If you’re thinking about living in Bulgaria then this article contains key advice about how to go about it.

First things first, the rules relating to visas and residency permits must be understood and adhered to by anyone thinking about going to live in Bulgaria full time because until Bulgaria is a well established member of the EU, EU citizens do not have the right to live in Bulgaria without applying for temporary residency at least.  For citizens of all other nations the following information can act as a guideline to the procedures you too will have to follow.

Tourist visas are widely available for those who wish to visit Bulgaria for up to a month, but anyone who wishes to live in Bulgaria for any longer has to begin by applying for a D Type Visa or a long term visa which is valid for 90 days.  An application can be made prior to travel to Bulgaria via the applicant’s nearest Bulgarian embassy and the cost of the D Type Visa is currently around GBP 44.

In theory the processing of this visa type should only take a couple of weeks, but because the number of people taking extended breaks or even moving to live in Bulgaria full time is on the increase, it’s wise to apply well in advance of your travel date.

The application takes the form of having to submit a completed questionnaire and two passport pictures; if you’ve bought a house in Bulgaria you can apply as a ‘foreign investor’ and you will need to provide proof of your purchase in the form of a notarised copy of your purchase contract or title deeds for example.  If applying under this category you will also be required to send proof of your address in Bulgaria as well as an investment document from the Ministry of Finance in Bulgaria.

After a Type D visa the next type of residency document to apply for is a temporary residency card.  Anyone planning on staying over the 3 month grace period afforded them by the long stay visa should get their application underway about 2 weeks before their Type D runs out.  To apply for temporary residence an applicant has to physically be in Bulgaria and go to the regional passport office for foreigners and complete a complicated form in Bulgarian (take a Bulgarian friend!), hand over 2 passport pictures, pay GBP 2 in tax and prove that they have sufficient funds to live on for the duration of their temporary residency visa (usually having about GBP 1,000 in a bank account for which you can produce a statement is sufficient). 

Depending under which category you apply for a visa your allowed duration of stay will vary.  Typical is the granting of a 6 month visa to those who have bought property in Bulgaria which costs around GBP 70.  Those who have reapplied regularly for their temporary residency can apply for permanent residency after five years especially if they have work in Bulgaria and a permanent home in the country; alternatives to this long drawn out residency application process is to marry a Bulgarian (!) or invest in excess of USD 500,000 into Bulgaria – but most people manage the application process and there are a number of expatriate social organisations as well as local runners who assist applicants for a small fee with their applications and getting their permissions to work and live in Bulgaria.