then before starting the process. (But obviously you could start now, but on some other basis, such as International Trade Representative. This will be more expensive.)

There are some general requirements (health insurance, bank accout, criminal records check, address in BG, etc.), but these are usually not a big deal to get sorted.

Gwynj can you tell please how much visa is A D visa thanks paul

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