Illegal requirement to renounce foreign citizenship

Recently, we are more and more often encountering the following problem. Applicants for ordinary naturalisation and obtaining Bulgarian citizenship under Art. 12, par. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law receive a letter from the Ministry of Justice stating that “the Citizenship Council has approved the application for Bulgarian citizenship”. This apparently good news is accompanied by a seemingly non-binding text which quotes the norm of Art. 12 par. 1, p. 6 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law, i.e. that the foreigner should renounce his/her previous citizenship within 3 years1.

1 We have made a legal analysis of the requirement to renounce one’s current citizenship and why it is practically inapplicable. Please read our article – Renunciation of (existing) citizenship in order to obtain Bulgarian citizenship.

The problem is that although the applicant has three years to renounce his citizenship (insofar as this is possible), his naturalisation procedure is illegally suspended. We believe that the text of the letter received is totally irrelevant and violates Bulgarian law. The reasons for this are as follows:

The Citizenship Council has no authority at all to approve applications for Bulgarian citizenship

First of all, we should mention that the Citizenship Council cannot approve (or disapprove) applications for Bulgarian citizenship. According to Art. 33 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law:

The Citizenship Council gives its opinion on applications and proposals relating to Bulgarian citizenship following written opinions from the Ministry of the Interior and the State Agency for National Security.

Art. 33, para. 3 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law

As per the provision of the law, the Citizenship Council gives its opinion and does not approve the applications. But does anyone read the laws we wonder…

Notwithstanding the opinion of the Citizenship Council, the Minister of Justice should make a proposal to the President

Next, according to the Bulgarian Citizenship Law:

The Minister of Justice, on the basis of the opinion of the Citizenship Council, shall make a proposal to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria to issue a decree or to refuse to issue a decree for the acquisition, restoration, release or deprivation of Bulgarian citizenship, as well as for the revocation of naturalisation.

Article 34 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law

That is, regardless of the opinion of the Citizenship Council, the Minister of Justice should make a proposal to the President. Either to issue a decree or not to issue one. And according to Article 35, par. 1, p. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law, this proposal must be made within one year. And this proposal should in no way not be made due to the fact that the candidate has not renounced his previous citizenship, for which, by the way, the time limit is 3 years.

Lawlessness?

In practice, however, candidates who receive the unfortunate notifications are doomed. Because they are not allowed to renounce their citizenship within the legal 3-year period. Instead, their procedures are put “on hold” until they do the “impossible”. To be fair, the letter does not say that the proceedings are frozen. However, what does not sending a proposal to the President within the legal deadline mean?

The solution

The way out of this extremely unpleasant situation is the Bulgarian court. But in order for the court to be properly addressed, the applicant for Bulgarian citizenship must succeed in filing an appeal against a “silent refusal”. And the time limits within which this appeal can be lodged are short and extremely complicated to observe. Especially because it is not always clear at what point a ground for appeal of a silent refusal arises, given the numerous time frames in the naturalisation process.

Contact us if you are in a similar situation and need urgent and professional help. We will most likely be able to help you, but be prepared to battle the indifference and bureaucracy.

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