Country Update 2023: BULGARIA

Contributed by: Dr. Valeria Ilareva’s team

May 2023

1. Legislative Changes

Legislative changes concernthe regulation of the temporary protection regime in the national law. Beneficiaries of temporary protection are now entitled to healthcare insurance, to affordable medical care and medical services, to work and vocational training, to social assistance, to appropriate housing or financial means to obtain accommodation.

Regarding immigration regulations concerning investment, the competent authority that verifies whether an investment made by a foreigner meets the criteria stipulated in the Investment Promotion Act was changed from the Ministry of Economy to the Ministry of Innovation and Growth. 

Major changes were made in the “EU Blue Card” regulation. The scope of the foreigners allowed to apply for a “EU Blue Card” was expanded, its validity period was altered, a right to work remotely was introduced, grounds for revocation of the right to residence of the Blue Card holder were implemented, a right to reside in another EU Member State was granted for up to 90 days within a 180-day period for work-related purposes, and some minor changes in the application procedure were made.

Amendments were made in the following legal acts:

• The Law on Asylum and Refugees (LAR, Art. 39, paras. 1 and 2)

• Health Act (Art. 83, para. 1a)

• Health Insurance Act (Art. 33, para. 1, subpara. 4a)

• Labour Migration and Labour Mobility Act (LMLMA, Art. 9, para. 5)

• The Law for Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria (LFRB, See more in point 3)

2. Business Immigration

Business visitors

A new provision of the LFRB implemented in January 2023 allows holders of an EU Blue Card issued by another EU Member State to enter and reside in Bulgaria for the purposes of performing specific work for a period of up to 90 days within a 180-day period. If the work activities are expected to exceed 90 days within a 180-day period, the foreigner must either submit an application for the issuing of an EU Blue Card in Bulgaria, provided that at least 12 months have passed as of the issuance of their card by the first Member State, or immediately cease their labour activity in Bulgaria. Legal definition of the said work activity was introduced in the Additional Provisions of the LFRB, stipulating that it includes participation in internal or external business meetings, participating in conferences or seminars, conducting negotiations on business transactions, conducting sales or marketing activities, researching business opportunities, or participating in and undergoing training.

Highly Skilled immigration (Blue Card etc)

As of 25 January 2023, the scope of foreigners performing highly qualified employment who are eligible for a permit for prolonged stay and an "EU Blue Card" type of permit has been broadened and encompasses not only holders of visa D or of a prolonged residence permit, but also beneficiaries of international protection in the EU. A minimum validity period of 24 months is introduced for the “EU Blue Card” and the maximum period is increased from 4 to 5 years. A new legal provision allows the Blue Card holder to work remotely, if this is stipulated in the employment contract.

Another major amendment concerns the imposition of grounds for revocation of the right to residence in Bulgaria of the Blue Card holder: use of fraudulently acquired, false or forged documents for issuance of the Blue Card; lack of a valid employment contract for highly qualified employment; unfulfilled conditions for issuance of an EU Blue Card; a real and serious threat to national security and public order or public health posed by the holder; failure by the employer to fulfil his/her obligations related to social insurance, taxation, employment rights or labour conditions with respect to the EU Blue Card holder; non-compliance with the relevant procedures for issuance of a Blue Card; violation of the entry and residence conditions in an EU Member State by a business visitor having a Blue Card.

Amendments are also made in the procedure itself, inter alia in relation to: procedural deadlines; change of employers; required period of residence in an EU Member State before the holder of the Card can lawfully reside in Bulgaria; other time-related requirements; obligation to enclose a criminal record certificate of the family member when applying for a prolonged residence permit.

Investment-based immigration (Investors/Entrepreneurs)

A change regarding the so-called “Startup visa” for high-tech and innovative projects, introduced in 2021, was made in relation to the competent authority that issues it – until 18 March 2022 that was the Ministry of Economy, and now it is issued by the Ministry of Innovation and Growth (MIG).

The MIG is also the new competent authority responsible for verifying whether the requirements regarding investment are met, and if the procedures provided for in the Investment Promotion Act are followed concerning the regulation of investment-based immigration and acquisition of prolonged and permanent residence permits.

3. Family based immigration

There have been no new significant legislative changes within the Family based immigration area.

As regards the practical aspects of the family reunification procedure for persons under international protection (IP), reunification of Syrian family members in Turkey was hindered as a result of Turkish policy to limit the issue of the so called “kimlik” – a registration document for Syrian refugees. The Bulgarian embassies in Turkey refuse to issue a visa to Syrian family members without such a kimlik, even if they have a valid passport.

4. Asylum

After the practical implementation of the TP, regime legislative changes were made to the LAR, the Health Act and the Health Insurance Act, which broadened the right to healthcare of persons under the TP regime by including not only cases needing urgent medical aid, but all kinds of medical assistance. A new provision of the LMLMA effective from 3 June 2022 exempts beneficiaries of TP from the requirement for a permit to access the labour market.

Persons under the TP regime were faced with many issues due to the lack of a clear plan on a national level, including issues with their accommodation and subsistence. Asylum seekers coming from Ukraine were denied the opportunity to apply for international protection and the ongoing proceedings of such persons were terminated by an Order of the Chairperson of the SAR dated 8^th April 2022. Additionally, the relevant institutions were instructed to register persons fleeing Ukraine as persons under TP without their explicit consent.

After the partial Russian mobilization in September 2022, the number of Russian asylum seekers has increased, though there is a tendency for issuing more refusals to grant IP (13 refusals and 7 granted statuses in 2022, 20 refusals and 1 granted status in 2023).

5. Deportation

The practice of detaining third country nationals (TCN) without a prospect of return continues to be applied with increasing statistics for 2022: the total amount of detained TCN in 2022 is 16 767 which is an over 50% increase compared to the total amount of detainees in 2021 (10 799). The most recent statistics show a decrease of the number of detainees for the first four months of the year – 2987 between January and April 2023 compared to 5276 for the same period in 2022.

Contrary to the trends in detention, deportation itself is seeing a steady decrease. In 2021 a total of 770 TCN were deported, while the number for 2022 is 583. The statistics for the first third of 2023 confirm this trend – 120 deported citizens compared to 205 for the same period in 2022 and 245 in 2021.

6. Citizenship

The optimized procedure for obtaining citizenship for investors was entirely removed from the Law on Bulgarian Citizenship as of April 2022.

Persons under the TP regime have the option to apply for citizenship without having to reserve an appointment at the Ministry of Justice. Since 10 March 2023, registration of non-EU applicants who do not have a residence permit in Bulgaria can be done only via an online platform and only during working days at 12:00 pm for the corresponding working day that is 60 calendar days ahead.