- EU passport: you have free movement. No visa — you register for long-term residence within three months of arriving.
- Non-EU passport (including the UK): you need a long-stay visa and a residence permit, through a route that matches how you earn your living.
- You own a company abroad: usually the company route — a representative office of your company, administered from Bulgaria.
- You work remotely for clients abroad: the remote route — capped at two years in total.
- Neither: there are other paths, assessed case by case.
- You don't want to actually live in Bulgaria: then no residence route fits you. Every one of them assumes the move is real.
Why picking the route is where most people go wrong
Search "move to Bulgaria" and you'll find a hundred pages, most of them selling one thing. A company-formation agency will tell you a company is the answer. A visa agent will tell you a visa is the answer. Someone on a forum will tell you what worked for them in 2019 — before Brexit, before Schengen, before the euro.
The honest truth is that there is no single route. There is your route, and it depends on three facts about you: the passport you hold, whether you really want to live here, and how you earn your living. Get those three right and everything else falls into place. Get them wrong and you can spend months — and money — building a file for a route you were never going to qualify for.
We learned this the slow way. When we moved, as foreigners, it took us a full year: queues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, documents nobody wanted to give us, offices that explained the same rule in different ways. That's why we start every conversation with the same questions you'll find below.
Find your route in four questions
Answer honestly — there's no wrong answer, only a route that fits or doesn't. Nothing you click here is stored or sent anywhere.
Route A: you hold an EU passport
If you're a citizen of an EU country, you don't need a visa or a residence permit in the non-EU sense. You have free movement, and the process is mostly administrative:
- Up to three months: a valid ID card or passport is all you need.
- Longer than three months: you apply for a long-term residence certificate at the Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior, within three months of arriving. It's valid for up to five years.
- After five years of continuous legal residence you can apply for permanent residence.
Simple on paper. In practice, it's the paperwork around it that slows people down: an address registration that needs your landlord's cooperation, documents that must be notarised or translated, an office that only speaks Bulgarian. That's the part we handle.
Tax: once you genuinely live in Bulgaria and are tax resident here, a business run through a Bulgarian company is taxed at 10% corporate tax and 5% on dividends — around 14.5% on profit you draw out personally. If you want a Bulgarian company once you're here, it's set up alongside your move.
Said plainly: free movement lets you live here. It doesn't, by itself, change where you pay tax. That follows where you actually live — which is why the move has to be real. Leaving your home country properly is its own step, and it's different for every country.
Route B: non-EU passport, you own a company abroad
The company route
Your existing company opens a representative office in Bulgaria, administered from Bulgaria, and that office is the basis for your visa and residence. You keep your business; you move your life and its management here.
- What's required
- Two years of clean financial and tax compliance for your company, and a lease for premises in Bulgaria. Both are needed to register the office.
- The visa
- A type D visa, valid for six months — an entry window, not a stay.
- The residence
- One year, renewable.
- Family
- Each family member needs a fully separate application.
- Tax, once you've moved
- When you live here and your profit is made through a Bulgarian company: 10% corporate + 5% dividends, around 14.5% on profit drawn out personally. A licensed accountant confirms how it applies to you.
Said plainly: visa refusals are fairly common even with a fully compliant file. And if your company is younger than two years or you can't take on premises yet, this route isn't open today — you either plan the timing or look at the other paths.
Route C: non-EU passport, you work remotely
The remote route
For people delivering remote, IT-enabled services — as a freelancer or an employee — to clients or employers outside Bulgaria.
- The key condition
- You work exclusively for clients or companies outside Bulgaria for the whole residence period — not just on the day you apply.
- How long
- Two years in total, as a hard cap. It doesn't renew indefinitely.
- Tax
- With a Bulgarian company for that income: the same 10% + 5%. As a self-employed person without a company, the basis is different and is confirmed by an accountant on your real figures.
Said plainly: if you're planning to stay long-term, or you'd like Bulgarian clients too, this route won't carry you there on its own. Better to know that now than in year two.
