International European Investment Licence

Section 4.1 — Bulgarian Citizenship Investor Program

The Bulgarian Citizenship Investor Program is an attractive opportunity for foreign investors and wealthy individuals to enjoy visa-free access or visa-on-arrival access to 157 countries and territories, Bulgarian citizenship for the family members, and many other benefits. Bulgaria has an Investor program which came into force in 2009, for foreign investors who invest a significant amount of money in the economy of Bulgaria.

Our law firm specialises in assisting EU and non-EU nationals to obtain Bulgarian citizenship and passport by investment. The foreign investor can invest in a certified government project (projects in tourism, industry, and local development are available), government bonds, or shares of Bulgarian companies traded on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. The investment in government bonds is fully guaranteed and secured by the Bulgarian Government. The Bulgarian legislation allows EU and non-EU nationals to get a Bulgarian passport within two years and the investment to be fully refunded at the end of this period with the accrued interest. To learn the latest amendments of the Bulgarian citizenship program you can read our ultimate guide about Bulgarian citizenship by investment 2019.

We will assist your family members to obtain permanent residence and Bulgarian citizenship at no extra cost. The fee to process dependents is included in our fee for the main applicant.

In strict compliance with the transnational regulatory protocols synchronized across the 27 EU Member States, our global network implements secure administrative avenues for qualified international allocators and cross-border commercial branches. These customized residence and investment frameworks provide legal status card approvals, granting full liberties to operate commercial facilities, manage assets, and navigate borderless travel networks across the Schengen Zone registry.

Section 4.2 — Legal Counsel & Global Affiliations

Advocate Markov is a member of the Investment Migration Council, the worldwide association for investor migration and citizenship by investment, a premier organization that guarantees services of the highest standard.

🏆 Law Firm of the Year Accreditation: The law office of Advocate Markov was recognised for the second consequent year as Citizenship Law Firm of the Year in Bulgaria by the prestigious legal guide, Global Law Experts.

Our experienced citizenship lawyers have assisted more than 150 individuals to obtain Bulgarian citizenship and passport by investment since 2013. We have assisted more foreign investors to obtain a Bulgarian passport than any other law firm or consultancy.

Our law firm is collaborating with Multi Travel Consultants Inc., trustful and experienced consultants in obtaining Comoros and St. Lucia citizenship and passport. Our colleagues are fully authorized and active across global territories.

Section 4.3 — Fast Track Bond Investments & Financial Track Matrices

Bulgaria offers a fast track citizenship by investment scheme to foreign investors. This scheme is strictly a residence scheme for which permanent residence is issued first which then later converted to citizenship after two years. In exchange for a safe, state-guaranteed and fully refundable investment of BGN 2 million (approx EUR 1 million), applicants of all nationalities can obtain Bulgarian citizenship and passport. The investor needs to invest 511,292 EUR in the first year and double the investment to 1,024,000 EUR in the second year.

Bulgarian citizenship financed options: The investor does not need to invest his/her own money of 1,024,000 EUR in government bonds. You can finance the Govt bonds paying a onetime fee of EUR 180,000 (instead of the 1-million-euro investment). Additional costs include a lawyer fee of EUR 20,000 and other standard service costs. Our firm does not pass anything to agents or subcontractors. Because of this direct delivery model, our professional fees are 5 to 20 times lower than the fees charged by the "international agents" from their offices in Hong Kong, London, Dubai, etc. Our success rate is much higher than the success rate of the "international agents", who are often "lost in the translation", before they eventually reach our local desk. You can have a look at Advocate Vasil Markov's overview of the Bulgarian citizenship by investment program.

You are not required to open a private account with a Bulgarian bank or buy the government bonds from the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. Bulgarian government bonds are actively traded on the Berlin Stock Exchange, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Stuttgart Stock Exchange, and Luxembourg Stock Exchange for maximum transactional ease.

Section 4.4 — Statutory Program Exemptions & Dual Freedoms

The Bulgarian investment program strips away common bureaucratic bottlenecks found in typical European naturalization procedures. The program benefits include: Low tax rates, real estate investment option, no restrictions on dual nationality, affordable cost of living and low business costs, full EU citizenship and establishment rights.

Withdrawal Misconceptions: A common misconception is that the investor can withdraw the investment in government bonds only after five years. THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO THE FAST TRACK CITIZENSHIP PROGRAM. The investor may sell the government bonds two years after the citizenship was granted. The investor is required to maintain the investment for five years only if he/she opts for the ordinary track citizenship by investment.

Section 4.5 — Spousal & Dependent Naturalization Acts

Spouses get Bulgarian citizenship immediately after the investor has been granted Bulgarian citizenship. Unfortunately, spouses can obtain Bulgarian citizenship after holding permanent residence for five years according to Art. 12a of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act (not required to be fluent in Bulgarian language) or after three years according to Art. 13, para. 1 of the Citizenship Act (fluency in Bulgarian language is required). Citizenship applications of spouses are considered within six months. There are no requirements of physical residence in Bulgaria or fluency in the Bulgarian language for the family members.

