Parliament Passes on First Reading Amendments to Bulgarian Identity Documents Act

Konstantin Karagyozov

BTA Photo

Sofia,

28.02.2024 11:47

(BTA)

Bulgaria’s Parliament on Wednesday passed on first reading amendments to the Bulgarian Identity Documents Act related to issuance of diplomatic and service passports. The bill was tabled by the Council of Ministers.

The voted texts introduce changes that directly affect the functioning of the Foreign Ministry and Bulgarian representations abroad. According to the Parliamentary Committee on Internal Security and Public Order, the amendments are aimed at increasing the efficiency in issuance and use of diplomatic and service passports.

Currently, there is no explicit legislative restriction on the use of service passports. This lack creates the possibility of unlawful use of service passports for personal purposes. The revisions provide for an explicit restriction on their use only when performing job functions outside the country.

The bill also creates the legal possibility of issuing service passports to children of employees without diplomatic rank on overseas assignment up to the age of 25, unmarried, who continue their education (secondary or tertiary) in the host country.

The amendments also specify regulatory provisions on temporary passports, which will improve administrative services to citizens and free up administrative capacity. The temporary passport is a travel document replacing the passport. This type of replacement document is issued by the Bulgarian representations abroad after coordination with the Foreign Ministry and, in certain cases defined by law, with the Interior Ministry. The coordination with the Foreign Ministry is done in order to confirm the identity of the person, the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Internal Security further reads.

The revisions also facilitate the procedure for issuing temporary passports to detained, arrested or convicted persons when the issuance is made at the request of the competent local authorities. In these cases, the obligation to collect biometric data (fingerprints, digital photo, digital signature) will be abolished, as these persons cannot go to а consular office in person for objective reasons.

/RY/