Route D: the other paths
If you don't own a company and don't work remotely, Bulgaria still has ways in:
- A Bulgarian employer hires you.
- Pensioner residence.
- Student residence.
- A new Bulgarian company that creates ten local jobs — for founders starting from scratch here.
These aren't standard packages. Each depends heavily on the person, and we look at them one at a time.
When no route fits — and why we'll tell you
Some people come to us wanting the Bulgarian tax rate while their life stays where it is. We understand why: it's what a lot of the internet promises. But every residence route assumes you genuinely live in Bulgaria, and the tax regime only holds up when it's real on both sides — you live here, and the business is genuinely run from here.
If that's not your plan, the honest thing is to say so on the first call rather than sell you something that falls apart later. Sometimes the right answer is "not yet", or "not Bulgaria". We'd rather lose a client than build a problem.
Company route or remote route? Side by side
| Company route | Remote route | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Owners of a company abroad | Freelancers and remote employees |
| Main requirement | 2 years' clean compliance + a lease in Bulgaria | Only clients/employers outside Bulgaria, for the whole stay |
| Residence | 1 year, renewable | Max 2 years in total |
| Good for the long term? | Yes, renewable | No — it's capped |
| Bulgarian clients? | Depends on your structure — ask us | Not allowed on this route |
| Family | Separate application for each family member on both routes | |
Three myths about choosing a route
EU citizens don't need to do anything.
You don't need a visa, but beyond three months you must apply for a long-term residence certificate — and the address paperwork behind it is where people get stuck.
The remote route can be renewed forever.
It's capped at two years in total. If you're planning a life here, plan the route that gets you there.
A good agent can get anyone through any route.
Routes have requirements, and the decision belongs to the authorities. A good adviser tells you which route you actually qualify for — including when the answer is none.
Nobody sat us down and asked "which route is yours?". We found out by doing it wrong first. We queued at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at least ten times, chased landlords for documents and notarisations they didn't want to give us, and stood at the migration office while the rules were explained to us in Bulgarian — louder each time — until we understood.
If someone had asked us these four questions on day one, we'd have saved months. That's the first thing we do for every client now.
What happens after you know your route
- We confirm it with you. On a free strategy call we go through your passport, your business and your plans, and tell you plainly which route fits — or that none does.
- We build your file properly. Our partner Bulgarian lawyers prepare the application, and you know what's needed and why before anything is submitted.
- We take care of the paperwork nobody warns you about. Landlord documents, notarisations, translations, the offices that only speak Bulgarian.
- We're next to you at every counter. Visa, residence, bank accounts, company and accounting — with someone accompanying you in person.
- We stay. Same team, in English, after you've settled.
Questions we get asked every week
Do EU citizens need a visa to move to Bulgaria?
No. You have free movement. For stays longer than three months you apply to the Migration Directorate for a long-term residence certificate within three months of arriving.
What's the best route for a non-EU business owner?
If your company is established abroad, usually the company route: a representative office of your company, administered from Bulgaria. It needs two years of clean compliance and a lease for premises, and gives one year of residence, renewable.
I'm a freelancer with clients in the UK. Can I move?
Yes, on the remote route — as long as all your clients stay outside Bulgaria for the whole stay. Keep in mind it's capped at two years in total.
My company is less than two years old. What now?
The company route isn't open yet. You can plan the timing around your track record, or look at the remote route or the other paths. It's one of the most common situations we look at.
Can I get Bulgarian residence without moving?
No. Every residence route assumes you genuinely live in Bulgaria. If that isn't your plan, we'll tell you honestly on the call.
Want us to confirm your route?
Book a free strategy call. We'll look at your passport, your business and your plans, and tell you plainly which route works for you — or if none does. No pressure, no sales script.
Book your free strategy call → Takes 2 minutes to request. In English or Italian.The Bulgaria Move coordinates your relocation end to end. Tax and legal advice on your specific situation is given by licensed Bulgarian lawyers and accountants, who take professional responsibility for it. Figures shown on this site are illustrative and depend on your circumstances — nothing here is tax or legal advice.