VisaBulgaria digital nomad applicants must separate overseas-work eligibility from visa steps
Current guide: the residence category has specific work, income and evidence conditions, with consular visa charges separate from residence permission.
Official source date: 2026-10-29
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
An existing residence category with specific limits
Bulgaria’s digital nomad residence route requires more than a job that can be done from a laptop. Current official guidance distinguishes eligible overseas work, an income test and supporting evidence from the separate long-stay visa process. This is an explanatory guide to the existing framework introduced through 2025 legislation, not a claim that a new visa programme opened on 29 October.
The Foreigners Act text published by the Foreign Ministry identifies digital nomads as a residence category. It provides a one-year permit that may be extended once for another year. Applicants should therefore plan around a defined temporary route rather than assume indefinite renewal. The legal text is the resource for checking the category’s duration and statutory conditions; it does not amount to advance approval of a particular remote-working arrangement.
Compare the actual work arrangement with the legal definition
The definition covers specified employment by an employer established outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, qualifying roles or ownership in an overseas company, and an individual remote-services category requiring at least one year of previous activity. The company-ownership limb specifies more than 25% of capital for partners or shareholders. The individual-services and company provisions also contain restrictions concerning work or services for persons in Bulgaria.
Use the definition in the published Act to identify the relevant limb before assembling evidence. An illustrative person working for an EU-based employer should not assume that any foreign payroll satisfies the overseas-employer condition. Likewise, a newly started independent activity should not be treated as automatically equivalent to the required established history. These distinctions concern the work structure, rather than a blanket nationality entitlement.
Income and evidence must support the chosen category
The Sofia Interior Ministry migration service page describes the statutory income test as at least fifty Bulgarian minimum monthly wages for the preceding calendar year, calculated using gross income. It should not be read as a requirement to earn fifty minimum wages every month. Confirm the relevant year and evidential calculation with the receiving authority rather than relying on an undated converted currency figure.
That service page explains category-specific evidence under the implementing regulation. An employee’s file includes contractual information and evidence of the employer’s existence. The company route requires relevant company and ownership evidence; remote-service arrangements require contracts and recipient references showing the remote nature and duration of services. Certain registration documents have a six-month issuance limit. Use the subsection matching the actual arrangement to determine what must be obtained from an employer, registry or client.
The long-stay visa remains a separate consular procedure
The ministry’s long-stay visa guidance explains that applications normally go to the Bulgarian mission responsible for the applicant’s permanent residence. Applying in another country where the person is legally staying is an exception requiring reasons and assurance of return to the permanent-residence country. It also requires a personal interview. A short tourist visit should not be assumed to replace these consular steps.
The same guidance identifies the visa form, passport, copies of relevant passport pages, recent photograph and original documents supporting the residence purpose and financial position. It discusses accommodation, health insurance and maintenance, with criminal-record evidence for the initial residence application where required. Use this guidance to prepare the general consular file, alongside the digital nomad evidence, and confirm appointment and document instructions with the competent mission.
Budget separately and protect the permit expiry date
The Foreign Ministry fee schedule lists EUR 100 for an Article 15(1) D visa and EUR 200 for an Article 15(2) application, subject to applicable exceptions. These legal bases should be checked rather than treating every long-stay visa as the same fee. The schedule states that refusal does not produce a visa-fee refund.
The Sofia migration service separately lists EUR 5.11 for the digital nomad residence service request and EUR 255.65 when one-year permission is granted. Confirm any document-issuance costs and the local payment procedure. For renewal, the Act’s pending-decision protection depends on applying while the existing permit remains valid. Establish the receiving office’s filing requirements before expiry; the reviewed resources do not promise an individual processing date or resolve tax liability merely by granting residence.
