Bulgarian citizenship for special merits to the country

Bulgarian law on foreign nationals provides for the possibility of obtaining Bulgarian citizenship for merits to the country. In this case there is no need to wait 10 years while residing in the country continuously, or to have the “right” origin.

The usual requirements

There are a number of exceptions depending on the ground, but in most cases these conditions must be met. Article 16 of the law states that a foreign national may become a Bulgarian citizen if the state has an interest in this, or if the person has special merits to Bulgaria. The law does not specify what exactly these special merits must be; it only indicates that they may be in various fields — science, technology, culture, sport, the public or economic spheres. In this situation there is no need to meet all the requirements of Article 12, and the citizenship procedure itself differs from the usual one.

Under the standard conditions for obtaining Bulgarian citizenship (Art. 12 of the relevant law), a foreign national may apply for it if the following conditions are met:

• they have reached the age of majority;
• at least five years earlier they obtained a permit for permanent/long-term residence (permanent residence permit, EU long-term resident status);
• they have not committed an intentional crime of a general nature (have not been convicted of it by a court in Bulgaria), and no proceedings for such a crime have been initiated against them (the exception being rehabilitation);
• they have income or a profession allowing them to support themselves;
• they know Bulgarian;
• they have been released from their previous citizenship or will be released from it by the time Bulgarian citizenship can be granted.

Features of the procedure

Normally a foreign national applying for Bulgarian citizenship must collect the documents, submit the relevant application and wait for a reply. But this is not the case when citizenship is granted for merits. Under Article 30 of the law, in this situation the request for Bulgarian citizenship is submitted to the Ministry of Justice by the minister responsible for the field in which these merits lie, or in which Bulgaria has an interest in naturalising the foreign national. If the person is an athlete, the request is submitted by the Minister of Sport; if a scientist, by the Minister of Education and Science; if a serviceman, by the Minister of Defence. Before the documents are prepared, the person with special merits must give their written consent to the submission of such a request. The proposal is discussed by the Citizenship Council at the Ministry of Justice. On the basis of these discussions, within three months the Minister of Justice sends the corresponding proposal to the President of Bulgaria, who in turn issues a decree granting citizenship. The decree takes effect from the moment it is issued. The procedure differs somewhat from the procedure for obtaining citizenship by naturalisation, by origin and on other grounds. There is no need to submit an application and no need to attend an interview.

Thus, obtaining citizenship on the ground of special merits to the Republic of Bulgaria is simpler and faster than on most other grounds. The only difficulty lies in the need to have merits to the country. It is enough to give written consent and to provide the following documents:

• a birth certificate;
• a certificate of no criminal record in the country of citizenship and in the country where the person resides permanently or for a long period;
• a certificate from the prosecutor’s office confirming that no proceedings have been initiated regarding intentional crimes of a general nature (if the person lives in Bulgaria);
• a health certificate;
• declarations under templates 4 and 4a (information on personal data and on stays abroad);
• a photograph;
• a copy of the identity document;
• proof of payment of the fee;
• an official certificate of a change of name or of the identity of different names;
• a CV.