EU Blue Card
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Разрешение за продължително пребиваване и работа тип „Синя карта на ЕС“ as of 2026-08-25[1][2] |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | EU Blue Card as of 2026-08-25[2] Translation of the statutory name. |
| Legal basis | Закон за чужденците в Република България, чл. 33к; Закон за трудовата миграция и трудовата мобилност, чл. 17 as of 2026-08-25[1][2][3] The register lists чл. 33к among the grounds of the service and ЗТМТМ чл. 7, ал. 4 names the employment под чл. 33к ЗЧРБ; ЗТМТМ чл. 17 sets the conditions. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-25[1] |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA as of 2026-08-25[1] |
|---|---|
| Criminal-record condition | Yes as of 2026-08-25[1] ЗЧРБ чл. 24, ал. 2 as reproduced by the register: foreigners aged 18 and over, other than stateless persons with status in Bulgaria, produce a criminal-record or police-registration certificate issued under the law of the state of nationality, of origin or of habitual residence, at first application. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2026-08-25[1] |
|---|---|
| Renewable | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Work rights | own activity only as of 2026-08-25[3] ЗТМТМ чл. 20, ал. 1: during the first two years of highly qualified employment the holder may carry out only activities meeting the conditions on which the Blue Card was issued, and only on Bulgarian territory. Within that period the holder may change employer under conditions set by ЗЧРБ (ал. 2); after it, under the conditions of чл. 17 (ал. 3). |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source |
|---|
Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2026-08-25[3] ЗТМТМ чл. 17, ал. 2, т. 3: the employment contract must run for not less than 12 months. |
|---|---|
| Salary threshold |
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| Labour-market test | No as of 2026-08-25[3] ЗТМТМ чл. 17, ал. 1: access with an EU Blue Card is authorised by the Ministry of Interior after a positive written opinion of the executive director of the Employment Agency, 'без да се прилага условието на чл. 7, ал. 1, т. 1' — the employer headcount ratio does not apply. No vacancy-advertising test is stated for this route. |
| Qualification requirement | degree as of 2026-08-25[2][3] ЗТМТМ чл. 17, ал. 2, т. 1: completed higher education evidenced by a diploma, certificate or other document issued by a competent authority after study of not less than three years at an institution recognised as a higher-education institution by the state concerned. |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2026-08-25[3] |
| Own means requirement | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-08-25[1] |
Process
| Where to apply from | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2026-08-25[2] MLSP states the application is filed with the Migration Directorate or a regional Migration unit by the employer or an authorised person, or by the foreigner in person where they already hold a valid продължително residence permit (in which case the employer signs the application). The applicant's own location at filing is not stated. |
|---|---|
| Statutory processing time | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2026-08-25[1][2] Not stated for this ground. MLSP states one intermediate clock: the Employment Agency sends its written opinion on labour-market access to the Migration Directorate within 14 days of receiving the file. The register's service-level metadata gives 14 to 60 days depending on the ЗЧРБ ground, extendable by up to two further months. |
| Quota |
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| Stages |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-25[1] |
|---|
Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2026-08-25[1] ЗЧРБ чл. 24, ал. 1, т. 13 as published by the register: family members of a foreigner who has been granted продължително or постоянно residence, and of a foreigner granted asylum or international protection, may themselves obtain продължително residence where the documents evidencing the family tie and the maintenance right are recognised under Bulgarian law. The family route itself is recorded separately as bg-semeystvo-na-chuzhdenets. |
|---|---|
| Eligible relations | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Family members' work rights | authorisation required as of 2026-08-25[3] ЗТМТМ чл. 19: family members of an EU Blue Card holder have the right to work under an employment relationship and to carry on freelance activity in Bulgaria for the duration of the holder's residence, with a permission of the executive director of the Employment Agency for access to the labour market under this Act. |
Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
Profile benefits
- A 30-minute call with our consultant, who reads your profile first.
- An offer for legal support built around your case, covering the whole process.
Verification
| Sources cited | 3 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 3 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-08-25 |
| 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] Синя карта на Европейския съюз
Министерство на труда и социалната политика · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25 - [3] Закон за трудовата миграция и трудовата мобилност (консолидиран текст, PDF)
Министерство на труда и социалната политика · statute · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-25