How to Get Bulgarian Citizenship: Paths, Documents, and Costs

To get Bulgarian citizenship, you apply through one of four routes set out in the Bulgarian Citizenship Act: proven Bulgarian ancestry up to a great-grandparent, five years of permanent residency, three years of marriage to a Bulgarian citizen combined with three years of residency, or an investment that first earns you permanent residency and later qualifies you for naturalization. The route you choose determines almost everything else — how long it takes, whether you need to pass a Bulgarian language exam, and whether you have to give up your current citizenship.

Bulgarian citizenship carries the right to live, work, and travel throughout the European Union, along with access to Bulgaria’s flat 10 percent income tax rate for tax residents.

If You Have Bulgarian Ancestry

This is the shortest and most forgiving path. If at least one parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent was Bulgarian, you qualify as a person of “Bulgarian origin” under Article 15 of the Citizenship Act and are exempt from most standard naturalization requirements.¹ You do not need to hold Bulgarian residency, meet an income threshold, pass the language exam, or renounce your existing citizenship.² You do need to be at least 18 and have a clean Bulgarian criminal record.

Amendments in March 2021 streamlined this route further. You can now submit proof of Bulgarian ancestry directly with your citizenship application at the Ministry of Justice, rather than obtaining a separate origin certificate first, and the application and interview can happen on the same visit.

One boundary worth flagging: if a parent was already a Bulgarian citizen when you were born, you are a Bulgarian citizen by birth under Article 8 of the Act, regardless of where you were born.¹ In that case you are not applying for citizenship — you are documenting the citizenship you already hold.

If You Live in Bulgaria (Standard Naturalization)

Foreigners without Bulgarian ancestry can naturalize after five years of permanent residency. The five-year clock starts when your permanent residence permit was granted, not when you first entered the country. Article 12 of the Citizenship Act sets out the full checklist. On the day you file, you must:

Be at least 18 years old.
Have held permanent residency for five or more years.
Have no conviction for a premeditated crime of a general nature and no pending criminal proceedings for one, unless rehabilitated.
Show sufficient income or employment to support yourself in Bulgaria.
Pass a Bulgarian language proficiency test, administered under a procedure set by the Minister of Education and Science.
Be released from your current citizenship, or provide evidence that you will be released once Bulgarian citizenship is granted.

The language exam is the requirement that catches most applicants. Plan for a formal preparation course; Sofia University and Veliko Turnovo University both run courses tailored to citizenship applicants, and the standard sits around B1 on the Common European Framework.

If You Are Married to a Bulgarian Citizen

Marriage cuts the residency requirement from five years to three. You need three years of marriage and three years of permanent or long-term residence status, and both clocks must run concurrently and be complete by the date you apply.¹

The other conditions of standard naturalization still apply: age 18, clean Bulgarian criminal record, financial stability, and the language exam. The one significant break is renunciation. Spouses of Bulgarian citizens are exempt under Article 12, paragraph 2, so you can keep your existing citizenship.¹

If You Are Investing in Bulgaria

Bulgaria abolished its direct “golden passport” program in 2022. What remains is a two-step path: investment gets you permanent residency, and permanent residency later qualifies you for naturalization.

Under the Foreigners Act, investing at least BGN 1,000,000 (roughly €512,000) in shares of alternative investment funds or exchange-traded funds traded in Bulgaria qualifies you for permanent residency. A separate route is an investment of at least BGN 500,000 in the capital of a Bulgarian company where you hold at least 50 percent ownership, provided the investment creates at least 10 full-time jobs for Bulgarian citizens.

Permanent residency through investment typically takes six to eight months. After five years of holding it, you can apply for naturalization under Article 12, though investors are exempt from the language, financial means, and renunciation conditions. Realistic total timeline from initial investment to citizenship is roughly six to seven years.

Documents You Will Need

Every application draws from a common core, with extras depending on your route. Across all paths, expect to gather:

Valid passport or government-issued ID and a recent passport-sized photo.
Birth certificate, and where applicable a marriage certificate or divorce decree.
Criminal background checks from your country of origin and from Bulgaria. U.S. citizens need an FBI Identity History Summary — a federal fingerprint-based background check — not a state or local police clearance. Bulgarian authorities typically require this to be issued within three months of submission.
Proof of legal residency in Bulgaria (naturalization and marriage routes only).
Evidence of income or employment sufficient to support yourself in Bulgaria, plus proof of paid mandatory social insurance contributions.
Language proficiency certificate from an approved exam (not required for the ancestry route).
A detailed curriculum vitae.

