Country Update 2024: BULGARIA

Contributed by: Dr. Valeria Ilareva’s team

May 2024

1. Legislative Changes

A series of legislative amendments have been proposed in the Law on Asylum and Refugees (LAR) and the Bulgarian Citizenship Act (BCA).

The draft amendments to the LAR concern several major spheres: access to international protection for beneficiaries of temporary protection and other rights concerning beneficiaries of temporary protection; conditions for representing unaccompanied or separated minors and supplementation of the powers of the legal representatives; shortening of the period after which the asylum-seeker can access the labour market; financial requirements for family reunification and rights of the members of the family during their asylum procedures; grounds and rules for conducting an accelerated asylum procedure.

A major draft amendment to the BCA concerns the introduction of fluency in the Bulgarian language as a mandatory condition for acquiring Bulgarian citizenship by persons of Bulgarian origin and by persons with a parent who has acquired Bulgarian citizenship. The other proposed amendments are related to loss of Bulgarian citizenship: in case а Bulgarian citizen is subject to criminal proceedings in Bulgaria or has unpaid financial obligations, they would not be able to request release from their Bulgarian citizenship; in case a naturalized person incites violence or hatred, or commits a hate crime against the Republic of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian nation or the symbols of Bulgarian statehood, his/her naturalization must be revoked.

Because of the turbulent political landscape in Bulgaria, however, none of the proposed amendments has yet been passed in the National Assembly.

Amendments have been made in the Law on Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria (LFRB) in compliance with the Schengen visa regulations (regarding travel authorisations and visa issuance). The other important amendment to the LFRB has been made to the provisions related to seasonal workers.

2. Business Immigration

Temporary immigration categories

Regarding compliance with the Schengen visa and travel authorisation requirements, the amendments to the LFRB simply refer to the relevant European legislation.

Employment-based immigration (work and residence permits)

Seasonal workers no longer need to present documents certifying their education, professional qualification and experience in order to be issued a continuous residence permit. Nonetheless, they need to present a criminal record certificate issued by the country of their citizenship or by the country of their habitual residence, when they apply for the first time. In order for the work permit to be issued, the seasonal worker needs to go together with his/her employer to the Migration Directorate and present a copy of his/her passport, including the visa page and a medical insurance valid in Bulgaria. A shortened period is given to the State Agency for National Security for a written statement on the extension of the seasonal employment. After the expiry of the maximum period of residence, the third-country national (TCN) is given the opportunity to reside in Bulgaria on a residence permit without having to leave the country and without needing a new visa, provided that the permit is other than a Single Residence and Work Permit, an EU Blue Card or an Intra-Corporate Transfer Permit. The TCN can continue to work for the same employer or change employers for the duration of the new employment contract, but for no more than 6 consecutive months within every 12 months. To continue his/her working permit in Bulgaria, the foreigner has to submit a new application each time to the Migration Directorate 30 days before the expiry of his/her legal residence, and attach to it the documents which are needed for application (except for the criminal record certificate which is submitted only with the first application). The procedure for granting continuous residence for the purpose of employment as a seasonal worker lasts no longer than 30 days, during which time the employer can withdraw the application at any moment and end the procedure.

3. Family based immigration

According to the Annual Report of the State Agency for Refugees, the number of decisions on applications for family reunification drastically increased in 2023 compared to 2022, with 1166 SAR permissions for family reunification issued in 2023 compared to 352 in 2022. Nearly 90% of the applications were submitted by Syrian nationals granted international protection in Bulgaria.

4. Asylum

18,024 people were registered for temporary protection (TP) in Bulgaria between June 2023 and March 2024 according to SAR official data. That makes a total of 179,290 refugees from Ukraine registered for temporary protection (TP) or similar national protection schemes in Bulgaria since the beginning of the war. About 40% of them – 72,775 – are recorded as staying in the country to the present day. Many of them are interested in ways to prolong their stay in Bulgaria after their temporary protection expires.

In regard to asylum-seekers, there is an increase in the number of people who requested asylum in Bulgaria in 2023 (22,518) compared to 2022 (20,407). Most of them are from Syria, Afghanistan and Morocco. An unprecedented number of TCNs (over 70) were found dead in the areas of Strandzha and Sakar mountains in the summer of 2023 after crossing illegally the Bulgarian-Turkish border.

The total number of issued SAR decisions granting international protection to applicants for 2023 is 5,788. Only for the first three months of 2024 the number of these decisions is 2,185.

5. Deportation

According to the Ministry of Interior’s last monthly report, the deported TCN in March 2024 were 250, out of whоm 170 are forcibly deported. Most of the deported are from Morocco (42.8%). Between June 2022-May 2023 the forcibly deported TCN are 818, according to the official data. In comparison, between June 2023-March 2024 there are 1,294 forcibly returned TCN, which clearly indicates an increase.

6. Citizenship

There are no changes in the Bulgarian citizenship regulation. The proposed legislative changes of the BCA were mentioned above.