Bulgaria

Residency route coverage

Residency route coverage
Route family	Routes	Coverage
Investment	long-stay residence permit — investment in an economically disadvantaged region (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(20)) · Active long-stay residence permit — investment in real property (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(19)) · Active permanent residence permit — capital contribution to a certified priority investment project (Foreigners Act, art. 25(1)(7)) · Active permanent residence permit — capital contribution to an unlisted Bulgarian company (Foreigners Act, art. 25(1)(8)) · Active permanent residence permit — capital investment with asset acquisition and job creation (Foreigners Act, art. 25(1)(16)) · Active permanent residence permit — five years’ maintained investment on an art. 24(1)(19) or (20) permit (Foreigners Act, art. 25(1)(17)) · Active permanent residence permit — investment in financial assets (Foreigners Act, art. 25(1)(6)) · Active permanent residence permit — persons attached to a certified investment (Foreigners Act, art. 25(1)(13) in conjunction with art. 25c) · Active	Routes recorded as of 2026-08-25^[1]^[2] Eight routes. Six are permanent-residence grounds under ЗЧРБ чл. 25, ал. 1 (points 6, 7, 8, 13, 16 and 17) and two are продължително (long-stay) permits under чл. 24, ал. 1 (points 19 and 20) which feed the point 17 permanent ground after five years. Placement decision, recorded deliberately: bg-pp-sertifitsirana-investitsiya (чл. 25, ал. 1, т. 13 in conjunction with чл. 25в) is recorded in investment rather than work even though one of its three eligible categories is an employee in a key or control function, because the qualifying fact is the company's certified investment under the Investment Promotion Act and the individuals are named by the investor company; a later touch that disagrees should move it deliberately and say so.
Remote work	long-stay residence permit — digital nomad (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(23) in conjunction with art. 24s) · Active	Routes recorded as of 2026-08-25^[1]^[4]^[6]
Passive income	long-stay residence permit — pension recipients with sufficient means (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(10)) · Active	Routes recorded as of 2026-08-25^[1] One route: pension recipients with sufficient means (чл. 24, ал. 1, т. 10). No separate rental, dividend or savings-based route appears in the чл. 24, ал. 1 enumeration as published by the administrative register.
Entrepreneur	long-stay residence permit — commercial activity with job creation (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(2)) · Active long-stay residence permit — representative of a foreign commercial company with a trade representation registered at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(6)) · Active	Routes recorded as of 2026-08-25^[1]
Work	EU Blue Card · Active Intra-corporate transferee permit with a right of long-stay residence · Active long-stay residence permit — accredited correspondent of a foreign mass medium (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(9)) · Active long-stay residence permit — foreign religious minister invited by a registered denomination (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(16)) · Active long-stay residence permit — foreign specialist residing under an international treaty (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(4)) · Active long-stay residence permit — freelance activity (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(15)) · Active long-stay residence permit — posted or seconded worker in the provision of services (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(1)) · Active long-stay residence permit — researcher under a hosting agreement (Foreigners Act, art. 24b(1)) · Active Long-stay residence permit for the purpose of employment as a seasonal worker · Active Single Permit for Residence and Work · Active	Routes recorded as of 2026-08-25^[1]^[10]^[14]
Study	long-stay residence permit — person admitted for specialisation training (Foreigners Act, art. 24r) · Active long-stay residence permit — student in full-time higher education (Foreigners Act, art. 24c) · Active long-stay residence permit — trainee under a traineeship employment contract (Foreigners Act, art. 24c(11)) · Active long-stay residence permit — volunteer in the European Voluntary Service (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(21) in conjunction with art. 24o) · Active	Routes recorded as of 2026-08-25^[1]^[6]^[14]
Family	autonomous long-stay residence permit after dissolution of the marriage by divorce or death (Foreigners Act, art. 24(5)) · Active long-stay residence permit — family member of a Bulgarian citizen (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(18)) · Active long-stay residence permit — family member of a foreigner with long-stay or permanent residence, asylum or international protection (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(13)) · Active long-stay residence permit — financially secured parent of a Bulgarian citizen or of a permanent-residence holder (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(7)) · Active long-stay residence permit — other member of the household of a foreigner under art. 23a(3), or their private domestic helper (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(14)) · Active	Routes recorded as of 2026-08-25^[1]^[14]

