The EU Blue Card is issued by the “Migration” Directorate of the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior after the foreign national has obtained a permit for highly-qualified employment in Bulgaria from the Bulgarian Employment Agency and a long-term stay visa type “D” or a continuous residence permit issued on another ground.

Permit for Highly-Qualified Employment

The application for a permit for highly-qualified employment is submitted with the Employment Agency by the Bulgarian employer of the foreign national. It is granted provided that the working conditions and the pay of the foreign employee would not be less favourable than those applicable to Bulgarian employees for the same type of work. It is important to note that the general limitation restricting the number of foreign employees to 20% of the average number of Bulgarian, EU, EEA and Swiss employees hired by the same employer during the last 12 months does not apply to highly-qualified employees working under an EU Blue Card.

The third-country national is issued a permit for highly-qualified employment within 15 days of the application if the following conditions are met:

a) The foreign national must have a university degree obtained following at least a three-year educational course carried out in an educational institution recognized as a university by the respective foreign state. The higher education must be proven with a diploma, certificate or another relevant document.

b) The gross labour remuneration payable to the foreign national according to his employment agreement is at least 1.5 times higher than the average employment salary in Bulgaria for the last 12 months.

c) The employment agreement of the foreign employee is concluded for at least 12 months.

Issue Issue of an EU Blue Card

Following the issue of the permit for highly-qualified employment the foreign national may apply for the issue of the EU Blue Card. The application must be accompanied by a copy of the foreigner’s valid international passport and evidence that s/he is health insured in compliance with the Bulgarian legislation or disposes of a medical insurance. The applicant is relieved from the obligation to reside outside Bulgaria during the application process which is applicable to the other grounds for work and stay in Bulgaria.The EU Blue Card is issued by the “Migration” Directorate of the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior for a period of up to 4 years and can be re-issued for another period.

Restrictions of the EU Blue Card

The EU Blue Card entitles the foreign employee to work in Bulgaria only for a particular employer and only according to conditions of the permit in terms of place of work, job position and term of employment. The foreign national can change his employer during the first two years of his employment only after a written permission of the Bulgarian Employment Agency. In case the foreign employee loses his job he is entitled to seek a new job and start new work within 3 months without losing the EU Blue Card.

Residence Permit for the Members of the Family of the EU Blue Card Holder

The members of the family of the EU Blue Card holder are entitled to continuous residence permits valid for the period of the EU Blue Card if for the period of their residence they dispose of lodging, health insurance and sufficient funds to support themselves no less than the minimum monthly salary (BGN 510 for 2018).  Family members are also entitled to work in Bulgaria as employees or freelancers provided that they obtain the necessary permits.

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The fast-track Bulgarian citizenship procedure includes the following two stages:

Stage 1 – Obtaining a Fast Track Bulgarian Permanent Residence Status

While the standard Bulgarian permanent residence legal procedure requires at least five years of previous legal residence in Bulgaria for work or business purposes, the Bulgarian fast-track procedure provides for an instant permanent residence status if the foreigner makes an investment in Bulgaria in any of the following forms:

1. investment of over BGN 1,000,000 (app. EUR 512,000) in the form of an acquisition of:

• Bulgarian intellectual property – copyrights, patents, trademarks, etc., or
• shares in publicly traded Bulgarian companies;, or
• debentures and treasury bonds as well as derivatives thereof issued by the Bulgarian State or the municipalities with a remaining term until maturity no less than 6 months; or
• concession rights in the territory of Bulgaria; or
• ownership in the property of a Bulgarian company with at least 50% State of municipality holding pursuant to the Bulgarian Privatization and Post-Privatization Control Act; or
• shares or stock in a Bulgarian company held by the State or the municipalities pursuant to the Bulgarian Privatization and Post-Privatization Control Act.

2. investment of over BGN 1,000,000 (app. EUR 512,000) in a licensed credit institution in Bulgaria under an investment management agreement for a period of at least 5 years provided that the deposit is not used to guarantee other loans extended by a Bulgarian credit institution.

The above mentioned forms of investment in Bulgaria entitle to a Bulgarian permanent residence status not only the foreigners making the investment but also their family members.

The permanent residence status gives its holders the right to freely enter and leave Bulgaria and reside in the country. At the same time the foreigner does not lose his permanent residence status if he does not stay physically in Bulgaria.

Stage 2 – Obtaining a Fast Track Bulgarian Citizenship

Once the foreigner obtains a Bulgarian permanent residence permit, as a next step s/he could apply for a Bulgarian citizenship if they meet the following legal requirements:

• The foreigner is over 18 years old and has a clean criminal record; and

• The foreigner has held a permanent residence status for at least one year; and

• The foreigner has doubled their investment up to BGN 2,000,000 (app. EUR 1,022,000) or has invested at least BGN 1,000,000 (app. EUR 512,000) in the capital of a Bulgarian company which is carrying out a priority investment project certified pursuant to the Bulgarian Investment Promotion Act; and

• The foreigner holds the second additional investment for at least two years in order to sustain its Bulgarian citizenship.

