What is meant by contradictory data about the person’s Bulgarian origin?
Recently, we are more and more often approached for assistance by foreigners who have applied for Bulgarian citizenship by origin and have received the following “refusal”:
The Citizenship Council did not grant the application. There is contradictory data about the Bulgarian origin of the person.
Indeed, especially after Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen, the Bulgarian authorities seem to have been instructed from somewhere not to ” grant” citizenship by origin to anyone. We sincerely hope that there are no such instructions, but the amount of such “refusals” worries us. But what does this wording actually mean? What is wrong with the applicant for Bulgarian citizenship?
The powerlessness to adequately assess a citizenship application
If you have received such a “refusal” (the quotation marks are not accidental, as we will explain below) we can say that the authorities simply do not want you to become a Bulgarian citizen! They just don’t like you. They don’t want you to be a Bulgarian citizen and, in general, they don’t want to look into your proof of Bulgarian origin. And since they have no legal arguments against your application, they resort to this “dodgy” wording. Because in itself, this wording is not only dodgy, but also absurd. What does contradictory data mean? Either the data proves the applicant’s Bulgarian origin or it does not.
We think of the old saying that “a woman is either pregnant or she is not”. If her gynecologist can’t tell if she’s pregnant or not, he’d better look for a new job. The same should apply to the Citizenship Council.
The wording of the citizenship council – harmful for Bulgarian society
With such wording, the Citizenship Council effectively prevents Bulgarians from obtaining Bulgarian citizenship! Because if the rejected candidates do not have Bulgarian origin, the Citizenship Council should say exactly that. Namely, that the applicant is not of Bulgarian origin. Not that the data is contradictory. Which data contradicts which?
And depriving people of potentially Bulgarian origin of the opportunity to obtain Bulgarian citizenship is detrimental to our society as a whole. Let us recall what the Bulgarian Constitution says:
Persons of Bulgarian origin acquire Bulgarian citizenship in a simplified procedure.
art. 25, par. 2 from the Bulgarian Constitution
And with its absurd wording about “contradictory data”, the Bulgarian authorities may be depriving Bulgarians of their rights under the Constitution.
Why this “refusal” is not a refusal at all
We have written repeatedly about why the Citizenship Council’s “refusal” is not a refusal at all. Simply put, the Citizenship Council has no legal authority at all to grant or deny applications for Bulgarian citizenship. More information on this topic can be found in our article – Naturalisation and Obtaining Bulgarian Citizenship – Problems and Neglect of the Legal Norms.
The decision or what can be done in case of a refusal due to contradictory data about Bulgarian origin?
Fortunately, we know how to make the Bulgarian administration comply with the law. The solution is legal actions, as we described in our article How to prove Bulgarian origin. Unfortunately, in some cases, applicants who have received absurd refusals have missed the legal deadlines for appeal. In these cases, we resubmit the application, but with very clear reasoning that leaves no room for “contradictions”. But above all, the Bulgarian authorities know that in the event of a second refusal, our lawyers know how to solve the problem in court. And this is usually enough for Bulgarian officials to refrain from breaking the law again.
If you are in a similar situation to the one described and have been refused Bulgarian citizenship due to “contradictory data”, you can contact us for immediate assistance.