Travelling to Bulgaria

Hi,
You can as long as you travel to a green country first and then take a second flight from there even the next day. I travelled from Manchester to Budapest and after 2 days took a 2nd flight from Budapest to Sofia. All they asked for was either proof of vaccination or negative PCR test.

Can I ask when you did this please?

This was last week. To be precise on 25th of September

My understanding was that entry is now possible to enter straight from uk as long as you have your certificate of vaccination or proof of recovery from COVID-19?

You cannot enter from the UK directly unless you fulfil an exemption. Sadly owning a property does not qualify, I am in the same position. The advice from the Embassy was to stay in another country for ten days.
Clearly, others are gaining entry much sooner but I personally would not risk this.
Good luck.

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/b … countries/

OK, so the bit that caught my eye was

REGARDLESS OF THE ORIGIN COUNTRY

"However, regardless of the origin country, travellers who have been previously vaccinated, recovered from the virus, and those with a negative test result for COVID-19 in the recent hours, are allowed to enter Bulgaria free of entry quarantine and testing requirements. The same rule applies to all EU Digital COVID-19 Certificate holders."

FREE OF ENTRY QUARANTINE....

Or am I missing something?

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….. 8. What are the requirements for the document showing a negative result of a test that persons arriving from countries in the red zone can provide to the border health control to enter the country?

A valid EU digital COVID test certificate or similar document, which must be submitted by persons arriving from countries in the red zone, must certify a negative result from a polymerase chain reaction test conducted up to 72 hours before entry into the country from the date of sampling entered in the document. The document must contain the names of the person written in Latin, according to the identity document with which he travels, date of birth, type of test, written in Latin method (PCR) and negative result (Negative), date and time of collection of the test sample, name of the laboratory / medical establishment that performed the test, country in which the test was performed and authority that issued the certificate / document, and for the EU certificate - and its unique identifier.

As per most Ministry of Health notices, it’s as clear as mud and a little disjointed. I’d argue that most custom officers are in the same boat as us in the clarity of policy ! Present a certificate and then go on in.

So if I have my double vaccination I don’t need a PCR test?

There's so much contradictory information! Even in the one article, one paragraph seems to contradict the paragraph above! Most non-official articles floating around mix up the rules for those with EU residency entering from a red country with non EU citizens entering from a red country.

If you read the official Bulgarian document EVTRA linked to and denerobt quotes, there's a list of those under section 3 who can enter Bulgaria from red zone countries. Unless you already have Bulgarian residency or EU citizenship, most Brits won't meet the requirements on the list and will not be allowed in. I read the section 8 denerobt quoted as ONLY applying to those who are permitted to enter from a red zone country, not to anyone from a red zone country.

It still reads to me like the most reliably safe way is to go in via Romania. But as the rules are so complex and many of the border control people won't know just how to interpret them, it may be that chancing direct travel from the UK with a vaccine certificate and a PCR might be enough to get you in. Depends how high your risk tolerance of being disallowed entry is.

jbpolly, whichever way you try, I hope you get in safely!

Thank you for all your advice. I think it just looks like we will have to forget it for this year. Not brave enough to risk getting there, then been turned away at the airport. I wish we were, but it would be just our luck!
If anyone else wants to post their experiences, I would be pleased to hear them. Maybe make us braver!

There are a lot of threads on this and quite a few who have entered Bg from the UK successfully, either directly or via another country. If you scroll through the threads, you'll see plenty of reports of people reaching Bg.
I'm a bit like you - reluctant to try unless I know I'll succeed. Convincing hubby he and the kitties can survive without me for a week or two will be a tough enough job to start with, I want to be sure I can actually see the shack if I go, and I wouldn't be able to spend time hanging around in another country first!
But the route in via Romania sounds reasonably reliable - no one who tried has reported being turned away.

Would that mean staying in Romania, and how long for? Would it have to be 2 weeks?

So you didn’t need both? I am double vaccinated.
I don’t have residency or aD visa x

Just seen this….

https://sofiaglobe.com/2021/10/08/covid … -red-list/

That's very interesting thank you so much!
Can we travel then? Sorry if I am appearing thick. I've read it 3 times now, I'm still not sure I understand it all

It's the usual Bulgarian ministry way of disseminating information, but yes, we can now fly in as long as we have our certificates of vaccination or covid recovery.

For all those who've yet to have your booster jab....be prepared to feel unwell for a week afterwards. I'm sure there'll be people who are fine, but speaking from experience (and I had no adverse reactions from the 2 astrazenica jabs) it's a real humdinger of a knock.

Goodness, big changes! Thanks for sharing the article. Good thing they're now letting Brits in no matter where we fly from, because Romania is no red zoned, too!

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Thanks for the warning about booster..we are due ours in november.
Are you planning to go to Bulgaria soon then? We have got so many family commitments now, thinking that we wouldn't get over to Bulgaria this year! Don't know wether to try and squeeze a week in if we can,  just to put our mind at rest about our house

Yes, we’re off by the end of November. We’re sneaking a trip in before then to get the house ready for our stuff being delivered and any bits that need doing fairly quickly.
Treat yourself to a trip over jbpolly123 - call it an early Christmas present 🎁

Oh! Sounds like you are going permanently!
Wow lucky you. Our plan when we retired, was to go for months at a time. We had flights booked for our first visit, then covid hit....the rest is history. Will probably take your advice and go. Good luck with your trips, and your move

P.S where you moving to?

Just 30 minutes north of Veliko Tarnovo- little place called Dolna Lipnitsa. Peace and quiet with none of our kids there to ask what's for tea 

hello denerobt
we have a place in Klimentovo, just about 8 miles from you.
With this change to travel we might now get over this month and or november, been 13 months since last able to go.
Hope your move goes well,

LOL, you think the kids won't visit and still expect you to make tea?

This change in the rules is such a positive thing for many of us.

So positive! We are flying out a week today to finally move into our new home! All of our furniture etc is there & now finally we can go 😃

Grinning for you! So exciting! I hope it all works out beautifully with minimal hiccups.

finally got over to Bulgaria last saturday from uk.
had to re apply for residency cards as mine ran out in July and wife's card was still at Kat office but out of date.
In Kat office on Monday, Wednesday wife get photo and fingerprints done, Friday we picked up our cards and now sorted till 2026.

Kat office?

Might not be correct office name but in Veliko Tarnovo where you sort out car registration the immigration office is within the same group of buildings and the ex pats we know all call it the Kat office.

Glad you both got that sorted out, Mick. 

Hello please can you tel me what Kat means and how much was it to renew your residency card.  Thank you

Hello Faculty
By the name Kat is the department for registering/taxing cars.
The immigration office I used was within the same complex of buildings as the Kat office so the ex pats I know call the whole complex the Kat office.
Regards to cost to renew, not sure if done prior to expiry date what the cost would be, but as ours had expired the total cost was 43.50 levs each, equates to £20 roughly.

Is that including the import tax? If it is, I’m all in for this

Remember that what Mick paid only applies to someone who is renewing an existing Bulgarian residency card obtained pre-Brexit. The process and cost is entirely different for any Brit or other non-EU citizen who needs to get the D visa as part of the post-Brexit path to residency!

Chris you ask about import tax?
Dont understand what the import tax would be for.

As janemulberry  says, its all changed since brexit for non eu citizens.
Forgot to mention I have an Irish passport so the D visa does not apply to me.
My main issue was not been able to travel from UK (thats where I live), to renew before my previous residency card expired.

Could you not have gone via northern ireland and then RoI?