Translation of the order of the Bulgarian Ministry of Tourism on the rules for crossing the border from May 1, 2021.

The friendly country of Bulgaria often hosts tourists from different countries who go on independent trips. And there are understandable reasons for this. In addition to the beautiful Black Sea beaches with soft sand and warm sea, the country is attractive for its architectural and historical heritage and ski resorts. When planning a trip, many people think about the need to obtain a visa. Bulgaria: do you need a visa, its types, required documents - these and other common questions are presented on Travel247.

Do Russians need a visa?

Do Russians need a visa?
Bulgaria is a state that is not a member of the Schengen Union, so obtaining a visa for entry is a prerequisite. There are several options:

1. Obtain a permit to visit Cyprus, Romania or Croatia, which allows you to freely enter and exit the territory of Bulgaria.
2. Schengen visa. If you have a valid document, then there will be no problems visiting Bulgaria.
3. Bulgarian visa. It is necessary if there is no Schengen. The procedure for obtaining it is easier and does not take much time. But there is one drawback - you cannot use it to visit other countries, with the exception of Romania and Cyprus.

Is Bulgaria included in Schengen

Many people are confused, believing that Schengen and the EU are the same thing. Therefore, people are sometimes surprised to learn that Bulgaria, being a member of the EU, is not part of the Schengen agreement. The borders of the European Union and Schengen coincide only partially. Joining the Schengen area is a priority for the country. Sofia took all necessary actions and has been waiting since 2011. But every year, despite numerous resolutions of the European Parliament calling on EU countries to accept Bulgaria, reasons for refusal are found.

In fact, the country is ready to join both at the legislative and technical level (ensuring technical criteria for the security of border control), but Bulgaria failed to achieve a unanimous positive decision from all EU member countries. This turned out to be a difficult matter.

Visa application

Documents for obtaining a visa to Bulgaria
To obtain a visa, you must ensure that you have the necessary documents:

1. Questionnaire. It is completed electronically and all specified data must be entered. Print in several copies.
2. International passport. You need to make a copy of the 1st page. Its validity period must be at least 90 days from the end of the trip.
3. Insurance. You can present a copy of your medical policy. It must be valid for the duration of the trip, the amount of coverage is at least 30 thousand euros.
4. Photo. Size – 3.5 by 4.5. Must be done on a light background. Paste it into the form in the appropriate field.
5. Papers indicating the tourist’s wealth (a document from the workplace about the amount of wages, a bank statement, a letter from a sponsor).
6. Confirmation of payment for hotel accommodation.
7. Certificate of criminal record for persons who have reached the age of majority.
8. Copies of plane or train tickets.

Fingerprinting is not necessary.

FAQ

How much does it cost to obtain a tourist visa?

The cost of a regular tourist visa is 35 euros.

Filling out the form

In the form, you must enter personal information about yourself (biography, passport data, residential address, contact information). Information is also required about the place of work, the purpose of visiting the Republic, the host party, and the source of income.

Tips for entering data:

• the surname is written in Latin letters as in a foreign document. The rest of the information can be provided in Bulgarian or Russian;
• Contact numbers are indicated with the country code.

The questionnaire also requires you to enter information about the planned number of days you will stay in the country. If the Republic is crossed in transit, then the total time must be indicated. For multiple resolution, the number of days is always 90.

To kid

Traveling to Bulgaria with a child
When applying for a visa for a child, you need to have a birth certificate with you (a copy is allowed). If the child is planning an independent trip or accompanied by one parent, then the following will be additionally required:

• a letter from the parents agreeing that the child is traveling alone (signed by a notary);
• if the child is traveling with his father or mother, then the notarized consent of the second parent is required.

Photo requirements

There are separate requirements for photography:

• size 35 by 45 mm;
• must be done no later than 6 months;
• the background is plain and white;
• The face takes up 75-80% of the entire photo.

