Introduction and moving to Plovdiv

Hi All
after two and a half years retired in Hua Hin Thailand I’ve decided that Plovdiv looks like a better fit for me, so I will be moving there in April. Although the winter looks like a definite no no from me. - @Brianandrews08

Your profile says youre English, so have you started the visa process yet? Have you visited Bulgaria before?

@Brianandrews08

Welcome to Plovdiv! Nice city and mild climate. We don`t see so much snow, so you`ll definitely like it.

Oh nice choice. Although why not have best of both worlds..Bulgaria for the summer and some months in the tropics in the winter.

Plovdiv is a wonderful city, good choice! You will definitely notice the change from Thailand!

We're over in the northeast corner, near the Romanian border, very different landscape, no mountains. Winters here are cold, but so far we haven't experienced anything significantly worse than British winters. The two weeks when the snow stayed down were lovely, so crisp and bright!

@SIMCityAT raises a very good point -- Unless you already have an EU passport or five year residency in another EU country, or already obtained Bulgarian residency before Brexit, you'll need to apply for a D visa to start the residency process. Otherwise, it's just 90 days here per 180.

The pensioner route is one of the easiest, but expect it to take at least a couple of months obtaining the necessary paperwork, getting it apostilled, notarised, and/or translated. More likely, three months, unless you pay a lot extra to get the documents expedited. And depending where you apply, it's likely to be two or three more months getting the application in and getting approval. Paying an immigration lawyer would make the process far easier, but not necessarily much faster.

If you don't already have a sure route to residency and haven't started the D visa process yet, don't leave it too much longer to begin!

@janemulberry

I don’t really have any idea how to go about it, thought I had plenty of time

@Zooldrool

That’s definitely the plan if it works with residency and British state pension requirements

@Vasilev

I hope to be able to avoid the winter months if possible

@SimCityAT

No and no but my AI chat bot assures me that it’s perfect for me

Brian, whether you have plenty of time or not depends where you intend to apply and how much delay is likely due to waiting for paperwork, especially anything from the UK government, most of which will then need to be apostilled and translated into Bulgarian.

First step would be to contact the Bulgarian consulate in Thailand to find out if you can apply there or if you'll need to apply in London. Some less busy embassies may be able to process applications faster, but  have heard of people living somewhere else being told they need to apply in the country of their passport.

The page about the D visa requirements on the London Embassy site is poorly laid out, but all the information about the various types of D visa and the associated requirements are there. Some are quite complicated, so as you have a pension, just focus on that one!  https://www.bgconsullondon.co.uk/long-t … a-bulgaria

My understanding is that you need to spend more than half your time in Bulgaria to maintain residency status, but a few months a year somewhere else probably wouldn't affect it.

But, seriously, I hope the never having visited and the AI chatbot thing was a joke! Bulgaria seems to be like Marmite, people either hate it or love it. The AI chatbot isn't the one who will be living here.

@Brianandrews08

I would certainly visit the country fitst, bwfore putting the time and effort in getting a visa. But that is just me. You also have this forum, to shoot off questions. You'll find that majority of the members here are retired or close to retiring so they will only be glad to share the pitfalls they experienced.

What @SIMCityAT said!

You can't move here without the D visa, but it seems to me unwise to start that process without visiting first. Getting the visa is time consuming and expensive, even if you do it yourself. I probably spent the equivalent of 600 GBP, on obtaining documents, apostilles, translations, and then applying. Using an immigration lawyer makes the process easier but then could cost as much as 2000 GBP.

Then there's signing up for a rental contract (you will need to be able to prove you have somewhere to live as part of the application for the visa), the move, settling into a completely new country with a completely different language and culture....

This forum has seen many people come in with high hopes of a new life who leave angry and disillusioned because they just can't adjust to how very different Bulgaria is to western Europe. You may love it here, as many of us do, or at least, find it tolerable enough to stay. Or you may hate it and lose quite a lot of money and effort to discover that.

But if you're able to live out of a suitcase and plan to come and stay for the permitted visa-free 90 days to find out if you like Bulgaria and Plovdiv, THEN return to either the UK or some other non-EU country to do your D visa application (it can't be done in Bulgaria), that is far more likely to make for a successful move. Deciding to move here without visiting and researching the residency requirements first unfortunately has more chance of not working well.

There are people here who know the country and the legalities, so now is the time to ask questions and make a workable plan!

@janemulberry

Thank you so much for taking the time.

Going back to London was not really in my plans but if that’s what’s required I suppose I’d better factor it in. Doing anything in Thailand has always been problematic for me as Bangkok just doesn’t seem to agree with me.

The thing is I don’t really want to go back to Europe before the weather becomes a bit more acceptable to my ageing bones, hence the April objective. But I usually find a way.

And no it wasn’t a joke, I’m excited by a challenge.

@SimCityAT

I’m afraid learning the hard way is my default setting but I may consider a more sensible approach this time as I seem to be getting quite a few warnings 😲

@janemulberry

This post has opened my eyes a lot wider for sure, I will take it under advisement

Brian, it's wise to start thinking about all this now! I obviously love Bulgaria, as does my husband. But there are still plenty of challenges and frustrations. At least by planning to move to a large city you are likely to encounter more expats and English speaking Bulgarians, which may help make the transition easier.

If you aren't able to come here till April (it's cold here already, with snow in the mountains, so if you don't like winter, that might be wise!) consider coming for a shorter stay first to decide if it's right for you.  Read some of the threads here from former members who didn't like Bulgaria, and consider whether their problems with being here might also be problems for you. Once you feel satisfied you could live here, then start the process for the visa application. You don't need to be in London for the whole thing, just to put in your application documents and then a return eight weeks or so later to get the visa entered into your passport. Once you have that, it's back to Bulgaria to apply for residency, which is good for a year, then reapplication needs to be made yearly in Bulgaria. The D visa is a once only process, thankfully!

If you are sure you want to move here and want to have the visa already in your passport when you do, the first step might be to check with the Bulgarian Consulate in Bangkok if they are able to accept D visa applications. Chances are that's a no, they're processed through the regional embassy in Vietnam, but it's always worth trying the more local option first. So it might be easier to do the application in London anyway.

You will need to gather all the required paperwork for the pensioner D visa application first, get the documents that need it apostilled and then translated by an official translator and then notarised, which may take a few months. Wen I applied for the appointment to submit the application, there was a six week wait for appointments, so don't do what I did and wait till you have all the documents to make the appointment! Then it's at least a six week wait for the visa approval and a quick trip back to the Embassy to get it entered into your passport.

I only get to spend half my time where as I am still waiting for my D visa after starting collecting paperwork in April! But I applied for the most complicated type of D visa,trying to move full time sooner without having to wait for my pension. The pensioner route is far easier, but definitely will take several months.