Ancestry applicants also need documents proving the Bulgarian line — birth, death, or marriage certificates of the Bulgarian ancestor, and often supporting evidence like church records or old Bulgarian identity documents.

Apostilles and Translations

Every document issued outside Bulgaria has to be legalized before you submit it. Because Bulgaria is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, documents from other member countries (including the United States) need an apostille from the issuing country’s competent authority. For U.S. documents, the Department of State apostilles federal records like the FBI background check, and each state’s secretary of state apostilles state-issued documents like birth certificates. State apostilles usually run about $10 to $20 per document.

After apostilling, each foreign-language document has to be translated into Bulgarian by a certified translator, and the translation notarized. Documents from countries outside the Apostille Convention need full consular legalization through a Bulgarian embassy or consulate.

Where to File and What It Costs

Applications are submitted in person at the Ministry of Justice in Sofia. If you are abroad, you can file through a Bulgarian embassy or consulate, which forwards the file to Sofia. Book your Ministry appointment through the official website in advance.

As of June 2025, the application fee for acquiring or restoring Bulgarian citizenship is 300 leva (about €150), a tenfold increase from the previous 30 leva. The fee for release from Bulgarian citizenship rose from 50 to 250 leva. Fees are paid into a designated Ministry of Justice account at submission. You then receive a confirmation number that lets you check status online.

What Happens After You File

The Ministry of Justice first checks that your file is complete and properly legalized. It then goes to the Council on Citizenship, which reviews the application with input from security and law enforcement agencies and issues a formal opinion. If the Council needs more from you, it can request additional documents or order an inspection, which pauses the processing clock for up to three months.¹

Statutory deadlines depend on the route. Ancestry-based applications must be decided within nine months, reduced from 12 by the 2021 amendments. Standard naturalization applications have a 12-month deadline. Based on the Council’s opinion, the Minister of Justice either proposes a citizenship decree to the President of Bulgaria or recommends refusal.¹ Once the President signs the decree, you receive a certificate of Bulgarian citizenship and can apply for a Bulgarian passport and national ID.

The Interview

Naturalization and marriage applicants can be called for an interview at the Ministry of Justice or a Bulgarian diplomatic mission. It is conducted in Bulgarian and doubles as a check on your language and your familiarity with the country. Expect questions on national symbols, the form of government, the current president and prime minister, EU and NATO membership dates, major historical figures, national holidays, and cultural traditions. Ancestry-based applicants can use an interpreter, since they are not required to demonstrate Bulgarian.

Can You Keep Your Current Citizenship?

Most applicants can. The general Article 12 rule requires naturalization applicants to be released from their previous citizenship, but three groups are exempt:

Persons of Bulgarian origin applying under Article 15.²
Spouses of Bulgarian citizens, under Article 12, paragraph 2.¹
Investment-based applicants, who fall under provisions that waive renunciation.

Renunciation mainly affects applicants going through the standard five-year naturalization who do not fit any exempt category. Even where Bulgaria does not require you to give up your existing passport, your home country’s laws may treat acquiring a new citizenship as automatic loss of the old one, so check the rules on your side before filing.

Tax Consequences to Know Before You Apply

Citizenship by itself does not make you a Bulgarian tax resident, but living in Bulgaria afterward almost certainly will. Under Article 4 of the Income Taxes on Natural Persons Act, you become a tax resident by spending more than 183 days in Bulgaria in any 12-month period or by having your center of vital interests — family, employment, property — in the country.³ Bulgarian tax residents are taxed on worldwide income at a flat 10 percent. Days of entry and exit each count as days of presence.

If Your Application Is Denied

A formal refusal from the Ministry of Justice can be challenged through Bulgaria’s administrative courts. The trickier scenario is a “silent refusal,” where the statutory deadline passes with no decision and no notification. Under Bulgarian administrative law, a silent refusal can be appealed within two months after the deadline lapses. Many applicants miss this window because they keep waiting for a letter that never comes.

If the Council on Citizenship requested additional documents during your review, remember that the clock paused for up to three months (one month in expedited cases). Track those pauses yourself so you know when the real deadline hits. If nothing has arrived by that adjusted date, treat it as a silent refusal and talk to a Bulgarian attorney about filing an administrative appeal promptly.

1
Legislationline. Bulgarian Citizenship Law
2
Global Citizenship Observatory. Bulgarian Citizenship Act
3
OECD. Bulgaria Information on Residency for Tax Purposes