Long-term and permanent residence in Bulgaria for EU citizens

EU citizens, that are entitled to free  movement under international agreements executed with EU are issued, at their explicit request, with residence certificates on card carrier, as follows:

  1. Long-term residence
    Certificate for EU citizens in Bulgaria
    – issued by the bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, with 5-year validity period;
  2. Permanent residence Certificate
    for EU citizens in Bulgaria
    – issued by the bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, with 10-year validity period.

Family members of EU citizens, citizens of the EEA Agreement states and citizens of the Swiss Confederation that are not citizens of EU, EEA and the Swiss Confederation and that are entitled to free movement under international agreements executed with EU, and that have exercised their right to free movement, are issued with the following residence documents:

  1. Residence Card of a Family Member of a Union Citizen of a Long term residence non-EU family member of EU citizen that has exercised his/her right to free movement – issued by the bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, with up to 5-year validity period;
  2. Residence Card of a Family Member of a Union Citizen a permanently residing non-EU citizen family member of EU citizen that has exercised his/her right to free movement – issued by the bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, with up to 10-year validity period.

Family members of EU citizens, citizens of the EEA Agreement states and citizens of the Swiss Confederation that are not citizens of EU, EEA and the Swiss Confederation and that have not exercised their right to free movement  are issued with the following residence documents:

  1. Residence permit of a Long term residence family member of EU citizen that has not exercised his/her right to free movement, marked with the words “Family Member”  – issued by the bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, with up to 5-year validity period;
  2. Residence permit of a permanently residing family member of EU citizen that has not exercised his/her right to free movement, marked with the words “Family Member”  – issued by the bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, with up to 10-year validity period;

EU citizen household members – the persons that are dependents of the EU citizen in the country from which they are arriving, are issued with:

1. Residence permit for Long term residence marked with the words “Beneficiary under art. 3, par. 2 of Directive 2004/38/ЕC” – issued by the bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, with up to 5-year validity period;

2. Residence permit for permanent residence marked with the words “Beneficiary under art. 3, par. 2 of Directive 2004/38/ЕC” – issued by the bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, with up to 10-year validity period;

Applications for issuance of the documents and certificates under art. 2 to persons under 14 years of age are submitted and signed by their parents or legal guardians where the child must be also present.

The parents or legal guardians of persons that have completed 14 years of age but have not yet completed 18 years of age state their consent for issuance of the documents under art. 2 in the presence of the civil officer and the application is signed both by the parents and the child.

Where there is no parent or legal guardian present a signature is affixed by a person authorized thereof by the parent or legal guardian by an explicit notarized power of attorney.

The documents and certificates listed here above certify the right of residence in the Republic of Bulgaria.

All documents issued to persons by authorities of other countries in order to certify facts and circumstances regarding their legal status should be certified in accordance with the current legislation in effect, namely:

In order to be valid in Bulgaria and to serve in front of the Bulgarian institutions the documents issued in another country should be additionally finished in a special way depending on whether the relevant issuing country is a party to the Hague Convention or there is an Agreement on Legal Assistance entered into by and between such country and the Republic of Bulgaria and such Agreement is in place and effect, or such country does not fall into any of these two groups above.

All documents issued by the authorities of a country that is party to the Hague Convention should be supplied with Apostille affixed by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.    

Translation into Bulgarian language.  

Documents supplied with Apostille should be translated into Bulgarian in one of two ways as specified here below, namely:

  • By a consular or diplomatic officer in the country of origin of the document;
  • By a Translation Agency authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The translation of the document should be certified by Legalizations and Certifications Sector of the ‘Administrative Service to Bulgarian and Foreign Citizens’ Directorate (ASBFCD) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria.

For countries with which the Republic of Bulgaria has signed bilateral agreements for legal assistance that contain texts for exemption of legalization of documents supplied with Apostille the documents issued in the foreign country should be supplied with the stamp of the institution authorized under such Agreement. The document so issued is recognized by the Bulgarian institutions and only needs translation into Bulgarian language and certification of the translation.

In order to have valid effect on the territory of Bulgaria the documents that have not been or cannot be supplied with Apostille should be certified (legalized) in accordance with the generally adopted practice:

– the document should be certified at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the issuing country; – the stamp of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the foreign country should be certified/legalized at the Bulgarian diplomatic or consular representation in that country.

9 comments to “Long-term and permanent residence in Bulgaria for EU citizens”
  1. Good afternoon, my son has a residence permit in the Czech Republic. At the moment he is in Bulgaria for a 90-day stay. The period is about to expire. His medical condition does not allow him to move around on his own. I have a residence permit in Bulgaria and I am taking care of him. Is it possible to extend his stay after 90 days?

    • Hello.
      Thank you for reaching us. If he is a european citizen you will need only a few documents to apply for residence permit in Bulgaria:
      -Filled application form
      -Adress in Bulgaria (rent contract or a home ownership document)
      -Medical insurance
      -Bank statement from european bank

      Best regards.
      Migration Office
      Burgas, Bulgaria

  2. Do i need the apostille and school testimonial citizen of switzerland?

    thank you

    • Hello. Thank you for reaching us.
      Yes, the swiss documents need an apostille for the Bulgarian autorities.

      Best regards.
      Migration Office
      Burgas, Bulgaria

  3. Good afternoon, I’m a ryanair pilot coming from italy. I got permanent base here in sofia so from december I have been working here. I would like to ask you which documents must be provided to get the residence in bulgaria
    best regards marco
    Добър ден, аз съм пилот на Ryanair, идващ от Италия. Имам постоянна база тук в София, така че от декември работя тук. Бих искал да Ви попитам кои документи трябва да бъдат предоставени, за да получите пребиваването в България
    С най-добри пожелания Марко

    • Hello. Thank you for reaching us. As a european citizen you will need only a few documents:
      -Filled application form
      -Adress in Bulgaria (rent contract or a home ownership document)
      -Medical insurance
      -Bank statement from european bank

      Best regards.
      Migration Office
      Burgas, Bulgaria

  4. Hi! My problem is that I’m living now in Bulgaria, in Sofia with my partner, but I’m working for a spanish company. (I’m from Spain, EU citizen). I would like to stay here legally for one or 2 year maximum. Could you help me with that? How much that could cost approximately?

    • Hello.
      Thank you for reaching us. As a european citizen you could apply for 1-5 years and will need only a few documents:
      -Filled application form
      -Adress in Bulgaria (rent contract or a home ownership document)
      -Medical insurance (You could use a spanish one, if you have it. Or we could make it in our office.)
      -Bank statement from european bank
      -25 BGN for application and the plastic card

      Best regards.
      Migration Office
      Burgas, Bulgaria

  5. Какие нужно предоставить документы для получения Свидетельство о долгосрочном проживании в Болгарии для граждан ЕС – со сроком действия 5 лет;?

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