Marriage to a foreigner and legalisation of stay in Bulgaria

More and more Bulgarians are finding love abroad. And while years ago, Bulgarian women were mainly those who married foreigners from the “west”, now it is mostly Bulgarian men who find their halves in the “east”. In recent years, more and more Bulgarians have been coming to us to help them with getting married and obtaining visas for their future wives.

Most often the girls are from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia and Ukraine. However, the future husbands have an extremely difficult period to go through. Namely, to get married, the foreigner to get a visa D, and then a long-term residence permit in Bulgaria.

Alexander Dobrinov
author: Alexander Dobrinov

What to do if you have decided to start a life with a foreigner

Below we will describe the steps necessary to achieve the ultimate goal – legal residence in Bulgaria for the foreign citizen. Let us remind that the residence permit also provides full access and visa-free travel to all Schengen member states. This became possible after Bulgaria joined Schengen. As a result, the influx of foreigners wishing to obtain a Bulgarian visa and residence permit has increased significantly.

Marriage to a foreigner to obtain a D visa and residence permit

Marriage between a foreigner and a Bulgarian

The first task is for the Bulgarian and the foreign citizen to conclude a civil marriage. And in order to make this happen, there are some important things that need to be decided. First of all, the future spouses have to decide where they want to get married. In principle, there are two options – in Bulgaria or in the foreigner’s country. There is also the option of getting married in a third country (for example, in Las Vegas, USA), but this is an exotic enough option that we will not cover in this material.

Getting married abroad

Sometimes it is more rational to marry in the country of the foreigner. In this case, the foreign national will not need to travel to Bulgaria and therefore obtain a Bulgarian visa. These are basically all of the advantages of this option. Unfortunately the drawbacks are numerous:

  • The Bulgarian citizen must enter into a civil marriage in a country whose law he does not know. This is not only complicated (documents required), but also poses certain legal risks (property regime, etc.);
  • All documents from abroad must be translated into Bulgarian and duly legalised. Especially for countries that are not parties to the Hague Convention and therefore do not issue an apostille, the task becomes extremely complicated. If, in addition, there is no Bulgarian embassy in the country, the procedures become extremely complicated. You can read about the challenges in these cases in our article – the legalisation of marriage documents from Madagascar;
  • Marriages concluded abroad are subject to registration in Bulgaria. Once the documents have been translated and legalised, the Bulgarian citizen must perform certain administrative actions in Bulgaria. And this is not always seamless and easy, especially if there are discrepancies in the names of the newlyweds (which are not rare) or other “minor” details;
  • The Bulgarian must travel to the country of the bride (or groom) to get married. This of course involves additional costs, although this is rarely seen as a serious obstacle.

Getting married in Bulgaria

Most often, the future spouses choose this option. Unfortunately this option comes also with its own problems, that need to be solved:

  • The foreign national must be able to come to Bulgaria, and for this he often needs a visa C. Citizens of the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Russia, for example, need a Schengen entry visa for Bulgaria. And sometimes the lack of a Bulgarian embassy in a particular country is an additional obstacle. For example, girls from the Philippines have to get a visa from the Bulgarian embassy in Vietnam, which complicates and makes the process more expensive. In some cases it is also possible to use the services of external providers, such as VFS Global, but this also has its drawbacks. It is also possible to arrive in Bulgaria on a Schengen visa issued by another European country, but this is a particular option that we will cover in more detail in future articles. In some cases it is possible that the foreign citizen does not need an entry visa, which is of course a great convenience.
  • In order to get married in Bulgaria, the foreign citizen must present two important documents, translated into Bulgarian and certified. Although this is not difficult, in some cases it can be a problem. These documents are:
    • Document certifying that the foreigner is not married;
    • A document certifying that the foreigner’s marriage concluded in Bulgaria will be recognised under the law of his/her country. This document is often difficult to obtain and many clients seek our assistance.
Bulgarian visa for foreign brides

Obtaining visa D

The next step, once the newlyweds have entered into a civil marriage and the same is duly registered in Bulgaria (if it was concluded abroad), is to obtain a visa D. And here comes the next problem – the visa D has to be obtained from the country where the foreigner permanently resides. This is most often the country of which he is a citizen. If the marriage was concluded in Bulgaria, this means that the bride (groom) has to return to her country to apply for visa D.

For a bride from the Philippines, for example, this would mean that she would have to travel to Hanoi, Vietnam, from where to apply for visa D. And while waiting for her visa to be issued or denied, she has to wait either in Vietnam, travel to her home in the Philippines or somewhere else. This is extremely inconvenient because the newlyweds are separated, often for long periods of time. And this comes with serious financial costs too.

Applying for a visa D from a third country

In Bulgarian law, it is possible to apply for a visa D in a third country on extraordinary grounds. Such an option is highly desired by many honeymooners, but it also faces persistent resistance from the Bulgarian authorities. You can read more in our article – prior authorisation to apply for visa D from a third country.

Applying for a D visa is always in person

Applying for visa D must be in person. Exceptions to this rule are not allowed and the use of external providers, such as VFS Global, is not possible.

Visa D refusals

Unfortunately, visa D refusals are extremely common. Especially after Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen, the Bulgarian authorities seem to be particularly motivated to “guard the borders” even more strictly. In the event of a refusal to issue a visa D, we always advise our clients to appeal to the courts within the 14-day statutory period. Our lawyers are at your disposal for these cases.

Obtaining a long-term residence permit

The last procedure to be carried out is obtaining an identity card – a long-term residence permit. For this purpose, it is necessary for the foreigner, the spouse of a Bulgarian citizen, to enter Bulgaria with the obtained visa D. After that, the application for a long-term residence permit be filled. And if the permit is obtained, the legalisation procedure is completed. If the permit is refused, this refusal can be appealed by our lawyers.

For assistance

Our team assists our clients in all phases of the legalisation of the stay of the foreign spouse of a Bulgarian citizen. For assistance or further information, please feel free to contact us.