Country facts

Identity

Identity
Local name	България
ISO code	BGR
Region	Europe
Currency	EUR as of 2026-08-25^[3]^[7]^[8]
Official languages	bg as of 2026-08-25^[7]

Memberships

Memberships
Memberships	Bloc: EU Member: Yes as of 2026-08-25^[7] Since: 2007-01-01 as of 2026-08-25^[7] Bloc: EEA Member: Yes as of 2026-08-25^[7] EEA membership asserted via EU membership: EEA Agreement art. 128 obliges an acceding EU state to apply for EEA participation; EU membership and accession date confirmed separately, source bg-eu-country-profile. Bloc: Schengen Member: Yes as of 2026-08-25^[7] Since: 2024-03-31 as of 2026-08-25^[7] Bloc: Eurozone Member: Yes as of 2026-08-25^[3]^[7] Since: 2026-01-01 as of 2026-08-25^[3]^[7]

Permanent residence

Permanent residence
Qualifying years	Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-08-25^[2]^[13]
Language requirement	Not established from a qualifying source
Integration requirement	Not established from a qualifying source
Income requirement	Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-08-25^[2]

Citizenship

Citizenship
Years to naturalisation	Not established from a qualifying source
of which on permanent residence	Not established from a qualifying source
Dual citizenship	Not established from a qualifying source
Language requirement	Not established from a qualifying source
Citizenship test required	Not established from a qualifying source

Tax

Tax
Tax-residency day threshold	183 as of 2026-08-25^[9]
Other tax-residency triggers	registered residence, centre of vital interests as of 2026-08-25^[9] 'Permanent address in Bulgaria' is recorded as registered_residence.
Headline income tax rate	10% as of 2026-08-25^[9] Tax on the total annual tax base is the base multiplied by 10 per cent. Separate rates apply to other bases: 15 per cent on the annual tax base for business activity as a sole trader, 5 per cent on dividends and liquidation shares, and 10 or 7 per cent on certain final taxes.
Income tax structure	flat as of 2026-08-25^[9]
Net-wealth tax	Not established from a qualifying source
Inheritance or estate tax	Not established from a qualifying source

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Reference figures

Reference figures
national minimum monthly wage	Local name: минимална месечна работна заплата за страната Amount: EUR 620.20 per month as of 2025-11-13^[12] Постановление № 243 of 13 November 2025 sets the figure from 1 January 2026 as '1213 лв. (620,20 евро)' and the minimum hourly wage as '7,31 лв. (3,74 евро)' at a normal 8-hour day and 5-day week. The euro figure is the decree's own, not a conversion made here. Period: month Reset: annual Officially published figure: Yes
average gross monthly wage	Local name: средна брутна месечна работна заплата Amount: EUR 1,407 per month as of 2026-05-15^[11] National Statistical Institute, press release of 15 May 2026 (preliminary data): the average monthly wage in the first quarter of 2026 is 1 407 euro. The monthly figures published in the same release are 1 381 euro for January 2026, 1 365 for February and 1 475 for March. NSI publishes these figures in euro, Bulgaria having adopted the euro on 2026-01-01. IMPORTANT for any threshold pointing here: the statutory benchmark for the EU Blue Card is the average wage 'съгласно наличните данни за последните 12 месеца преди сключването на трудовия договор', a rolling 12-month average which NSI does not publish as a single figure; the quarterly figure registered here is the latest published national average and is not that number. Period: month Reset: ad hoc Officially published figure: Yes

