Visitors and Residency Permits in Bulgaria

Planning Your Visit To Bulgaria

When you look to travel to Bulgaria for either a holiday or looking to purchase any type of property, you need to be aware of the legal requirements of doing both prior to booking that trip. Generally, you don't need to have any one particular type of visa to take the trip, but, you do need to enquire from your country of origin's passport office or governmental branch handling visa permits as to what you really need from where you are starting your travels from. For instance, if you are coming from such countries as UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Switzerland, you can generally remain for 30 days in any six month period. If you are traveling from other countries such as Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Latvia or Chile, you can remain for 90 days in any six month period.

It is always best to contact the Bulgarian embassy or consulate that is in your country to ensure you are aware of your allowable stay period. It is best to be safe than sorry.
Perhaps you are looking to stay in Bulgaria past those allowable stay periods on your visa, you will need to apply for what is called a long stay visa, also known as a visa type D, from the same Bulgarian consulate or embassy in your country. Of course, this is not without cost. The cost for this type of visa can range anywhere from 25 USD for US citizens to 44 GBP for UK residents. You can visit the website of the embassy for the latest updates and information required for this type of visa. In the UK, you can visit, http://www.bulgarianembassy.org.uk/ or http://www.bulgaria-embassy.org/ .

As with any type of passport, you will need to provide two current picture ID's, what is called a “state of purpose" which basically provides proof that you can support yourself financially when you do make it to Bulgaria along with proof of accommodation. With the visa type D, you can stay and remain in Bulgaria for up to six months. If you are actually wishing to visit Bulgaria for the intentions of immigrating, once you arrive in Bulgaria do not leave for three months as you cannot reenter the country with that same visa (remember , the 90 day regular visa permit allowance).

Immigrating to Bulgaria with a Residence Permit

There are three types of residency permits for those wishing to immigrate to Bulgaria. You should be aware of what each of them covers so that you don't obtain the incorrect one for your needs.

If you do have a visit type D, you can directly apply to the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs for a change in your permit status to a residency permit.

Temporary residence permits allow you to remain in Bulgaria for one full year, but under the guidelines that you must be financially supporting yourself and that you are making regular contributions to the social security system, have a permanent residence and that you have private medical insurance. If you are, in fact, a student or marrying a Bulgarian national, you may also be granted the residency permit.
Permanent Residency can be granted if you have remained in Bulgaria for two consecutive years or if you are married to a Bulgarian national. Another possible granting of permanent residency can unfold if you have been applying on a yearly basis for the temporary residence permit and have spanned over five years. You can then apply under those provisions to remain full time. If you are originally of Bulgarian descent, or a child of a Bulgarian, or a foreign citizen already having permanent residency status, you can apply to be allowed an indefinite stay in Bulgaria; essentially making you an official Bulgarian national.

Work Permits

Along with having a visa type D to live in Bulgaria, you are required to have a valid work permit. You cannot, under any circumstances, obtain this permit when you have already arrived in Bulgaria and are looking to gain the permit then. You must apply for this prior to leaving your home country and can be obtained at any Bulgarian embassy.

Author : Jajay
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