A trade representative office remains one of the popular grounds for obtaining a long-term residence permit in Bulgaria. For those who have decided to use it, there are two pieces of news. As tradition has it, one of them is good and the other is not so good.
Before the new year 2025, no review is planned of the bill amending the ЗЧРБ with regard to trade representative offices. This means that trade representatives in Bulgaria need not fear sudden changes requiring them to submit new documents, which under current conditions can be a very difficult task.
Since November, the migration service in Bulgaria has begun carrying out spot checks on trade representative offices. It is not known on what principle the targets for the checks are selected, but we have already received several reports from the Burgas, Varna and Plovdiv regions and from Sofia that the regional departments of the Migration Directorate are not issuing decisions on the extension of residence permits within the 14-day period established by law. Instead, the documents are sent for an additional check.
In particular, the following are checked:
In addition, other representatives of the same company may be interviewed.
It is not yet clear whether this campaign is an ordinary check carried out as a formality, or whether Migration has set itself the goal of reducing the number of trade representative offices and gathering data for another amendment to the Law on Foreigners showing that many trade representative offices exist only on paper. Either way, those extending a long-term residence permit should be attentive and prepare for possible checks.
Just in case, we would remind you that those residing in Bulgaria on the grounds of “trade representative of a foreign company” can change their grounds for residence without leaving Bulgaria and without losing the length of residence counted towards a permanent residence permit / EU long-term resident status. For example, the list of available grounds includes:
All these grounds have their own features and specific requirements. Contact the company Bulgarian Expert — our specialists will help you choose a suitable option and gather all the necessary documents. Practice shows that migration service officers treat those who have obtained a residence permit on the grounds of “trade representative” more strictly than other applicants for a long-term residence permit, so in many cases changing the grounds can be a good solution.
Long-term residence permit in Bulgaria
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