Over the last several years, Bulgaria has turned into the destination of choice of people willing to relocate to European countries with developing economies. Having a low taxation regime and the progressive advancement in the aspects of legislation and the opportunities to either launch business or to get good jobs, most of the foreigners, residing here, opted to take Bulgarian citizenship.
Bulgarian citizenship by natural law procedures
The Bulgarian citizenship can be applied for by foreigners in 2025 in several ways. These are:
- Naturalisation that belongs to the most frequent methods by which foreign citizens receive the full right to reside in Bulgaria.
- Origin, because it is given only to people who have Bulgarian relatives or ancestors.
- The place of birth is offered to children of foreign nationals who are born in this nation.
Regardless of the mechanism of acquisition of a passport, you desire, you have to fulfil the Bulgarian citizenship criteria which can be submitted by our attorneys.
Acquisition of Bulgarian citizenship by origin in 2025
Any person who has relatives (parents or grandparents who are still alive) and ancestors with whom they can demonstrate that they have a blood relationship is eligible for Bulgarian citizenship by origin.
This is not a rare way of getting citizenship in Bulgaria. However, when it comes to those people who have lived mostly of their lives in another country and lost touch with their Bulgarian relatives, it may take a long period to do all the formalities connected with locating their relatives.
To do this, you should demonstrate one of the following:
- You were a Bulgarian citizen, and you were adopted by alien citizens, and you lost your nationality.
- You were born overseas of at least one Bulgarian parent.
- You possess evidence of Bulgarian ethnicity.
The latter allows you to trace family relationships up to the third degree to apply for Bulgarian citizenship by origin. It implies that you can also claim a Bulgarian passport based on your connection with at least one of your great-grandparents.
Naturalisation as Bulgarian citizenship
A lot of foreigners who come to Bulgaria with the intention of moving in, do stay in the country long-term. By the time, they get to the period of getting permanent residency, in most occasions, citizenship is just a step away.
In 2025, they will be able to acquire citizenship of Bulgaria by naturalisation, provided that they fulfil any of the following criteria:
- They are without a criminal record.
- They are adequately endowed with money to sustain them.
- They speak Bulgarian and are well familiar with the Bulgarian culture.
- Foreigners who wish to receive Bulgarian citizenship through marriage may also qualify to receive citizenship after 3 years of residence in the country.
The list of documents that one has to present when applying to get citizenship in Bulgaria includes:
- The job application form.
- A new photograph.
- The record of crime.
- Application fee.
Individuals married to Bulgarian citizens should as well provide documents of changing their names, but in case they were married in Bulgaria, this document is not compulsory anymore.
Acquiring citizenship through marriage in Bulgaria
The Bulgarian Citizenship Act provides that a person who was legally married to a Bulgarian citizen for at least 3 years, and who is still married at the time of the filing of the application for naturalisation, can acquire Bulgarian citizenship through marriage. Naturalised individuals agree to take up all the responsibilities of being Bulgarian. As Bulgaria is a country that is a member of the EU, its residents are EU citizens as well, and thus they enjoy the free movement across the EU.
How can you acquire citizenship faster
The fastest means of getting a passport is through ancestry, but this is relative since there are no waiting times in the eyes of the law. But in this case, the problems are other ones. The acquisition of Bulgarian citizenship by origin is done in two steps. Those who lost their connections to Bulgaria and have to get the ancestry certificate might have more difficulties,The marriage is one of the quickest routes to Bulgarian citizenship and the passport can be granted just 3 years after arrival. The foreign citizens who marry Bulgarian citizens can also use the services of our lawyers to prepare the required documents, addressing the Ministry of Justice with the application.
Bulgarian Citizenship by merit
The Bulgarian Citizenship Act also permits individuals to acquire Bulgarian citizenship through extraordinary contributions, as stated in Section 16. The merit-based acquisition can use the faster naturalisation process because the candidates are exempt from certain standard requirements. An individual can acquire Bulgarian citizenship when he/she has exceptionally contributed to Bulgaria in areas such as public and economic life, science and technology, culture or sports. The merit-based acquisition process has a significantly less time-consuming schedule in comparison with the customary naturalisation procedure. The Minister of Justice is supposed to give a proposal in 3 months instead of the usual 12 months.
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