Legal grounds to obtain Bulgarian residence permit

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I am non-EU citizen and have decided to relocate to Bulgaria. Can you assist me with the procedures to get immigration visa (residence permit)?

The above is one of the most frequently asked questions, which we receive many times a day. And it’s a valid question, right? Well, not really. While many non-EU foreigners have valid legal ground to obtain Bulgarian residence permit, most don’t.

You can NOT simply move to live in Bulgaria, just because you like it here and so you have decided! You must have legal ground to obtain immigration visa and residence permit. If you don’t – you need to create one. If you can’t – try Turkey instead, or Turks and Caicos, or whatever…

Are we living in a free world?

If we were living in a free world, one could choose to live anywhere he wanted to. But as of 08.02.2023 this is still not the case. So for the time being, if you fancy living in Bulgaria, you gotta make sure you have legal ground for that. And if you don’t, you might be able to create one. But for that to happen, you must be very, very careful and proceed with 100% legal compliance in mind.

So when you are contacting us next time, please make sure you know what you want. If you have legal reason to reside in Bulgaria, we will help you straight away. We may still be able to assist you even if you don’t, but you must be determined to follow the law. If you think it’s your right to reside in Bulgaria and this right should be provided to you for free, then please look elsewhere.

The most often utilized legal grounds to obtain Bulgarian immigration visa and residence permit

Most often, non-EU foreigners are trying to get Bulgarian residence status on one of the following legal grounds (click on the links to get more information):

Marriage with Bulgarian national or with legal foreigner in Bulgaria;
Studying in Bulgaria (students);
Retirement in Bulgaria;
Representatives of foreign companies (trade representative office);
NGO activities in Bulgaria (foundation);
Residence by investment;
Residence on basis of Bulgarian origin;
Work permit and EU Blue card;
Self-employed activities;
Purchase of real estate.

Whatever your reason might be, you can talk to us and get valuable legal advice about the available options. But please don’t waste your and our time by contacting us and insisting that you should be able to get Bulgarian long-term visa, no matter what. There are laws in Bulgaria and they need to be observed.