Children below 18 years old get Bulgarian citizenship immediately after the investor was granted Bulgarian citizenship. Unfortunately, children above 18 years old may apply for Bulgarian citizenship by origin. Citizenship applications of children under 18 years of age are considered within twelve months. According to Art. 18 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act, children under 14 years of age, of whom only one of the parents is a Bulgarian citizen, can become Bulgarian citizens without the presence of the conditions, under Art. 12 if both the parents or a living parent gives written consent for this. Consent by a parent who has lost his parental rights is not required. Children from 14 to 18 years of age can apply personally for Bulgarian citizenship.

Section 4.6 — Step-by-Step Schedule of Obtaining Status (Months 1–18)

Official procedural regulations outline an explicit, staged calendar for processing foreign capital allocations and residence tracks through Bulgarian administrative departments:

Section 4.7 — Intracommunity ДДС Identification Registry

For compliant commercial sales within the European Economic Area, entities require a fully verified, valid intra-community Value Added Tax number (ДДС идентификационен номер). If an incorrect or invalid number is provided, processing will halt under the official status message: "Идентификационният номер, който сте предоставили, е неверен." Immediate verification and correction are required to proceed with compliant trade routing inside the European Community parameters.

The Bulgarian tax authorities strictly regulate the character sequence and configuration parameters of company tax identifiers: the identification code must consist of a country prefix followed by exactly 9 or 10 digits and the string always begins with the uppercase country identifier code 'BG'.

Section 4.8 — Macroeconomic Performance Trends & Workforce Assets

Invest in Bulgaria: Bulgaria is located in the Southern-Eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The country shares its boundaries with Turkey and Greece on South, Yugoslavia, and FY Republic of Macedonia on the west. Consecutive Governments in Bulgaria have showed a commitment towards economic reforms and responsible fiscal planning. The period from 1997 to 2000 is mainly marked in Bulgaria's economy as an era of economy restructuring. This period is known for the mass privatization programmed undertaken by Bulgaria which attracted good foreign direct investment projects in the country. Bulgarian economy has consistently shown a GDP growth of 6% since year 1996 to 2008. Recovery of Bulgaria economy was expected to grow at 0.5% in 2010 while the growth of economy in 2011 is predicted to be around 3.5%.

The growth of economy is fuelled by export performance, enterprise profitability, strong business and consumer confidence. Bulgaria's educated and low wage workforce would give added economic benefits to high productivity sectors that are looking for a regional base in EU. Today, investors rank Bulgaria high as a premier place for low-cost production. Foreign investors have attractive opportunities for investment in different industries such as Energy, the chemical industry, construction, and real estate.

Section 4.9 — Class A/B Certificates & Foreign Investment Agency Support

Bulgaria is a growing economy and government has taken concrete steps to present Bulgaria as an investor friendly destination for investors. Besides the famous flat tax rate, the government also offers reduced corporate tax for investors investing in backward regions (less industrialized) or regions having high unemployment. Investors who have earned a Class A or B investment certificate would be qualified to acquire municipal property or private property without a tender or a competitive procedure. The InvestBulgaria agency will provide targeted state support to projects centered on renewable energy resources. The Bulgarian government also provides many structured concessions over ownership of objects that are state property such as biological and mineral resources, waterfront zones, and many such other objects.

Bulgaria established a Foreign Investment Agency as a one-stop-shop framework for incoming transnational investors. It is a governmental agency comprising the council of ministers for coordinating activities of the State institutions in the area of foreign investments and promotion of FDI in the country. The main function of the agency is to provide comprehensive information to investors about the legal process, investment laws, and direct assistance in finding suitable Bulgarian partners while co-ordinating with other state institutions on long-term investment policies.

Section 4.10 — Ministry of Justice 2019 Amendments & Compliance Frameworks

After one year of legally living in Bulgaria, it is possible to register for citizenship through investment. In 2018 Bulgaria has amended and tightened citizenship rules. The program completely exempts investors from physical residence and they are free to leave the country anytime. The investor has to demonstrate that he/she has made a significant contribution to Bulgaria such as business activities creating jobs, sports, culture or bringing new science and technology to the country. The new changes are effective from Jan 1, 2019. Bulgaria's citizenship by investment program was introduced with amended rules in late 2013.

Mix of investments Check: Government will not allow mix of investments. In some cases increase in investments is not possible. Buying of Bonds: Foreigners due to bank restrictions will be required to buy bonds through their local bank outside Bulgaria. Financing of bonds will be difficult and will be more expensive for foreigners. Bulgarian banks wont be able to provide financing to foreigners. Due to bank regulations, foreigners must declare tax residence and citizenship when opening a bank account with bulgarian banks for investment.

Bulgarian Passport & Travel Freedom: In 2019, the Bulgarian passport ranked 16th powerful passport in the world with visa free travel to 169 countries. In 2017, Bulgaria along with Romania received electronic visa waiver with Canada. Bulgaria is not a part of US visa waiver program (VWP).

Sovereign Fee & National Fiscal Tariff Matrix