Permanent residence status

The Permanent residence permit is issued for an indefinite period.

The procedure is carried out before the „Migration“ Directorate of the Ministry of Interior (MoI). The documents are reviewed and approved by the Directorate. The Permenant residence permit contains a favourable written opinion provided by the State Agency for National Security (SANS).

The terms and conditions, as well as the legal grounds for obtaining a permanent residence status are exhaustively listed in Article 25 of the  Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act, as follows: 

• Foreigners who made investments in the country by contributing a certain amount of capital to Bulgarian trade companies; 
• Foreign persons of Bulgarian descent;
• Foreigners who have been married to a Bulgarian citizen for more than 5 years and have been continuously resided in Bulgaria for the last 5 years;
• Parents of a dependent Bulgarian citizen, when they provide maintenance due by law; 
• Foreigners who have been legally and continuously resided within the last 5 years in the Republic of Bulgaria; 
• Minors, abandoned by their parent/s who are foreign citizen/s, etc.  

The terms and conditions, as well as the procedure for issuing Permanent Residence Permit are set out in Article 34-46 of the Regulations for Application of the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act.

Any refusal to issue permit may be appealed under the rules of the Bulgarian Administrative Procedure Code.