Self employed with Bulgarian EU Blue Card, but not quite
Getting an EU Blue Card from Bulgaria was the hot ticket for in the past year. Especially after Bulgaria joined Schengen, many foreigners realised that the Bulgarian EU Blue Card now provides full access to the whole EU. Another advantage of the Bulgarian EU Blue Card is that the law was changed and it is now possible to get it with validity of up to 5 years (previously 4 years).
Bulgarian EU Blue Card can be obtained for a period of up to 5 years!
art. 33k, par. 2 of the Bulgarian Foreigners Law
Another advantage of the law is that the card can be obtained even if the candidate doesn’t have university diploma, provided he has sufficient work experience.
But how about registering a company in Bulgaria and be employed by your own company to get EU Blue Card? Is this possible at all?
Getting en EU Blue Card through your own Bulgarian company
Getting an EU Blue Card is great for highly-skilled specialists. IT and AI professionals are benefiting from the relevant Bulgarian legislation and are securing residence and work permits via the EU Blue Card route. But what if you are not among these ultra-desired specialists? The problem is that you need an employer in order to obtain EU Blue Card. And what if you don’t have one?
The most logical choice is to register a Bulgarian company. And this company, even though your own, can employ you so you can obtain EU Blue Card. This looks like the ideal solution to secure EU residence permit without being dependent on a particular employer. But this does not go without problems.
The problems with hiring yourself and getting EU Blue Card
The problem with arranging your EU Blue Card through your own Bulgarian company is the stubbornness of the administration. The Bulgarian authorities are very likely to decline your application at the very start. This is usually done by not accepting your documents at all. The other “weapon” of the authorities is to put you in the situation of “silent rejection“, the so-called “kiss of death”. Why do they do that? The simple answer is, because they don’t know the law. They kind of “feel”, that it shouldn’t be so easy, so they rather reject your application than give you something “so easy”. Sad, but true.
The solution
There are basically two approaches that you should consider. The first is to try and apply yourself. Register your company, go through the different procedures and hope for the best. If you get rejected, then you can contact us for assistance. Our attorneys will make sure your rights are upheld, most likely in the court of law.
The other option is to utilise our services from the very beginning. This may be more expensive than trying it yourself, but it is much cheaper than appealing in court. And of course, this option is faster and much more likely to work on the first try.
For further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.