The photo should be taken from the front, with the gaze directed at the camera. If a person is advised to wear glasses all the time, they should have clear glass so that the eyes are clearly visible. The presence of a headdress is permissible only for religious reasons.

Additional requirements

Tourism in Bulgaria
Additional documents may be requested to cross the border:

1. Visiting close relatives or friends. An invitation may be required, which must be signed at the State Migration Service.
2. Owners of property on the territory of the Republic, their family members and invited foreign citizens. Additional documents:

• a deed confirming the purchase of real estate, signed by a Bulgarian notary;
• paper confirming payment of taxes, if real estate or land was purchased more than 12 months ago and a foreign person needs a visa for a period of more than 1 year;
• confirmation of family ties (for close relatives of the property owner) or residence permit (for distant relatives or friends), signed by a notary.

1. Travel for business purposes. An invitation from a company located on the territory of the republic, a government agency or an entrepreneur, signed by the Bulgarian Migration Service.
2. Tourism. Confirmation of payment for hotel accommodation indicating all persons, copies of round-trip tickets.
3. Doing Business. A copy of the company opening certificate.
4. Study trip. A paper confirming enrollment in an educational institution (university, school), confirmation of tuition payment.
5. Work trip. Declaration from management, copy of the employment contract.
6. Participation in international events (competitions, cultural and scientific programs). Invitations from the person responsible for holding the competition or other events.
7. Marriage. A copy of the personal card of a citizen of the Republic, a marriage certificate (issued or approved in Bulgaria), an application from a citizen of the Republic on the maintenance and provision of living space.
8. Travel for medicinal purposes. A confirmation letter from a medical institution, a prescribed treatment or rehabilitation program, a judgment about the patient’s condition, signed by a specialist from the Republic of Belarus.

Will Bulgaria enter Schengen in 2021-2020? Last news

Until now, the question of Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen remains open. Disputes and discussions continue to this day. And this is not the fault of the country itself. The difficult situation with illegal migrants brought its own drop of ointment. The Bulgarian border is the external border of the EU countries in the south. Due to the unstable migration situation, some Schengen member states have introduced temporary border controls on their borders. Despite the fact that these restrictions received a negative assessment from the European Commission, the lifting of controls was postponed until the end of May 2021. Then it was planned to sign the Schengen Agreement with Bulgaria, but in a truncated form: the opening of only air and sea borders. Border controls at land borders will remain.

Joining Schengen will open up great opportunities for foreigners who have a residence permit, permanent residence permit or permanent residence permit in Bulgaria. This will allow them to move freely throughout the Schengen area. Currently they have to apply for Schengen visas.

How to register yourself

Embassy of Bulgaria in Moscow
The embassy of the state is loyal to Russians. A visa can only be refused if a serious mistake was made during the procedure or in completing the paperwork.

Official website of the consulate in Moscow

The easiest option is to send the papers yourself to the Bulgarian Embassy. This is especially true if you need to obtain a category D visa or plan to become a citizen of Bulgaria.

Urgently apply for a visa in other cities

To obtain a category C document, you can go to the Visa Center. There is no need to register in advance. You can bring your documents any day and submit them on a first-come, first-served basis.

Through a tour operator

If you go on a trip on a ready-made tour, then a travel agent will take care of obtaining a visa for a fee. When planning an independent trip, you can also use the services of tour operators.

Submitting documents and obtaining a visa to Bulgaria

Let us remember that if you are going on a trip to Bulgaria with a Schengen visa, which is already open, then you do not need to issue any additional entry documents. According to it, entry into Bulgaria is possible and absolutely free. If you are in the process of obtaining an internal visa to Bulgaria, then you can carry out the application process in two ways:

