Recognition of foreign court decisions in Bulgaria

The MVR officials literally handed the documents back and said that the child’s father had to be brought in.

“But he doesn’t exist!” the mother objected.

“That is your problem!” came the reply.

The point is that the child holds Ukrainian citizenship, and under the Family Code of Ukraine, if the father does not exist or is unknown (in the case of adoption by a single woman or the birth of a child without a father), the birth certificate nevertheless states the father’s full name, but a fictitious one, as given by the mother.

This is the so-called “protection of the rights of the child” policy. Along with such a certificate one can request a statement confirming that the details of the father were recorded in accordance with the relevant article of the Law. And that is all! There is no further confirmation that the father does not actually exist.

And documents like these leave Bulgarian civil servants at a loss.

Our lawyers advised the mother described above that she needed to submit an application to the Mayor of the local Municipality through the Civil Status Directorate. A month later she received a decision confirming the fact that there was no father (something she had been unable to obtain in her home country).

Such situations arise often and for a variety of reasons. But resolving them does not necessarily mean going to court, still less giving up your status.

Our lawyers’ answer:

“Most often the need to have foreign court decisions recognised in Bulgaria arises when changing a residence permit to permanent status – a permanent residence permit or EU long-term resident status – or when acquiring citizenship. At this stage documents may be required that turn out to be unconfirmed in Bulgaria. These may be foreign court decisions concerning adoption, deprivation of parental rights, changes of surname and so on. For example, it is fairly common for a child’s father to have been deprived of parental rights or declared an absent parent by a court decision.

Such documents can be confirmed through a Bulgarian court, and this method seems the most obvious. Such confirmation takes a long time and requires considerable expenditure on a lawyer. At the same time, if the matter concerns civil law, a foreign court decision may be recognised not in a Bulgarian court but in the Municipality. In particular, this applies to court decisions concerning divorce, annulment of marriage, change of first name or surname, confirmation of parentage, restriction or deprivation of parental rights, adoption and others.

To have a court decision confirmed, you must apply to the Municipality of your place of residence with the relevant application, attaching all documents relating to the case. These are:

• the applicant’s identity document;
• the court decision or a notarised copy of it;
• if necessary, a certificate from the relevant court confirming that the decision has entered into force;
• a declaration of compliance with the conditions under Art. 117 items 3 and 4 of the KMPCh (with a notarised signature);
• a certificate of identity of names (if the applicant’s name in the court decision differs significantly from the name under which he or she is registered in Bulgaria);
• a power of attorney (if the applicant submits the application through a representative);
• other documents as necessary.

All documents must be legalised in Bulgaria. The legalisation procedure depends on the country in which the documentation was issued. In addition, all documents must be translated into Bulgarian by licensed translators appointed by order of the head of the Bulgarian consular or diplomatic service in the other country, or included in the list of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The translator’s signature must be certified by a Bulgarian notary.

The application may be reviewed within 14 to 30 days. A sample document can be downloaded directly from the website of the Municipality of your place of residence. The document is called “Заявление за признаване и изпълнение на съдебно решение или друг акт от чужестранен съд или друг орган на основание по чл. 18 ал. 1 от Кодекса на международното частно право”.

In some municipalities foreign court decisions are recognised free of charge, in others a fee must be paid, which may range from 5 to 100 leva.”

Legalisation and translation of documents

Permanent residence permit in Bulgaria

Long-term residence permit in Bulgaria