- Routes
- Naturalisation for persons of Bulgarian origin (Art. 15)
- Dual citizenship
- Kept on every open route
- Comes with
- EU citizenship: the right to live and work in 27 countries
The stamps assume no one in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born. What changes each answer is below.
On this page›
- 01Who qualifies
- 02Dates that matter
- 03Mothers’ lines
- 04Keeping your citizenship
- 05The routes and the law
- 06The documents
- 07What it takes
- 08Where the records live
- 09Former places
- 10Law changes
- 11Other doors
- 12Sources
01Who qualifies
Who qualifies, generation by generation
POSSIBLE
Can you claim Bulgarian citizenship through a parent?
Bulgarian origin (Art. 15)
A child of a Bulgarian citizen is Bulgarian by origin; if your parent had lost Bulgarian citizenship, you can still naturalise as a person of Bulgarian origin without living in Bulgaria.
What would settle itWhether the Ministry of Justice accepts your documents as proof of Bulgarian origin.
What changes the answer
POSSIBLE
Can you claim Bulgarian citizenship through a grandparent?
Bulgarian origin (Art. 15)
Anyone with a Bulgarian parent, grandparent or great-grandparent can naturalise without living in Bulgaria, learning the language or giving up another citizenship; proving Bulgarian origin is the whole case.
What would settle itWhether the Ministry of Justice accepts your documents as proof of Bulgarian origin.
What changes the answer
POSSIBLE
Can you claim Bulgarian citizenship through a great-grandparent?
Bulgarian origin (Art. 15)
Anyone with a Bulgarian parent, grandparent or great-grandparent can naturalise without living in Bulgaria, learning the language or giving up another citizenship; proving Bulgarian origin is the whole case.
What would settle itWhether the Ministry of Justice accepts your documents as proof of Bulgarian origin.
What changes the answer
02Dates that matter
The dates that matter
No date named in Bulgaria’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.
03Mothers’ lines
How mothers’ lines were treated
Bulgaria’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.
04Keeping your citizenship
Dual citizenship with your home country
You keep your citizenship.
On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.
05The routes
Every route, and the law behind it
- POSSIBLE
Through a parent
- POSSIBLE
Through a grandparent
The law
- A Bulgarian citizen by origin is anyone at least one of whose parents is a Bulgarian citizen. Bulgarian Citizenship Act, as amended to State Gazette No. 55 of 2026, Art. 8 ↗
- A person of Bulgarian origin may acquire citizenship by naturalisation without meeting the residence, income, language and renunciation requirements; origin is shown by official documents linking the applicant to an ascendant of Bulgarian origin up to the third degree. Bulgarian Citizenship Act, as amended to State Gazette No. 55 of 2026, Art. 15(1)(1) and (2) ↗
- The applicant must not have been convicted by a Bulgarian court of an intentional general crime, or face such proceedings, unless rehabilitated. Bulgarian Citizenship Act, as amended to State Gazette No. 55 of 2026, Art. 12(1)(3) ↗
What would settle an unsure case
- Whether the Ministry of Justice accepts your documents as proof of Bulgarian origin.
06The documents
The documents, as the rule lists them
Bulgarian origin (Art. 15)
Through a parent or grandparent or great-grandparent
- A document proving an ancestor’s Bulgarian origin (birth record, church record, or a Bulgarian civil record showing ethnicity or citizenship)
- Birth and marriage records for each generation to you
- A clean criminal record
Most countries also want proof that no one in the line became a citizen elsewhere before the next birth: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter that none exists.
07What it takes
What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides
Bulgarian origin (Art. 15)
- Time
- 12–24 months at the Ministry of Justice for the decision, then a few months for the passport.
- Cost
- About $400–900: certified copies, translations into Bulgarian and, usually, an archive search. The application fee is modest.
- The hard part
- Proving Bulgarian origin to the Ministry of Justice’s satisfaction. Since 2021 there’s no single certifying agency — any birth, church or civil record showing the ancestor’s Bulgarian ethnicity or citizenship goes straight to the ministry for review.
- Who decides
- The Ministry of Justice, through the Bulgarian consulate for your address.
