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Pathway

Bulgaria Digital Nomad Residence

Bulgaria Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

If you work remotely for a foreign employer, run an eligible foreign company, or provide eligible services to clients abroad, Bulgaria's digital-nomad route may suit you. Each work arrangement has its own rules. The route is separate from permission to take a local Bulgarian job.

Work fit
A qualifying foreign employment, business, or service arrangement
Income
Prior-year gross income of at least 50 minimum monthly wages
Work history
Independent service providers need a year of foreign-client activity; a fixed-term employment contract must cover the requested stay

Summary

Bulgaria’s digital-nomad category separates remote work for foreign interests from taking a job in Bulgaria. Its definition matters more than the informal label “digital nomad”: an employee, a company owner, and an independent service provider must each show the particular foreign-work arrangement recognized by the law.

The income test also looks backward. A promising new contract does not by itself establish the required income for the preceding calendar year. This makes the route more suitable for someone with an established remote livelihood than someone hoping to start earning online after moving.

Could this pathway work for you?

Eligibility

EEA means the EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

The applicant must fit the legal digital-nomad definition and satisfy the prior-year gross-income formula. An employee’s fixed-term contract must last at least as long as the residence permission sought. Independent service providers must establish the required year of foreign-client activity.

The ordinary residence conditions include housing, health coverage, financial support and criminal-record documentation for adults. The entry-visa and residence applications are separate stages of the process.

Match the legal remote-work category
  1. Identify the arrangement Foreign employment, company ownership, or independent foreign-client services.
  2. Prove the history Document prior-year income and the category's contract or activity requirements.
  3. Prepare both stages Follow the long-stay visa and residence checklists.

A new contract alone does not establish the required prior-year income.

What This Route Allows

The initial residence permit is valid for one year and can be extended once for another year if the conditions continue to be met. The basis remains the foreign remote activity documented in the application. Any family application must be assessed under the applicable family rules rather than assumed to be included.

What This Route Is Not

This permit does not make every online job eligible. Where a foreign employer or company must be outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, being outside Bulgaria alone is insufficient. It also does not turn a new projected income into the previous-year earnings required by the law.

Next Steps

  1. Identify the employee, company-owner, or independent-service category that matches the real work arrangement.
  2. Calculate the prior-year threshold and assemble contracts, business records and income evidence.
  3. Follow the current long-stay visa and residence checklist and keep the one-renewal limit in the household plan.

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Discussed in these reports

Similar digital nomad pathways in other destinations.

Sources