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| Legal adviser |
BASIC REQUIREMENTS
of the normative documents,
relating to the residence
of foreign citizens in Bulgaria
A foreigner can enter the Republic of Bulgaria with or without a visa if he or she is a holder of a valid passport or another substituting document for traveling abroad. The entry in the country can also be done with an entry permit, residence permit or transit travel through our country (visa). The residence permit for foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria is issued by the offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Citizens of countries with which Bulgaria has agreements for visa-free regimes or relieved visa regimes can reside in our country for the terms stipulated in these agreements. This is determined depending on the fact whether your country is a member of the EU and respectively on the time you will be spending in Bulgaria. For the stay of a citizen of the EU in Bulgaria for a period no longer than 30 days, no visa is necessary. For a stay no longer than 90 days in the country, a visa Type C, issued by the Bulgarian embassy, is required. For a possible stay of a foreign citizen in the country of no more than a year, a visa Type D, issued by the Bulgarian embassy, is required. Foreigners who have registration under the statutory order for conducting economic activity can get a permit for a stay of one year. The expiry may be extended every year in case the grounds for permitting the residence are still valid.
Foreigners are registered by their address through the channels regulated for Bulgarian citizens. A foreigner who has been granted permanent residence in the country must register in the respective municipality and inform the municipality on the changes in his or her civil status in the terms stipulated for Bulgarian citizens.
Foreigners residing in Bulgaria for no more than three months should prove their identity with their passport or the substituting document, with which they have entered the country. Foreigners residing in the country for more than three months prove their identity with a document issued by the offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The identification papers are issued for a period of no more than 5 years. Foreigners must present their papers upon demand from the authorized organs. A foreigner whose papers have been lost or destroyed must immediately inform the respective passport office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A foreigner who has entered the Republic of Bulgaria in the statutory order can move everywhere within the country with the exception of the border regions and the areas, for whose visit a permit issued by the respective office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is necessary. Foreigners residing in the Republic of Bulgaria must obey the laws and the established social order and should respect the morality and traditions of the Bulgarian people. Foreigners who are granted permanent residence in the Republic of Bulgaria can commence employment under a contract in the order, established for Bulgarian citizens. Foreigners who are temporarily residing in Bulgaria with a working visa can work only in the region, at the employer and for the term specified in the working visa.
Foreigners may realize economic activity or practice freelance work on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria after a registration or receiving a permit for this in the order stipulated by the respective law. Temporarily residing foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria, other than the quoted cases, may work under a labour contract only after they receive the permission of the authorities of the Ministry of Labour and Social care.
By Decision of the Council of Ministers as of 1997 the citizens of the countries from the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Luxemburg, Portugal, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, as well as Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, USA, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel, who are holders of valid passports, have the right to reside on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria for a length of no more than 30 days without a visa. Upon their first entry in each calendar year, they may not register their address unless they wish so.
The citizens of the countries enlisted above don’t need a visa if they are incorporating a trading partnership or purchasing a property in Bulgaria within a 30-day stay in the country. For the short-term stay of up to 90 days they need a visa Type C, issued by the Bulgarian embassy. The long-term stay is divided into two – long-term stay of up to 12 months and temporary residence – indefinite period of time. Permit for a long-term stay can be obtained by a foreigner, who has a registered company or is engaged in activities under the Commercial law of Bulgaria and for the implementation of the activity, has hired 10 Bulgarian citizens in the company.
 When a retired foreign citizen is conducting commercial activity, the following documents should be presented:
 application form;
receipt for paid state fees to the amount of 5.00 leva;
copies of the passports, including the photograph of the said person, the personal data, visa, seal from the last travel of the person, proof of the stay in the country;
çverified copy of the Court Decision for enrty of the company in the Trade register;
verified copy of the registration fee;
verified copy for registration by NII;
documents including proof of invested own capital during the stay in the country;
For the issue of a Bulgarian ID card to a foreigner, the following documents are necessary:
a seal in the person’s passport, certifying that the said person is issued a long-term stay permit;
application form;
actual photograph;
receipt for paid municipal fee;
copies of the passports including the person’s photograph, personal data, a visa, and a seal from the last entry of the person in Bulgaria.
To become a Bulgarian citizen, the foreigner should file and receive for each year of a 5-year stay the following documents:
a long-term stay permit;
ID card;
visa Type “D”.
No visa is required for the registration of a company or the purchase of property within a 30-day stay for the citizens of the EU. |
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Ref. ¹
163 |
Type
Building plots
Lands |
Location
Malko Tarnovo |
Price
24000 Euro |
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Ref. ¹
467 |
Type
3 rooms
Apartments |
Location
Varna |
Price
88000 Euro |
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The mushrooming golf clubs throughout Bulgaria come as an alternative to the concrete sins on the Bulgarian Black sea cost.
This is the conclusion of the German DPA Agency, which made its own examination on the theme. The new golf club in Ravno Pole village, located on 25 kilometers from Bulgarian capital Sofia is presently turning into regular destination for the tourists, looking for tranquility. The golf club is visited by more and more Sofia citizens, diplomats and foreign contractors. According to the DPA Agency the golf clubs with luxurious hotels and modern SPA - facilities will improve the tourism image of Bulgaria, associated in Europe mainly with the cheap Black Sea vacation.