Benefits of the Fast-Track Bulgarian Citizenship Procedure

Some of the advantages that make the fast-track Bulgarian citizenship procedure so beneficial are as follows:

• No Bulgarian language skills required;
• No obligation for renouncing the current citizenship of the foreigner;
• No physical presence and residence in Bulgaria required;
• Very short and fast process to citizenship involving only one year of holding a permanent residence status.

A foreigner who has acquired Bulgarian citizenship can freely access any country within the European Union and no VISA application is required. Our lawyers can give you legal advice and guide you through the process of obtaining Bulgarian citizenship via the fast-track legal procedure.

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The continuous residence status entitles the foreign individual to reside in Bulgaria for for a maximum of one year and some of the most common grounds for obtaining such a status include:

Grounds for Obtaining a Continuous Residence in Bulgaria

• Work under an Employment Agreement

In order to be granted a continuous residence permit for employment purposes in Bulgaria the individuals should present to the competent authorities a certified copy of a work permit which should be issued by the Bulgarian Employment Agency before the application for a residence permit is filed. The work permit is obtained following a request made by the employer (a natural or a legal person registered under the Bulgarian legislation) to the Employment Agency.

• Commercial Activities

If a person intends to carry out commercial activities in Bulgaria by registering a Bulgarian company and wishes to obtain a continuous residence permit in Bulgaria based on that premise, the legal requirements are that the respective Bulgarian company  owned and/or managed by the foreign person must open at least ten job positions for Bulgarian citizens and maintain them for the entire term of the residence permit.

• Registration of a Trade Representative Office

Foreigners could also obtain a continuous residence status if they act as representatives of a trade representative office (TRO) registered by a foreign company with the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Although TROs are not entitled to carry out business activities in Bulgaria, the TRO registration is commonly used by foreign businesses to secure a Bulgarian residence status for their employees, as TRO-s are not required to employ any Bulgarian citizens and the third-country nationals who act at TRO representatives are not required work permits.

• Making an Investment in Bulgaria

A third-country national could be granted a Bulgarian continuous residence certificate if she makes an investment in Bulgaria in the following amounts:

– Investment of BGN 600 000 (app. EUR 307 000) or more, in a real estate  property in Bulgaria or in acquiring at least 50% of the shares of a Bulgarian company, which in turn  acquires a real estate in the country for the same amount. The amount of BGN 600 000 must be paid in full to a bank account at a licensed Bulgarian credit institution. Alternatively, if the real estate is acquired using borrowed funds, the unpaid part of the loan must not exceed 25%.

– Investment of BGN 250 000 (app. EUR 128 000) or more in economically challenged regions by contributing the amount in the share capital of a Bulgarian company against a holding of at least 50% of the company shares, where the entire amount of the investment is used for purchasing new non-current assets and where at least 5 job positions for Bulgarian citizens are opened and maintained throughout the period of the residence.

Necessary Documents for Obtaining a Bulgarian Continuous Residence Permit

In order to obtain a continuous residence permit, the foreigner must meet the following conditions:

• s/he has to own a valid long-term visa (the so-called Visa type “D”);

• s/he has to file a standard application with the “Migration” Directorate at the Ministry of Interior;

• s/he has to attach to the application documents that prove their identity, financial stability, place of living, medical insurance and clean criminal record;

• s/he has to prove the existence of one of the statutory grounds for residing in Bulgaria described above.

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Further, EU citizens are entitled to reside in Bulgaria for a period of up to three months without any additional conditions other than to hold the identification documents mentioned above.

If a EU citizen residing in Bulgaria wishes to stay in the country for a period exceeding three months, they need to obtain the so called “continued residence” status which is granted by the “Migration” Directorate at the Ministry of Interior. The continued residence is a sort of EU citizens’ permit that entitles the person to reside in Bulgaria up to five years and is attested by a certificate issued to the citizen of EU by the competent authorities. The application for the continued residence must be filed no later than three months after the date of the individual’s arrival in Bulgaria and must be accompanied by evidence that the person seeking to obtain the residence status meets one of the following requirements:

• s/he is an employee or a self-employed person in Bulgaria,
• s/he has sufficient funds which would allow them not to recourse to the Bulgarian social benefits system and has a comprehensive sickness insurance cover, or
• s/he is a student in Bulgaria.

In case the EU citizen has already legally resided in Bulgaria for at least five years and has not been absent from the country more than a total of 6 months in any 12–month period, the individual is entitled to obtain a “permanent residence” status in Bulgaria which is granted for an undefined period of time.

The application for the issue of a permanent residence certificate could be filed by the EU citizen at least three days before the expiration of their continued residence certificate.

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