How bad timing can jeopardise your Bulgarian citizenship by origin application
Our today’s story is for a foreigner with proven Bulgarian origin, who can now easily miss the golden opportunity to become Bulgarian citizen. When we say that his Bulgarian origin is proven, we mean really proven – by the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court and the Executive Agency for Bulgarians abroad. With all that, the foreigner can now potentially even face criminal investigation. And unfortunately this could have a serious impact on his ability to travel to the EU. Even if the investigation never makes it to the court and no charges are pressed.
The story of a foreigner’s thorny path to Bulgarian citizenship by origin
Below we will tell you a real life story, showing how important timing is when applying for Bulgarian citizenship. And how some minor changes in the political situation can have severe effects on the final outcome. You may call it the Butterfly effect, with some Schengen scent. Confused? Read below to find out what has really happened.
Obtaining visa D on basis of Bulgarian origin
A couple of years ago, a foreigner from Bulgarian origin has commissioned us to help him obtain Bulgarian citizenship. As the legal subject of Bulgarian citizenship by origin is extremely complicated he has decided to apply for Bulgarian permanent residence (PR) by origin first. The logic behind this decision was that appealing eventual rejection to issue him visa D or PR is legally feasible. If he had applied for Bulgarian citizenship straight away, at that time, the appeal of an eventual rejection would be a real legal challenge.
This decision, to go first through the route of getting visa D and PR by origin proved to be a wise choice, as you will see below.
You can read more about how Bulgarian origin can be proven in the court of law. You can also read why we have been advising our clients to apply for Bulgarian PR by origin first and only then for Bulgarian citizenship.
So the first step was an application for a visa D, based on Bulgarian origin. Luckily, the application was approved easily. The next step was for the foreigner to obtain a PR by origin.
Obtaining Bulgarian PR by origin
The next step was getting the PR. As the visa D was already issued, we didn’t expect any issues with the PR. Or so we thought. To our huge surprise, the PR was rejected. We of course appealed in court and won the appeal. To our surprise (because the legal reasoning of the client’s Bulgarian origin was beyond any doubt), the authorities appealed the court decision. We defended our client’s interests of course and won the case finally with the Supreme Administrative Court.
With this, the Bulgarian origin of our client was ultimately and irrevocably confirmed. He was issued the relevant certificate by the Executive Agency for Bulgarians abroad. Work done. With 100% proof of the foreigner’s Bulgarian origin, all paths towards PR and Bulgarian citizenship seemed clear.
After the Supreme Court has confirmed the origin of our client, his application for PR had to be finally evaluated by the migration authorities. But this doesn’t happen immediately.
Our advice to our client to apply for Bulgarian citizenship while his PR application was still pending
Huge increase in visa and residence permit applications
After Bulgaria joined the Schengen area, the authorities have tightened enormously all visa and residence permit procedures. This was done to counter the accusation of countries, such as Austria and the Netherlands, claiming that illegal immigrants were entering the EU from Bulgaria. As result, the percentage of rejected Bulgarian visa and residence permits grew drastically.
Appealing a refusal of citizenship by origin is now easier
At the same time, the possibilities to appeal rejected citizenship by origin application became much more feasible.
All this shifted our stance towards advising our clients to appeal for citizenship by origin instead of going through the visa D + PR process first.
Rejection of the PR application
While waiting for the PR application to be approved, the unthinkable happened. Yes, you guessed it right – the PR was rejected. We are sure that the Bulgarian authorities must be very happy that they have bravely protected the Schengen borders from “unwanted foreigners”. Unfortunately the foreigner is of proven Bulgarian origin and has even full right to obtain citizenship.
The reason for the rejection and possible implications
The reason for the rejection was, to be honest, ridiculous. It stated that the foreigner is not living at the address provided. As if he had any obligation to be living in Bulgaria before even his PR is approved. No such obligation exist even if the PR is approved. But protecting the Schengen area comes at a price. The worst part of the rejection is that the authorities have stated that “the foreigner has declared false data by declaring to the administrative authority – an address where he does not actually reside“. If this statement is true, it describes a crime under the Bulgarian Penal Code. And now the situation becomes very, very complicated.
What to do now?
After this rejection of the PR, the situation of the client becomes very unpleasant.
Apply for Bulgarian citizenship now?
If the foreigner applies for Bulgarian citizenship now, even though his Bulgarian origin is proven by the Supreme Court, his application will most likely be rejected. This is so, because for the citizenship application to be approved, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (the police) and the State Agency for National Security have to give their opinions. And the first thing the police will do is to check his current immigration status. They will find out that he is with rejected PR application due to “false declaration”. And this will certainly result in a big fat “NO”. So what then?
Do nothing?
Doing nothing is also not an option. First of all, the foreigner will be deprived of any immigration rights in Bulgaria and even possibly in the EU. He might even get prosecuted, as the authorities may, at any moment now, send his file to the Prosecutor’s office to initiate criminal proceedings. And this is definitely not a good perspective.
Appeal?
In our opinion, the only option left is to immediately appeal the PR rejection in the Bulgarian court. Not doing it will not only “end the Bulgarian dream”, but will also “suggest” that the foreigner agrees with the rejection and its grounds – fake declaration. And this is not a good thing, not at all. So appeal is absolutely necessary. Immediately! And the appeal needs to be done really well. Because from what we can read between the lines of the PR rejection is that the authorities may be putting a hidden trap for the foreigners by going that far as to state that there is a “false declaration”. A dangerous game, we must admit.
How about appealing and applying for Bulgarian citizenship at the same time?
This is also an interesting approach. The immigration status of the foreigner will be “pending appeal” and in the eyes of the immigration authorities, this is much, much more acceptable, than “rejected PR”. On top of that the authorities will realise that the foreigner is fighting for his rights by all legal means. And this is often sufficient for the application to be approved. Moreover there is a 100% proof of our client’s Bulgarian origin.
In the course of the following days, we will discuss with our client what his wish will be. We can only hope that this time he will not make a poor choice, as when he did by deciding to put his citizenship application on hold until his PR is approved.