site.btaGovernment Approves Bill to Amend Foreigners in Bulgaria Act

The Council of Ministers approved a bill to amend and supplement the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act, the government press office said on Wednesday. The bill is aimed to align the rules for entry and stay of foreign nationals in Bulgaria with regulatory instruments of the European Commission and the European Parliament.

The draft law is aimed to relax the terms of stay of third-country nationals in Bulgaria. It applies both to high-skilled employees and seasonally employed people from third countries.

The proposed amendments will standardize the requirements for third-country nationals applying for permanent stay in Bulgaria. They will streamline the procedure for granting investors the right to long-term stay in the country, with eligibility checks to be conducted by the InvestBulgaria Agency. The future law will ease the administrative burden on employers who hire third-country nationals by scrapping a requirement to provide proof of address of stay as part of the initial set of documents supporting the application. Such information will be required only after the foreigner enters Bulgaria.

Improvements are proposed to the procedure for interaction of the government agencies engaged in the issuance of relevant permits.