Bulgarian Citizenship

This means the right to move freely around Europe without any visas, with the right to live and work, protection of your rights as a European citizen, the opportunity to develop your own business, decent pensions, European education for your children, unrestricted travel, a different attitude from the people of Europe and many other advantages. A Bulgarian citizen’s passport grants visa-free entry to all EU countries, Japan, Switzerland, the countries of South-East Asia, the countries of Latin America, South Africa and many other countries around the world. The modest cost and the short timeframes involved (up to two years — by descent) make citizenship of the Republic of Bulgaria your most valuable investment.

The conditions and procedure for acquiring Bulgarian citizenship are set out in the “Bulgarian Citizenship Act”, which provides for acquiring citizenship by descent, by place of birth and by naturalisation.

By descent: a person is eligible if at least one of their parents holds Bulgarian citizenship, as well as any person who is recognised as a Bulgarian citizen or whose Bulgarian origin has been established by a court decision (having “Bulgarian roots”).

By investment: a person is eligible if they have invested substantial funds in the Bulgarian economy.

By naturalisation: an adult person is eligible if they obtained a permanent residence permit or EU long-term resident status in Bulgaria no less than five years ago, has committed no criminal offences during their stay in the country, speaks Bulgarian, is able to work or support themselves in Bulgaria, and has been or will be released from any other citizenship at the time of acquiring Bulgarian citizenship. (Art. 12 of the Act)

Citizenship may be obtained sooner than five years after receiving a permanent residence permit or EU long-term resident status (after three years) by a person who has been married to a foreign national for at least 3 years, was born in Bulgaria, obtained a permanent residence permit or EU long-term resident status before reaching adulthood, received refugee status no less than 3 years ago, or holds no citizenship at all and obtained a permanent residence permit or EU long-term resident status no less than 3 years ago.

Bulgarian citizenship may be obtained without meeting the conditions of Art. 12 by persons of Bulgarian origin, persons adopted by a Bulgarian citizen under the terms of full adoption, and persons one of whose parents is a Bulgarian citizen.

Foreign nationals may obtain Bulgarian citizenship without meeting the general conditions and timeframes if the Republic of Bulgaria has an interest in this, and also in cases where the person has particular merits before the Republic of Bulgaria in any field.

You can review all the conditions for obtaining Bulgarian citizenship in detail directly in the “Bulgarian Citizenship Act”. We advise on the legislation and on the citizenship procedure where there are lawful grounds, and we also help to prepare the required package of documents correctly and in full; if you do not speak Bulgarian, we can accompany you at government institutions. The citizenship application package is submitted by the applicant in person.

Bulgarian citizenship by naturalisation

Bulgarian citizenship by descent

Bulgarian citizenship by investment

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