Changes

Recent changes

Recent changes
2022-04-01	Bulgaria abolished naturalisation by investment. The Act amending the Bulgarian Citizenship Act, promulgated in State Gazette issue 26 of 1 April 2022, repealed art. 12a and art. 14a outright, repealed art. 22(1)(4), art. 32a(2) and art. 35(1)(5), and terminated all proceedings under the repealed articles that had not been concluded when the Act entered into force. Persons already naturalised on those grounds must notify changes in the underlying investments within 14 days, and the naturalisation may be revoked where the investments were not maintained for at least one year (former art. 12a) or two years (former art. 14a).^[5]
2025-06-27	An Act amending the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act was promulgated in State Gazette issue 52 of 27 June 2025. Among other changes it rewrote чл. 24, ал. 1, т. 6, adding a tax-compliance condition and an annual turnover test of at least BGN 100,000 for each of the two years preceding registration of the trade representation, and capping the number of representatives who may obtain a permit on that ground at two; it also created new чл. 24р and чл. 24с and amended чл. 25. Affects: long-stay residence permit — representative of a foreign commercial company with a trade representation registered at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(6))^[6]
2026-01-01	Bulgaria adopted the euro and became the 21st member of the euro area. The Council adopted the final three legal acts on 8 July 2025 and fixed the conversion rate at 1.95583 leva per euro. Statutory residence thresholds in the Foreigners Act are still stated in leva by every source consulted.^[3]^[7]^[8]
2025-06-27	The Act amending and supplementing the Foreigners Act, State Gazette issue 52 of 27 June 2025, created a digital-nomad ground for long-stay residence — a new чл. 24, ал. 1, т. 23 with a new чл. 24с setting an average-annual-income test of 50 minimum monthly wages, a one-year permit extendable once, and a new definition at § 1, т. 36 of the supplementary provisions — and a new чл. 24р granting long-stay residence of up to one year to foreigners admitted for specialisation training. The same paragraph repealed point 22 of чл. 24, ал. 1; the ground that point contained is not established. Affects: long-stay residence permit — digital nomad (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(23) in conjunction with art. 24s), long-stay residence permit — person admitted for specialisation training (Foreigners Act, art. 24r)^[6]
2025-12-16	Council of Ministers Decree № 286 of 12 December 2025, promulgated in State Gazette issue 109 of 16 December 2025, amended the implementing rules of the Foreigners Act. It inserted чл. 32г, the procedure and document list for the digital-nomad permit, which had no procedure until then; rewrote чл. 27 so that the religious-minister ground rests on a document from the Directorate 'Religious Denominations' of the Council of Ministers alone; and rewrote чл. 13, ал. 1 on the documents a family member files after entry, adding a new Annex 2a. Its final provision states that these amendments enter into force three days after promulgation. Affects: long-stay residence permit — digital nomad (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(23) in conjunction with art. 24s), long-stay residence permit — foreign religious minister invited by a registered denomination (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(16)), long-stay residence permit — family member of a foreigner with long-stay or permanent residence, asylum or international protection (Foreigners Act, art. 24(1)(13))^[4]

Verification

Verification
Sources cited	14
of which official (tier 1)	14
Oldest as-of date	2025-11-13
Newest as-of date	2026-08-25
Reviewed on	2026-08-26
Schema version	1.1

Sources

[1] Разрешаване на продължително пребиваване на чужденци — информация за предоставяне на услуга
Администрация на Министерския съвет — Административен регистър (ИИСДА) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[2] 1077 Разрешаване на постоянно пребиваване на чужденци — информация за предоставяне на услуга
Администрация на Министерския съвет — Административен регистър (ИИСДА) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[3] Bulgaria ready to use the euro from 1 January 2026: Council takes final steps
Council of the European Union · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2025-07-08 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[4] Постановление № 286 от 12 декември 2025 г. за изменение и допълнение на нормативни актове (изм. и доп. на Правилника за прилагане на Закона за чужденците в Република България)
Държавен вестник · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2025-12-16 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[5] Закон за изменение на Закона за българското гражданство (отменя чл. 12а и чл. 14а)
Държавен вестник (Народно събрание) · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2022-04-01 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[6] Закон за изменение и допълнение на Закона за чужденците в Република България
Държавен вестник (Народно събрание) · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2025-06-27 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[7] Bulgaria – EU country
European Union (Directorate-General for Communication) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[8] evroto.bg — Official website for adoption of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria
Република България (официален правителствен сайт за еврото) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[9] Personal Income Taxes
Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[10] Общ режим за работа на граждани на трети държави в България
Министерство на труда и социалната политика · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[11] Наети лица и средна работна заплата – I тримесечие 2026 година
Национален статистически институт · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-05-15 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[12] Постановление № 243 на Министерския съвет от 13 ноември 2025 г. за определяне размера на минималната работна заплата за страната
Министерски съвет на Република България · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-11-13 · Accessed 2026-08-25
[13] Закон за чужденците в Република България (консолидиран текст)
Министерство на иновациите и растежа (публикуван текст на закона) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2022-03-18 · Accessed 2026-08-25 · Amended by bg-dv-zid-zchrb-52-2025
[14] Закон за трудовата миграция и трудовата мобилност (консолидиран текст, PDF)
Министерство на труда и социалната политика · statute · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25