How to get the citizenship of Bulgaria?

Migration processes in Ukraine have gained considerable importance in recent years. With the beginning of a full-scale war, many citizens who went abroad do not plan to return to Ukraine. And one of the possibilities of legal stay in one or another country is obtaining citizenship. For example, citizens who moved to Bulgaria can obtain citizenship in several ways.

Obtaining Bulgarian citizenship is regulated by two main laws:

• Constitution of Bulgaria dated July 13, 1991;
• The Law on Bulgarian Citizenship dated February 20, 1999, as amended in 2022.

Grounds for obtaining Bulgarian citizenship:

• Naturalization:

Residence of an adult in the territory of Bulgaria, who has a permanent residence permit for more than 5 years. That is, before obtaining citizenship on this basis, you need to live in Bulgaria legally for at least 5 years.

• Marriage:

Obtaining Bulgarian citizenship based on marriage with a Bulgarian citizen. Marriage must be at least 3 years. That is, marrying a Bulgarian citizen and immediately obtaining citizenship will not work.

• Origin:

Obtaining Bulgarian citizenship by descent, if one of the parents was a Bulgarian citizen, or the citizenship was confirmed by a Bulgarian court decision.

• Permanent residence until adulthood:

If a person received a Permanent Residence Permit before reaching the age of majority, he has the opportunity to obtain Bulgarian citizenship upon reaching the age of 18.

• Refugees and humanitarian protection:

According to the status of a refugee or humanitarian protection, if the documents confirming this status were received more than 3 years ago for refugees, and more than 5 years ago for humanitarian protection.

But stateless persons who, at the time of submission of documents, have a permanent passport that was issued at least 3 years ago.

Restoration of Bulgarian citizenship:

Persons who previously held Bulgarian citizenship may be renewed in Bulgarian citizenship if the given persons have not been convicted and do not pose a threat to society.

Ways to submit documents for Bulgarian citizenship:

• Through the Bulgarian Consulate:

Documents can be previously submitted through the Bulgarian consulate abroad and subsequently sent from the consulate to the migration directorate in Bulgaria.

It is not recommended due to long delays in the transfer of documents, the possibility of losing documents during transfer.

• Directly on the territory of Bulgaria:

Submitting documents through migration directorates, which significantly speeds up the processing of documents and the reliability of their storage.

• Terms of consideration:

Currently, the terms of consideration for obtaining Bulgarian citizenship are about 2 years.

Assistance of our lawyers in obtaining Bulgarian citizenship:

• consultation regarding the possibility of obtaining Bulgarian citizenship;
• assistance with the preparation of documents;
• choosing grounds according to your situation;
• provision of support during the registration of documents on the territory of Bulgaria;
• legalization of your stay in Bulgaria for the period of document processing.

If you have any questions regarding the procedure for obtaining Bulgarian citizenship, fill out the form on our website and our lawyer will contact you shortly. If you are abroad, leave your current WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram number.