🇧🇬 Bulgaria visa requirements

Bulgaria is Schengen. That means for most of Europe, it’s a free pass. For everyone else, it’s a bit more complicated.

Who walks in visa-free?

If you hold a passport from the EU, EEA, or Switzerland, you’re golden. Bulgaria is Schengen, so you can stay as long as you like, work remotely, and not think twice about it. Same goes for citizens of the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Your passport gets you 90 days visa-free within any 180-day period. No visa needed to enter, just your passport.

For citizens of many other countries, though, a visa is required before you even book a flight. This includes a large chunk of Asia, Africa, and South America. You'll need to apply for a Schengen visa at the Bulgarian embassy or consulate in your home country. This process can take time – expect 15 days minimum, but often longer. It’s not a country where you can just show up and hope for the best if you're on the visa-required list.

How long can you actually stay?

The standard Schengen rule is 90 days within any 180-day period for visa-free travellers. This means you can’t just stay for three months, leave for a day, and come back for another three. You need to count back 180 days from your intended departure date and ensure you haven't exceeded 90 days within that timeframe. It’s a rolling window.

Penalties for overstaying can be steep, though specific fines aren't always clearly advertised for short overstays. Generally, immigration officers will stamp your passport. A minor overstay, say a few days, might result in a warning or a small fine at the border. However, longer overstays can lead to fines, deportation, and bans from re-entering the Schengen Area for several years. The official stance is zero tolerance. Don't risk it.

Working on a tourist stamp: the reality

Can you work remotely on your visa-free entry or tourist visa? Officially, no. Tourist visas and visa-free entry are for tourism, not for employment, even if that employment is with a company outside Bulgaria and you’re not earning locally. This is a grey area that many digital nomads operate in.

In practice, enforcement varies wildly. Most border guards are concerned with your entry and exit, not what you’re doing on your laptop. You’re unlikely to be asked about your remote work status at passport control. However, if you were to get into trouble with local authorities for some other reason, or if you decided to apply for a residency permit later, your remote work on a tourist stamp could become a problem. For longer stays or if you plan to integrate more, look into Bulgaria’s digital nomad visa options or other residency permits.

What's new in Bulgaria's visa rules?

Bulgaria officially joined the Schengen Area for air and sea borders on March 31, 2024. This is a big deal. It means that for travellers arriving by plane or ship, there are no longer routine passport checks at the borders with other Schengen countries. Land borders are still subject to checks, but the intention is full Schengen implementation.

There are no widespread reports of a new Bulgarian eVisa rolling out for the general tourist population yet. Standard Schengen visa applications and visa-free entry rules for eligible nationalities remain the primary routes. Fee structures for Schengen visas are set by the EU, so expect the standard €80 fee for a Schengen visa application, though this can change annually. Always check the official Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website or the consulate you’re applying through for the most current information.