History and regulations of Bulgarian citizenship
Bulgarian Citizenship Act
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Coat_of_arms_of_Bulgaria.svg/170px-Coat_of_arms_of_Bulgaria.svg.png) |
|
-
An Act relating to Bulgarian citizenship
|
Enacted by
| Government of Bulgaria
|
---|
Status:
Current legislation
|
Bulgarian nationality law
is governed by the
Constitution of Bulgaria
(article 25 and 26) of 1991 and the citizenship law of 1999 (with changes made in various years through to 2009).
[1]
It is mainly based on
jus sanguinis
; however, it is possible to obtain citizenship after 5 years of residence in
Bulgaria
.
[2]
Naturalisation is available on the basis of residence in certain types of status; marriage or on the basis of origin or at the discretion of the government of Bulgaria to persons of merit. The Bulgarian Ministry of Justice is in charge of processing citizenship applications.
Every Bulgarian citizen is also a citizen of the
European Union
.
Acquisition of Bulgarian citizenship
[
edit
]
Bulgarian citizenship can be acquired in the following ways:
- Jus sanguinis
: By descent from a Bulgarian citizen if at least one or both of the parents or grandparents or great-grandparents is or was a Bulgarian citizen;
- Jus soli
: By birth in Bulgaria (unless citizenship of another country has been acquired by descent), or a child found in Bulgaria whose parents are unknown;
- By naturalisation in Bulgaria: If the applicant:
- is 18 or older;
- has been a holder of a long-term or permanent residence permit for at least 5 years, or 3 years if the applicant is married to a Bulgarian national, was born in Bulgaria, or settled in the country before the age of 18;
- has not been convicted of a premeditated crime;
- has a source of income or a trade and can financially support themselves;
- has a good command of the
Bulgarian language
.
Dual citizenship
[
edit
]
Bulgaria permits dual citizenship only for native-born citizens, citizens of the
EU
,
EEA
and
Switzerland
, countries in a reciprocity agreement with Bulgaria, as well as spouses of Bulgarian citizens. Naturalised citizens who do not belong to at least one of the aforementioned groups, are required to give up all other nationalities.
[3]
Those who previously renounced their Bulgarian citizenship are allowed to get it reinstated. Some countries do not permit multiple citizenship e.g. adults who have acquired Bulgarian and
Japanese citizenship
by birth must declare, to the latter's
Ministry of Justice
, before turning 22, which citizenship they want to keep.
Citizenship of the European Union
[
edit
]
Since Bulgaria is member of the
European Union
, Bulgarian citizens are also
citizens of the European Union
under
European Union law
and thus have the right of
freedom of movement within the EU
and
have the right to vote
in
elections
for the
European Parliament
.
[4]
When in a non-EU country where there is no Bulgarian embassy or representation, Bulgarian citizens have the right to receive consular protection from the embassy of any other EU country present in that third country.
[5]
[6]
Bulgarian citizens can live and work in any country within the
EU
and
EFTA
as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in
Article 21 of the EU Treaty
.
[7]
Travel freedom of Bulgarian citizens
[
edit
]
Visa requirements for Bulgarian citizens
Bulgaria
Freedom of movement
Visa free
Visa issued upon arrival
eVisa
Visa available both on arrival or online
Visa required prior to arrival
Visa requirements for Bulgarian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of
Bulgaria
. In 2015, Bulgarian citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 150 countries and territories, ranking the Bulgarian passport 18th in the world according to the
Visa Restrictions Index
.
In 2017, the Bulgarian nationality is ranked twenty-sixth in the
Nationality Index
(QNI). This index differs from the
Visa Restrictions Index
, which focuses on external factors including travel freedom. The QNI considers, in addition to travel freedom, on internal factors such as peace & stability, economic strength, and human development as well.
[8]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Bulgarian Citizenship Act"
. Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria, London
. Retrieved
6 August
2012
.
- ^
"Чуждите, които искат да са наши"
. CETA. Archived from
the original
on 9 September 2012
. Retrieved
18 July
2012
.
- ^
"ЗАКОН ЗА БЪЛГАРСКОТО ГРАЖДАНСТВО"
. Lex.bg - Закони, правилници, конституция, кодекси, държавен вестник, правилници по прилагане.
- ^
"Bulgaria"
. European Union
. Retrieved
4 May
2015
.
- ^
Article 20(2)(c) of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
.
- ^
Rights abroad: Right to consular protection
: a right to protection by the diplomatic or consular authorities of other Member States when in a non-EU Member State, if there are no diplomatic or consular authorities from the citizen's own state (Article 23): this is due to the fact that not all member states maintain embassies in every country in the world (14 countries have only one embassy from an EU state).
Antigua and Barbuda
(UK),
Barbados
(UK),
Belize
(UK),
Central African Republic
(France),
Comoros
(France),
Gambia
(UK),
Guyana
(UK),
Liberia
(Germany),
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
(UK),
San Marino
(Italy),
Sao Tome and Principe
(Portugal),
Solomon Islands
(UK),
Timor-Leste
(Portugal),
Vanuatu
(France)
- ^
"Treaty on the Function of the European Union (consolidated version)"
(PDF)
. Eur-lex.europa.eu
. Retrieved
2015-07-10
.
- ^
"The 41 nationalities with the best quality of life"
.
www.businessinsider.de
. 2016-02-06. Archived from
the original
on 2018-12-09
. Retrieved
2018-09-10
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
By continent
| Africa
| |
---|
Americas
| |
---|
Asia
| |
---|
Europe
| |
---|
Oceania
| |
---|
International
organizations
| |
---|
|
---|
By procedure
| |
---|
By result
| |
---|
Defunct
| |
---|
|