Last Updated on September 15, 2019 by Immigration Team
Why and how to get Bulgarian citizenship by investment
The Bulgarian CBI 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.
Our law firm specialises in assisting EU and non-EU nationals to obtain Bulgarian citizenship 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 Bulgarian passport within two years and the investment to be fully refunded at the end of this period with the accrued interest.
How to Buy Bulgarian Government bonds?
The investor can buy Bulgarian government bonds by one of the methods below:
Buy the bonds through your local bank
This is the easist way. Your bank has to provide a purchase confirmation and portfolio valuation certificates. Both certificates should be legalized in the country of issuance of the certificates. For example, if the bonds are purcahsed through HSBC Hong Kong, the certificates need to be apostille legalized in Hong Kong.
If you buy the bonds through DBS Singapore, you will need to legalize the bank certificates through Academy of Law Singapore, then Foreign Affairs Singapore, and finally Bulgarian Embassy in Indonesia (since there is no Bulgarian embassy or general consulate in Singapore).
Our team will be glad to advise you regarding the legalization required for your local jurisdiction.
Buy the bonds through your local broker
Buying the bonds through a brokerage firm in your place of residence, the broker will provide the same certificates for you. The legalization procedures varies depending on the country of issuance. If the certificates are issued by a broker in Singapore, you first have to legalize the certificates trhough Academy of Law and Foreign Affairs Singapore before you courier the certificates to the Bulgarian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. If your broker is based in the United States, you only have to apply apostille legalization.
Buy the bonds through a Bulgarian chartered bank
This method will work only if the investor has residency status in Bulgaria. Bulgarian banks refuse to open private bank accounts and brokerage services to non-residents.
Buy the bonds through a Bulgarian chartered broker
You can buy the bonds fully remotely authorizing our law firm to sign a brokerage service agreement with a Bulgarian regulated brokerage firm and buy the bonds remotely via email or phone correspondance.
Bulgarian brokerage firms are more efficient, flexible (no need of several identification documents to buy bonds), friendly, and less costly compared to Bulgarian chartared banks.
If you cannot satisfy the requirements to obtain Bulgarian citizenship by investment, you can consider the other options to obtain Bulgarian residency.
If you would like to have more information about buying Bulgarian government bonds abroad, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Why use our services to get Bulgarian citizenship by investment:
- Immigration BG is the only partner of CIFA for the Bulgarian citizenship by investment program. CIFA is the biggest broker of Citizenship by Investment Programs in Asia offering the citizenship by investment programs of Antigua, Grenada, Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Vanuatu, Canada and Cyprus.
If you would like to be assisted in your local language, please contact our partners CIFA and ask about the Bulgarian citizenship by investment program following their contact details.
- Our lawyers are members 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.
- 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 Bulgarian passport than any other law firm or consultancy.
- Our law firm is collaborating with MultiTravel Consultants Inc., trustful and experienced consultants in obtaining Comoros and St. Lucia citizenship and passport. Our colleagues are fully authorized and approved by the Comoros government to handle Comoros and Saint-Lucia citizenship cases.
- We don’t pass anything to agents or subcontractors.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 us.
What’s next?
Once you have purchased Bulgarain government bonds, the next step is to authorize our law firm to assist you with the preparation of the set of Investor D visa application documents and sign service agreement.
Documents required for Bulgaria CBI application
The applicant is required to provide the below:
- Police clearance certificate from home country
- Police clearance certificate from country of permanent residence
- Birth certificate
- Two passport sized photos
- AML declaration
The mentioned documents need to be legalized in the country of issuance. Applicants from Hong Kong and Singapore have to contact the accredited Bulgarian embassy for assistance for the issuance of police clearance certificate. Our law firm can assist you with the correspondance with the Bulgarian embassies and legalization abroad.
Key advantages of the Bulgaria CBI Program:
- Easy to satisfy requirements
- Visa-free travel within Europe’s Schengen Area
- No requirement to reside in Bulgaria
- No requirement to be fluent in Bulgarian language
- Residence permits can be acquired within 6 months
- Residence applicable to the whole family (married spouse, children under 18 years old, and parents of the main applicant and spouse)
Bulgarian Citizenship by Investment Ordinary Track
- The client purchases government bonds of 512,000 EUR
- Time to Permanent Residency – 6 months
- Time to Bulgarian Citizenship – 60 months
- Investment in EUR (Refundable) – 512,000 EUR
- All-in Handling Fee in EUR (Non-refundable) – please ask for a quote
- Handling Fee in EUR Dependents – 0 EUR the fees for the family members are included in our fee for the main applicant (up to three family members)
Bulgarian Citizenship by Investment Fast Track
- The client purchases government bonds of 512,000 EUR and increases the investment to 1,024.000 using savings or own finances.
- Time to Permanent Residency – 6 months
- Time to Bulgarian Citizenship – 18 months
- Investment in EUR (Fully refundable) – 1,024,000 EUR
- All-in Handling Fee in EUR (Non-refundable) – please ask for a quote
The service fee includes all state & legal fees related to the preparation of the sets of Investor D visa, Permanent Residency and Citizenship application documents for the Investor and his family - Handling Fee in EUR Dependents – 0 EUR the fees for the family members are included in our fee for the main applicant (up to three family members)
The applicant has to keep the bonds for 2 years after the Bulgarian citizenship was granted.
Bulgaria CBI for family members
The investor can apply for family reunification for his non-EU spouse, children, parents and parents-in-law. The fee to process your family members is included in our fee for the main applicant.
According to Art. 12a of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act, the spouse of the Investor does not need to reside in Bulgaria or be fluent in Bulgarian language. Eligibility requires the spouse to maintain the permanent residence status for five years before she/ he can apply for Bulgarian citizenship. The citizenship application will be considered within six months.
Children below 18 years of age can apply for Bulgarian citizenship straight after the Investor was granted Bulgarian citizenship. Children above 18 https://www.immigration.bg/bulgarian-citizenship-by-investment/ years of age have to apply for a certificate of Bulgarian origin.
If you would like to have more information about the Bulgarian CBI and obtaining Bulgarian citizenship by investment within 18 months only, please do not hesitate to contact us.