Changes to the Law on Foreigners in Bulgaria: new BCCI requirements

Many treated the requirement to have an office for representative offices of foreign companies lightly. This attitude led to inspections revealing that many trade representative offices provide incorrect information about their offices – wrong or even non-existent addresses were given.

The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) responded by tightening the requirements. On 18 January 2022 the Executive Council of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry adopted a number of changes to the procedure for issuing the Certificate. We would remind you that the BCCI certificate is the main document confirming the grounds for obtaining a long-term visa and a long-term residence permit for trade representatives.

In particular, these changes affected the list of documents required for a representative office: it now includes a notarised office lease agreement or a document showing that the premises are owned by the company that opened the representative office.

Requirements of the law

The new amendments and additions to the ЗЧРБ were published on 23.04.2019. They concern the documentation required for registering representative offices, making changes to the data and issuing certificates.

Under the new requirements, when registering a new representative office or making changes where no Representative Certificate has to be issued, the following documents are required (translated, legalised and certified):

• A certificate of good standing of the foreign entity.
• If the certificate does not state the details of the company’s representatives, an official document setting out these details must also be provided.
• The company’s decision to open a trade representative office.
• A notarised power of attorney for the registration of the trade representative office in Bulgaria, stating the rights granted – if the registration is not carried out directly by the legal representative.
• Specimen signatures of the representatives.
• A document on the economic activity of the foreign company during the two years preceding the registration of the trade representative office.
• A document on the payment of taxes by the foreign company during the two years preceding the registration.
• The representative office’s activity plan.

To obtain the certificate you must provide:

• a certificate of good standing;
• confirmation of economic activity in the 2 years preceding the application;
• confirmation that there are no tax arrears for the previous 2 years;
• the representative office’s activity plan;
• a declaration on the activity of each representative in accordance with the plan for the previous year;
• the original (or a notarised copy) of the documents confirming that the trade representative office has premises providing suitable working conditions.

The last point takes effect on 1 March 2022. The following documents may serve as confirmation that the representative office has premises:

• a lease agreement concluded for a term of at least one year (starting from the date of the certificate application), with notarised signatures of the parties;
• a title deed certifying that the property is owned by the foreign entity opening the representative office.

Instead of a lease agreement, another type of agreement for use for consideration or free of charge may be provided – the same requirements apply to it.

If you have difficulties registering a representative office or obtaining a certificate, contact Bulgarian Expert!

Trade representative office

Residence permit in Bulgaria (long-term residence permit)

Type D visa — a long-stay visa.