Bulgaria and the UK

What is meant by long term residence? This is my third year of residence is that long term?

I'm in the process of buying a property, so where does that mean for me?

Thanks for posting, SIMCITY. I hadn't heard.
Here is the UK government's info on this: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advic … quirements
It looks as if vaccination makes no difference. I was hoping to travel to Bg in September, after my second shot,  to complete a house purchase. But that might not be an option now.
John, from what I read, if you have a residence card, that should be enough.

dw, buying property was an accepted reason to travel FROM the UK when it was locked down for outbound travel, but it doesn't appear to be one of the exemptions that Bulgaria will accept to allow us in. 

Hi, so we have lost our properties not to mention money??

You need to check with the estate agent, and maybe double check on the Bulgarian government immigration website to see if there's any way you can get in. But with quarantine requirements and everything else, it might make it hard to do what you hoped, anyway.

I imagine that agents who deal with international buyers will be able to handle the situation - either delay the purchase until travel is possible, or help you set up power of attorney so the purchase can proceed without you being there.

I'm here in BG right now after buying our house, flew in last week & back to uk tomorrow.
Am supposed to move out permanently in September but now who knows when we will be back 😵‍💫

@Johnkwt

"long-term residents"

I think this means anyone with an official BG residence permit (including short-term, 5 year EU ones, and permanent residence), rather than how long you've been living in Bulgaria.

dw9028692 wrote:

Hi, so we have lost our properties not to mention money??

I'm not sure you have lost the property or money. It would possibly depend on how far along in the process you are in.

Austria has a ban on people from the UK visiting unless they are citizens or residents until 1st September.

With the number of cases increasing in the UK (54,674 new coronavirus cases and 41) quite possibly other countries will follow.

Johnkwt wrote:

What is meant by long term residence? This is my third year of residence is that long term?

Do you hold a residency card?

@dw9028692

"we have lost our properties not to mention money??"

Well, it simply means that, for the moment, it's harder to get into Bulgaria, unless you hold a BG passport or BG residence permit.

It shouldn't affect your money at all.

If you've already purchased a property, it won't affect that either.

If you're in the process of buying a property, then you can't come to sign in person. You'll have to give your attorney or realtor (or a friend already in BG) a POA instead.

The hardest thing about a POA is having someone trustworthy to give it to! You'll need a suitable POA document (usually in Bulgarian with an English translation), and then get it notarized at the BG embassy in London. (Or, instead, at your local British notary, followed by sending it to be "legalized" at the Legalisation Office in London.)

If you don't have a residence permit, and need to do something in Bulgaria now, you have 2 options:

1. Make a Bulgarian Power of Attorney, apostille it, and send to your attorney (I have once done that in the UK for Lithuania, and it worked)
2. Travel to a third country, stay there for 10 (or 14?) days, then go to BG. The measures are not against Brits, they against people coming from the UK, or having been there recently.

@Mel1702

"after buying our house"

Congratulations!

Yeah apologies people lack of sleep equals panic!! Lol basically it's a matter of time and like you said POA. Thanks everyone 😊. Hope everyone is well and safe. I do have a question about the cost of building materials over there, is it the same or cheeper?

@sogy

1. Yes, that's a good suggestion! But... just a teeny detail... it's no longer an "apostille", but many call it that. It's actually "legalization" and is done at the Legalization Office in London (mail in service available). But it has to be notarized first at your local UK notary. Alternatively, you can go sign it at the BG Embassy in London, and then it doesn't need legalization (BG Embassy equivalent to BG notary). Embassy is cheaper too.

2. Yes, indeed, that sounds like a very cunning plan! You'll need PCR test before travelling probably. I think it will be easier to fly to a nearby country that allows Brits (maybe Greece or Turkey?) for a summer vacation before coming here. But with multiple PCR tests it might be possible to do a slow drive across Europe.

gwynj wrote:

2. Yes, indeed, that sounds like a very cunning plan!

Things are changing at a fast pace again, so BEFORE you do travel make sure you know any restrictions in place.

@dw9028692

And... breathe... :-)

"same or cheaper?"

building materials cheaper... labour cheaper... bills cheaper... food cheaper... property taxes cheaper... almost everything cheaper. :-)

minimum salary here is about 600 leva... or about 270 quid (a month).

UK National Living Wage, for workers aged 23 or over, is currently £8.91. That's about 311 quid a week.

That will give you a good idea of what you need to live here, and how much cheaper it is.

We left POA with our estate agent and used their lawyer when we bought our house last year knowing travel might not be possible when the documents were ready. It took so much stress away.

I trusted him completely, we had spoken several times before I even went to BG, and I knew instantly when we met my instincts were right.

Just FYI...

