Bulgarian citizenship for travelers!

It's no secret that being a citizen of Russia, traveling is incredibly difficult. Visa centers are located only in large cities, advance registration for submitting documents is required, visa issuance periods extend for several weeks, the number of days of stay is strictly limited by regulations, and do not forget about the consular fee. The list of visa-free countries for Russian citizens is limited to CIS countries (up to 90 days); Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro on the Balkan Peninsula; South Korea (60 days), Thailand (30 days) and Israel (90 days), as well as several South American countries.

Unlike a Russian passport, a Bulgarian passport provides for visa-free visits to 156 countries, in 25 of which you can live and work permanently. Fortunately, Bulgaria is currently one of the countries with the easiest option for obtaining a residence permit in Europe. Obtaining citizenship is possible after 5 years of permanent residence in the country.

Oddly enough, the Bulgarians themselves make little use of the visa-free benefits; in the summer, they most often travel to “their” Black Sea coast or relax at the hot springs scattered throughout the country. With rare exceptions, Bulgarians can be found in summer on the coast in Greece, near the southern border of the country. After joining the EU in 2007, the most active part of the population left to live and work in the Schengen countries. The remaining citizens are limited in their travel by their income; with rare exceptions, they fly for several days, tracking discounts from budget airlines. For example, a ticket from Sofia to Paris can be found for 50-70 levs (2000–3000 rubles).

Below we present to your attention a list of visa-free countries open to holders of a Bulgarian passport; it will also be of interest to those who are at the stage of obtaining one.

List of countries with visa-free visits for Bulgarian citizens

Continents	Countries		Length of stay
Europe		Austria	Permanent residence
		Belgium	Permanent residence
		UK	Permanent residence
		Germany	Permanent residence
		Greece	Permanent residence
		Denmark	Permanent residence
		Ireland	Permanent residence
		Spain	Permanent residence
		Italy	Permanent residence
		Luxembourg	Permanent residence
		Netherlands	Permanent residence
		Portugal	Permanent residence
		Finland	Permanent residence
		France	Permanent residence
		Sweden	Permanent residence
		Hungary	Permanent residence
		Cyprus	Permanent residence
		Latvia	Permanent residence
		Lithuania	Permanent residence
		Malta	Permanent residence
		Poland	Permanent residence
		Slovakia	Permanent residence
		Slovenia	Permanent residence
		Czech Republic	Permanent residence
		Estonia	Permanent residence
Europe with a limit of 90 days		Switzerland	90 days
		Norway	90 days
		Türkiye	90 days
		Iceland	90 days
		Liechtenstein	90 days
		Vatican	90 days
		Monaco	90 days
		Croatia	90 days
		Montenegro	90 days
		Macedonia	90 days
		Moldova	90 days
		Andorra	90 days
		Serbia	90 days
		Bosnia and Herzegovina	90 days
		Kosovo	90 days
		Ukraine	90 days
		Albania	90 days
		San Marino	90 days
America		Canada	6 months
		United States	90 days
		Mexico	90 days
		Argentina	90 days
		Bahamas	90 days
		Antigua and Barbuda	1 month
		Barbados	28 days
		Belize	1 month
		Bolivia	30 days
		Anguilla	90 days
		Chile	90 days
		Colombia	90 days
		Costa Rica	90 days
		Dominica	21 days
		Ecuador	90 days
		Salvador	90 days
		Grenada	90 days
		Guatemala	90 days
		Haiti	90 days
		Honduras	90 days
		Nicaragua	90 days
		Panama	90 days
		Paraguay	90 days
		Peru	90 days
		Saint Kitts and Nevis	14 days
		Saint Lucia	28 days
		Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1 month
		Trinidad and Tobago	1 month
		Uruguay	90 days
		Venezuela	90 days
Asia		Japan	90 days
		Republic of China	90 days
		Israel	90 days
		Malaysia	90 days
		South Korea	90 days
		Philippines	21 days
		Sri Lanka	30 days
		Singapore	30 days
		Maldives	30 days
		Hong Kong	90 days
		Georgia	360 days
		Macau	90 days
		Brunei	30 days
		Kuwait	visa on arrival, 90 days
Oceania		Australia	90 days
		New Zealand	90 days
		Fiji	4 months
		Kiribati	28 days
		Marshall Islands	30 days
		Micronesia	30 days
		Palau	30 days
		Samoa	60 days
		Tonga	31 days
		Tuvalu	1 month
		Vanuatu	30 days
Africa		Morocco	30 days
		Botswana	90 days
		Mauritius	6 months
		Seychelles	30 days
		Swaziland	30 days

According to Henley & Partners (a company specializing in obtaining residence permits in different countries), the Bulgarian passport took 20th place in the ranking of visa-free countries, Germany became the most attractive country, while Russia was not included in this list.

Since Bulgaria has not currently entered the Schengen area, holders of a residence permit (temporary residence permit) and permanent residence card (permanent residence permit) cannot enjoy the same visa-free entry privileges as full citizens of the country. However, there is reason to believe that this will soon become possible.

Currently, the European Union advocates tightening the rules for obtaining residence permits, permanent residence and the grounds for obtaining citizenship in Bulgaria. The country’s soft migration policy is one of the reasons why the issue of joining the Schengen zone still remains open. For the past 12 years, Bulgaria has been expecting a positive decision, but, unfortunately, even Bulgaria’s presidency of the EU Council in 2018 had no impact on the country’s inclusion in the Schengen zone.