Due to the restrictions adopted due to the coronavirus, a large number of citizens with a residence permit in Bulgaria (residence permit, residence permit and permanent residence permit) are faced with the difficulty of confirming and extending documents. Someone did not receive the necessary documents from the Russian Federation, someone was unable to appear at the Ministry of Internal Affairs due to quarantine, someone was locked outside of Bulgaria. Taking into account these and other difficulties, the Government of Bulgaria published Decree No. 95, containing amendments, including to the “Law on Foreigners” (Law on Alienism).
Excerpt from the document: § 14. The Law on Foreigners of the Republic of Bulgaria (Article 24 paragraph 13) is amended as follows: “A foreigner holding a long-term residence permit in the Republic of Bulgaria, whose period of residence expires within 3 months after the lifting of the declared state of emergency, may apply for an extension of residence within three months after the lifting of the state of emergency, this period will not be considered a break if the foreigner applies for long-term or permanent residence. A foreigner whose long-term residence document expires within 3 months after the lifting of the state of emergency may enter the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria without a visa for three months after the lifting of the state of emergency.”
Decree No. 95 was published in the official state publication of Bulgaria "Darzhaven Herald »and came into force on May 14, 2020.
Decree No. 95, excerpt. Download the entire document
Validity period for expired documents
Svetlana Tseneva, head of the “Bulgarian Documents for Personality” department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said that for 6 months after the end of the emergency, expired identity cards will still be valid. “Every authority, including a bank or administration, knows that if a personal card was valid before March 13, 2020, then this period is extended for another six months,” she explained.
Driver's license
Rights expiring between March 13 and October 31, 2020 will also be valid for 6 months after the expiration date. That is, if the document expires on March 14, it will be valid until September 14. However, such documents will only be valid in Bulgaria. When traveling abroad, you will still need a new document.
The changes adopted by the Bulgarian government are most likely related to the expected heavy workload of the authorities for receiving and replacing various types of documents. However, the migration offices of the MVR (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) are operating as usual. In addition to the standard package of documents this year, you will need a mask.
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Data from the information portal mediapool.bg