• Through a travel agency. This method is the most popular, since the tour operator takes on the bulk of the work. If you have children traveling with you, you must attach a birth certificate to the package of documents. The travel company is interested in doing everything in the best possible way, since they will take money from you for the services. But everything is done efficiently, reliably and quickly. The processing time for visa documents takes from 5 to 7 working days. If you need it faster, then 3 days, but it will cost more;
• Visa to Bulgaria on your own. In this case, you will need to do everything yourself. Official registration of a Bulgarian visa is carried out by the Consulate General of Bulgaria. But private individuals have no access there. It is not possible to submit documents for review via the Internet. That is why visa centers have been created in major cities of Russia where you can submit the collected documents. At the Visa Center they are checked for correctness and completion and sent for verification to the Consulate. Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg can boast of having visa issuing centers;
• St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg are cities of regional significance and only in them can you submit the necessary documents. They don't have pre-registration. You just need to go to the nearest city, for example, St. Petersburg, and submit documents for a visa on a first-come, first-served basis. It is easier to process documents through the St. Petersburg visa center. There is no need for all family members to appear there - one representative is enough, who will have a document confirming the relationship. For example, a marriage certificate. Also, documents can be submitted by the employer on behalf of his subordinates, as well as other authorized representatives.

The visa center performs a service collection of funds, which will be used to pay for the documents and consular fees. St. Petersburg and other cities have different prices in this regard.

Having arranged everything correctly, you will feel comfortable and calm throughout the entire trip.

Traveling to a country without a national document

Schengen visa
The national visa is not the only official permission to enter the territory of Bulgaria. Since the state plans to join the Schengen Union, it provides benefits for those who have a Schengen visa.

Question to the expert

If you have a Schengen visa, do you need to apply for a visa to travel to Bulgaria?

Holders of a Schengen visa can freely cross the country's border.

Visit with a Schengen document

A double or multiple entry visa is an alternative to a national document. A single-entry Schengen visa is not relevant in this case.

It allows you to stay in the country for up to 3 months in 6 months. Being on the territory of Bulgaria does not affect the number of possible crossings of Schengen countries.

On a note! The presence of a Bulgarian visa is not a basis for unhindered crossing of Schengen states.

Visit Croatia, Romania and Cyprus

Bulgaria has signed an agreement with these countries on a joint visa-free space. If you have a visa to visit one of these countries, then you can freely travel to Bulgaria.

What to consider if you intend to travel to Bulgaria with a Schengen visa in 2021

The Bulgarian government has officially announced that entry into the Schengen zone will occur no earlier than the second half of 2021. Until this point, the previous conditions of migration policy apply. Entry to Bulgaria in 2021 is possible with a single-entry Schengen visa or national permit. Having a multiple document allows you to freely stay in the country for three months every six months.

It is important to consider that Bulgaria is not part of Schengen, therefore entry into Bulgaria with a Schengen visa 2021 does not affect the length of the period of stay in other countries. But the maximum period of stay should not exceed the validity of the visa.

Other trip features:

• the foreign passport must be current and exceed the period of the Schengen visa by 3 months, as required by migration legislation;
• you must have health insurance with standard risk coverage without deductible, the minimum amount of compensation must be 35,000 euros;
• availability of a bank statement that confirms the traveler’s solvency for the trip, since it may be requested during passport control.

You can enter Bulgaria with a single-entry Schengen visa in 2021

Transit border crossing

Customs in Bulgaria
If a transit crossing of the state border is necessary, the traveler must issue a one-time document of category C. In order for it to be issued, it is necessary to confirm that the road through Bulgaria is the shortest to the required country.

In addition to the main list of papers, you will need to provide:

• visa to the country of destination;
• documents for the vehicle;
• a visual diagram of movement through the Republic.

Is it better to do Schengen right away?

The requirements for a Schengen visa are much more stringent than those of Bulgaria. In any case, you will have to visit the Visa Application Center and submit biometrics. Depending on the country of application, the package of required documents will change, but it will always be more voluminous than for Bulgaria. The cost of obtaining a Schengen visa is significantly higher than a Bulgarian visa. At the same time, the likelihood of being rejected is higher. From this we can conclude that if you decide to vacation in Bulgaria, then it is best to apply for a Bulgarian visa.