There are still 19 golf playgrounds more presently being built, one of which estimated on the amount of 50 million EUR - the future Golf & SPA complex in Pravets town, the birth town of former communist President of Bulgaria Todor Zhivkov. Specialists consider the strong investment interest will bring the construction of round 40 golf playgrounds in the country. The Bulgarian government also approves the intentions Bulgaria to be turned into international destination for golf tourism. There are excellent climate conditions in Bulgaria and the scenery is extremely attractive.
After the construction boom on the sea coast, the upcoming summer will show is still the tourism in Bulgaria capable to escape the sins of concrete and to return to nature, the specialized tourism editions comment. World - wide famous Black sea coasts and ski resorts in Southern Bulgaria have attracted more than 5 million tourists in common for the last 2007 year. The amount of tourists from EU have raised with 50 %. Incomes of tourism for Bulgaria have reached the record to the moment 2, 3 billion EUR - raise of 11% compared to the previous year. The State Agency of Tourism expects 10% raise for 2008 too. |
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The extreme tourism turns to be one of the latest hits of the tourism agencies,
Over 12,000 Bulgarians on different age showed interest towards possibilities for extreme experience and rest among the beautiful Bulgarian nature in April.
For the moment the most requested extreme activity is rafting - dropping by the fast waters of Struma river in Kresna gorge.
The mix of rafting plus the emotions of riding horses in Pirin Mountain also attracts the attention of many tourists.
Horse passage in the Rhodope's village of Trigrad (South - Eastern Rhodopes), Vratsa Balkan (Western Stara Planina Mountain) and the Aidushko gathering place in Troyan Balkan (Central Stara Planina) are among the favorite tourism destinations of the adventurous tourists.
Many people are also ready to climb down with a rope in a waterfall, to enter on a boat in a cave, rowing among the water cave galleries./www.news.bg/ |
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Germans started to book again holidays in Bulgaria after a two-year withdrawal, Dnevnik daily reported
The signals came from the last week's International Tourism Bourse (ITB), the annual business-to-business industry event, reminded from the daily.
Tourism experts said German bookings in Bulgaria should see a 5% increase up to 400,000 in 2008.
Seaside Burgas and Varna airports' data showed that 390,000 German tourists came to the country on trips arranged by tour operators.
The total number of Germans that landed in the two airports was 600,000.
Round 4 years ago, the number of German holiday-makers peaked, but was followed by a significant drop as the German economy slowed down and the quality of tourist services in Bulgaria worsened.
The tour operator expects to book Bulgarian holidays for 140,000 German tourists in 2008, comparing to the 120,000 last year. |
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Tourism 2007
Bulgaria’s first year as an EU-member state has had a favorable impact on its tourist image. The interest in our country has been rising as well as the flow of tourists from other countries. Over 4 million foreign residents took a winter or summer vacation in Bulgaria in 2006, which is about 7% up on 2006. EU citizens account for more than 70% of foreign tourists to Bulgaria, notably Greece, Germany, UK, Sweden and Finland. Over the last 12 months the number of tourists from the latter country shot up by 30%. And yet, Bulgarian tourism, dubbed until quite recently “the Balkan Tiger”, has been running at a low tide compared with preceding years.
This made itself painfully prominent as early as the start of the 2007 season. For the first time in many years, in mid-July, quite a few newly built hotels in the country’s Black Sea resorts found themselves unoccupied. Hoteliers’ best bet was to slash overnight charges, which entailed in its turn an unprecedented and fierce competition in the branch. In the month of August, a traditional peak in high season bookings, the tourist reflux was compensated for with fresh holiday bookings from EU and neighbouring countries.
Experts explain the alarming occurrence with a runaway sprawl of building developments- hotels, vacation villages, golf grounds, night entertainment outlets- which has totally thwarted Bulgaria’s image as a holiday destination, offering delightful family perks, unspoilt nature among them. An all-time high number of hotels and entertainment places-1800- were built in the first seven months of the year. And yet, an increasing number of people in Bulgaria are becoming aware that tourism does not necessarily mean only luxury accommodation, round-the-clock entertainment and cheap liquor. Tourist operators are beginning to opt for well paying clients who’d really like to see and appreciate the true values of Bulgaria; tourists would not fall for cheap tour packages on the Black Sea and would like instead to go deep inland to explore monasteries, medieval fortresses and the national heritage. In 2007, a great number of municipalities across the country drafted and carries through with EU funds projects on sustainable tourist development. Setting up eco and trekking trails and routes, revival of local folklore and traditional crafts and restoration of rundown old monasteries have been only but few of enterprising arrangements to advertise the respective regions as attractive tourist destinations. Rural tourism gained in popularity in 2007 too. Rural vacations usually offer, as well as accommodation with village families, horseback rides, jeep-safaris and get-to-know -the- place treks to natural sites or trips to cultural and historical sites.
In 2007 many foreigners, mostly from UK, bought houses or flats in Bulgaria, some of them to live in Bulgarian villages or small towns in their retirement or use them as holiday villas. Entire communities of ex-pats have emerged in mountain areas or at the Black Sea. Newly-built luxury flats or villas at the Black Sea appear to be much sought after as they come cheapest in EU. The owners of such properties, coming mostly from EU countries and Russia use them either as summer retreats or turn them into holiday lets at relatively prices, underbidding the local market.
Traditionally, Bulgaria’s biggest skiing resorts are most favoured by Britons. Scandinavians, Russians and tourists from neighbouring Balkans like coming to Bulgaria for skiing holidays too. |
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