Registering a birth in Bulgaria

Registering the birth of our children was easy but a bit weird for me. I gave birth at the hospital and the staff filled out some documents (name, sex etc). My husband then had to take these documents to the obshtina to get a birth certificate and EGN issued before I was allowed to check out of the hospital. I have to wonder how single mothers manage this. Also, not sure how it is if both parents are foreigners.

We then made an appointment at the US embassy, took my son's Bulgarian birth certificate, my passport, residence card, and my husband's ID card (and my husband) to register the birth in the US. We got a passport for our son at the time, as well as a social security card. It was an easy process, although not fun to travel with an infant to sofia from varna. With our daughter we are waiting to register her birth with the embassy until she is a little older.

Yes, they get dual citizenship.

As a side note- because we are married and because my husband is Bulgarian, we were required to follow the naming laws (father's name as a middle name and father's last name as the family name). It made us unhappy, but no matter who we asked, the only way to get around it was to either get a divorce or to change our kid's name in court after they were released from the hospital.

My daughter was born here a year ago.  We are both british and unmarried (though after 17 years we have lasted longer than some marriages   ) Anyway, because we are unmarried we could not put my partners surname on the birth certificate.  Should we wish to we had to go to a solicitor etc etc and so she remains in my surname.  In addition, she is still an 'immigrant' like myself and does not have dual nationality.  Once signed, it took a month to get the official registration (nice and pink) which then had to be translated and sent to Sofia to confirm correct translation - I forget the official title.  There were a fair few issues with getting her a british passport!!! Hope this helps