You can get documents legalized for use in Bulgaria at the Legalisation Office, London.

https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised

You can do this for issued documents such as birth or marriage certificates or degrees.

For power of attorney and similar documents, you need to get them notarized first (at any UK notary).

[Post deleted]

Regards to entry for long term residency card holders.
My and my partners cards have expired less than 1 month ago and also my partners card is still at the Kat office, did not have time to collect before return to UK last year.
Due to covid restrictions we could not travel back to Bulgaria to renew our cards.
Can we still enter Bulgarian with my expired card and show documentation that we are cohabitating as a couple as we are not married.
I am an EU national whilst my missus is UK national, we live in UK.
We have flights booked for 29th July but dont want to take a chance and get refused entry or boarding flight when we could alter our flights through easyjet for later dates.

@mickg

The issue isn't your residence card, it's that the UK is now in the Red Zone, so you can't get a direct flight from the UK.

If you can get a flight to a Green Zone transit country (e.g. Germany), you could spend 2 weeks there before flying on to Bulgaria.

Although he UK is now listed as Red Zone, direct flights are still available, Easyjet flying out from Manchester to Sofia 2 x a week, their website still showing this as the case.
The UK embassy in Sofia replied to us last week that to their knowledge only valid residency cards are acceptable for entry, I think risky to try with out of date one.
You are correct as to flying to a Green Zone transit and staying 2 weeks but realistically the country in question would need o have the UK as a Green Zone and be on Bulgaria's Green list.

Holding our breathe at the moment. Supposed to be moving out to BG at the end of September. If the UK is still red then can we visit another country for a couple of weeks & gain entry that way legally? Not ideal but looking at all options

Mel1702 wrote:

Holding our breathe at the moment. Supposed to be moving out to BG at the end of September. If the UK is still red then can we visit another country for a couple of weeks & gain entry that way legally? Not ideal but looking at all options

Mel, I really do feel for you. Are you in contact with the Embassy?  Mabe, there are in a way to get around this?

Send me a PM and I will look for ýou.

SimCityAT
Expat Team

Bulgaria made a change (from July 29) to the admission rules for Red zone countries (which now includes UK):

"From Thursday, July 29, Bulgarian citizens, persons with the status of permanent, long-term or long-term residence in Bulgaria and their family members, EU and EEA citizens, etc., arriving from a country falling into the red zone, are admitted to the country at presentation of a valid EU digital COVID certificate for vaccination or a similar document containing the same data and a negative result from a PCR test conducted up to 72 hours before entry into Bulgaria, certified by a valid EU digital COVID certificate for testing or a similar document containing the same data. This was ordered by the Minister of Health Dr. Stoycho Katsarov with his order issued today, July 27.

Bulgarian citizens and persons with the status of permanent, long-term or long-term residence in Bulgaria and their family members who do not present a valid digital EU COVID vaccination certificate or similar document containing the same data, as well as a negative result of up to 72 hours before entry into the country PCR test, are allowed in the country and are placed under a 10-day quarantine."

If you don't have a residence permit, then you could fly to a Green zone country (e.g. Germany), hang out for 14 days (as mentioned in the Bulgarian heallth entry form), before continuing to Bulgaria.

It's very tempting - using an intermediary country. Not sure 3 weeks off work would go down well right now 

Yes its ridiculous, I now cant get to go out and check on my house and my car.
Double vacinated and Covid free but cant enter the country!!!!

keitht wrote:

Yes its ridiculous, I now cant get to go out and check on my house and my car.
Double vacinated and Covid free but cant enter the country!!!!

Why?

Well, biten the bullet. Staying in Bucharest for 2 weeks then entering BG after 14 days.
Hopefully without any issues !
A tonne of paperwork to prepare - passanger locator forms in both English and Romanian / Bulgarian.
Don't forget pre book tests so you can get back to UK.

keitht wrote:

Yes its ridiculous, I now cant get to go out and check on my house and my car.
Double vacinated and Covid free but cant enter the country!!!!

Same situation. Car been stuck there since Jan 2020, house I have not seen except in photos for the same time and a ski flat costing a fair bit in service charges that I cannot use.
September flight has been cancelled so I do not think any early lifting is likely!

When are you off? Let me know how you get on please! Mel

Hi there,
Flying out on Thursday to Bucharest. Double jabbed so everything OK to enter. Printed off and downloaded to our phones the covid certificates needed.
On the 4th September we fly to Sofia from bucharest and have pre booked our lateral flow tests tests for 3 days before we return to UK.

I think I've got everything covered- bit of a pain but st least we can get sorted.

Fingers crossed for you both!

Hope it works out! Please keep us informed!

Please keep us updated! We are going to be attempting the same thing but with 4 small children. Good luck 🤞

I have a Question please: my friend has a Bulgarian residency card, can she travel to the UK or will she need a visa?