- The first record
- Your ancestor’s Bulgarian birth or church record, from The regional State Archives (Държавен архив) or the local municipality’s civil registry. Write to the state archive for the region with the name and approximate date; many parish and civil registers before 1950 are held there rather than the municipality. archives.government.bg ↗
How it’s filed
- Where
- In person at the Ministry of Justice in Sofia or at a Bulgarian embassy or consulate abroad (Embassy in Washington; consulates general in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles), which forwards to the Ministry of Justice, Bulgarian Citizenship Directorate
- How
- In person; you appear in person
- Fee
- About $17
- Decision
- 12–30 months
What goes in the file (11)›
- Application per Annex 1 to Ordinance No. 1, in Bulgarian, filed in person (interview held at filing)
- Official documents (Bulgarian or foreign) proving kinship with at least one ascendant to the third degree who is of Bulgarian origin, naming the ascendant and the link
- Birth certificate (transcript or duplicate)
- Criminal record certificate from the country of citizenship, stating it is issued for the Bulgarian citizenship procedure, apostilled
- Medical certificate that the applicant has no acute infectious disease or listed mental illness, issued abroad and apostilled
- Declarations per Annexes 4 and 4a to Ordinance No. 1
- Official documents for any change of name and identity
- Autobiography
- One passport-format photo
- Copy of identity document
- Receipt for the state fee (30 leva before the euro; about €15.34) paid to the Ministry of Justice (BNB, IBAN BG09 BNBG 9661 3000 1737 01)
What goes wrong (5)›
- An interview is held at filing using a questionnaire approved by the Minister of Justice, so the applicant must attend in person.
- Since 2021 there is no separate origin certificate: the Ministry of Justice assesses the documents itself. Anything official that names a Bulgarian ascendant (parent, grandparent or great-grandparent) and the link counts.
- The state fee was set at 30 leva (10 leva for students under 26); Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026, so the equivalent is €15.34 at the fixed rate. Unverified that the Ministry's current list quotes the euro figure.
- The Ministry of Justice list was last revised in 2023; check it before filing. A bill adding a Bulgarian language exam to this route passed first reading in 2024 but had not passed second reading as of 2026.
- Naturalisation is by presidential decree; processing is typically well over a year (takes: 12–24 months).
Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗
Estimates are honest ranges from official fee tables and what families report; where a fee or time could not be confirmed, it says so.
08Where the records live
Where each record lives, and how to ask for it
birth1830–1893
Regional state archives of the State Agency "Archives" (Държавна агенция „Архиви“): parish registers of the Bulgarian Exarchate and Orthodox churches, school and community records
The regional state archive for the ancestor's town (27 regional archives). For Bulgarians from Bessarabia, Banat, Macedonia or Thrace, records sit in Ukrainian, Moldovan, Romanian, Serbian, North Macedonian or Greek archives.
- Ask
- By email, in Bulgarian
- Fee
- 5.11 EUR (about $6)
- Takes
- 4–17 weeks
Good to know (2)›
- Tariff in euros since the 2026 euro changeover: certificate €5.11, certification €1.29 first page and €0.77 each further page, plus postage paid by the applicant.
- Requests by post, fax or electronic means; certificates are released after the fees are paid.
Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗
birth1893–2026
The municipality (община) civil-status office where the birth was registered; civil registration dates from 1893 (unverified start year)
Municipality of birth; older registers may have moved to the regional state archive.
- Ask
- Through an agent, in Bulgarian
- Takes
- 2–13 weeks
Good to know (1)›
- Unverified: from abroad a duplicate birth certificate is usually ordered through a relative or lawyer with a notarised power of attorney, or through the consulate.
Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗
marriage
Municipal civil-status office (from 1893) or the regional state archive (church registers before that)
- Ask
- By email, in Bulgarian
- Takes
- 4–17 weeks
Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗
Translations
- Into
- Bulgarian
- Who may translate
- A sworn translator in the country; the translation itself is legalized
- About
- $20–$50 a page
Documents need Bulgarian translations made and certified under the Regulation on Legalisations, Certifications and Translations (translation agencies contracted with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the translation certified). Apostilled U.S. documents are then translated in Bulgaria or at a Bulgarian consulate. EU multilingual extracts and EU public documents under Regulation 2016/1191 are exempt from legalisation. Rates are estimates.
Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗
The passport
- Where
- Unverified sequence: after the decree a Bulgarian birth record is drawn up in Sofia (Stolichna municipality for births abroad) and a personal number (EGN) issued, then the passport is applied for at the embassy or a consulate general. Fee and timing unverified; the figure below is an estimate.
- Fee
- About $80
- Time
- 2–6 months
Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗
09Former places
Places on old papers that lead to Bulgaria
If your family’s records name one of these, Bulgaria’s law may be the one that applies. The town decides.
10Law changes
Recent and pending changes
The legislative watch has no pending bill or recent ruling recorded for Bulgaria.
The watch re-reads the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person re-checks the rule before anything here moves.
11Other doors
If descent doesn’t reach you
2 residence programs lead to Bulgaria without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.