Your first weeks in Bulgaria: the car within a month, yourself within three

What do you sort out first in your first weeks in Bulgaria? The car, if you come with your own. It must go onto Bulgarian plates at the traffic police within a month of acquisition, and that is the shortest clock of the whole move. For yourself you have three months: by then your residence certificate must have been applied for. That certificate costs 3.58 euro and gives you the personal number almost everything waits for. The pitfall comes after that: choosing or changing a GP is only possible twice a year.

Which clocks are running?

Clock	Deadline	Office
Car onto Bulgarian plates	within 1 month of acquisition	traffic police where you live
Applying for the residence certificate	within 3 months of arrival	Migration department, 3.58 euro
Reporting self-employed work	within 7 days of starting	NRA tax authority
Registering a dog	within 3 months (as in Kozloduy and Zavet)	municipality, local taxes
Basic account	the bank decides within 10 days of your documents	your Bulgarian bank
Changing GP	1 to 30 June and 1 to 31 December	your new GP

Why the car comes first

On paper the order is logical: first your residence certificate, then the rest. But the car has its own, shorter clock of one month, and for registration you bring your identity document, your Dutch registration certificates, Bulgarian third-party insurance and proof of payment of the environmental fee. You pay that fee to the environment fund in advance. So anyone who knows where they live in the first week arranges the insurance and the fee first. How it works exactly is in car and driving licence in Bulgaria.

The residence certificate and your personal number

After three months you must have applied for a residence certificate at the Migration department of the Ministry of the Interior. Bring a tenancy agreement or other proof of address, and if you live on your own means proof of health cover and of means. The certificate gives you your personal number, the LNCh. A tenancy agreement you can use as proof of address is therefore the first paper of your move.

The GP: choose straight away, because changing is only possible twice a year

A wrong choice stays with you for months. To use your healthcare, you choose a GP, the personal doctor who refers you to a specialist if needed. Changing is possible twice a year: from 1 to 30 June and from 1 to 31 December. If you move within Bulgaria, you may temporarily choose a GP at your new address, for one to six months. So choose carefully, and preferably not in a hurry.

When visiting the GP or dentist you pay a small user charge; for pensioners it is lower. How you get into the Bulgarian system with an S1 from the CAK is in healthcare in Bulgaria.

Money in the first weeks

Bulgaria has paid in euro since 1 January 2026, so your Dutch card works as at home. If you want a Bulgarian basic account, the bank must decide within ten days of having all your documents.

Children: register them straight away

If you have children, don't wait with school. Kindergarten is compulsory from the year your child turns four, and for admission to first grade it matters how long you have lived near the school: anyone living there for less than a year lands in the last group. Your child only gets free Bulgarian lessons if you ask for them. More in school in Bulgaria.

What can wait

Your driving licence. You don't have to exchange a valid EU driving licence, and a Dutch licence has an expiry date, so the two-year rule doesn't apply to you either. You can always exchange later.

Which step comes when and how the deadlines work out for your situation is in the step-by-step plan for Bulgaria.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Bulgaria or go straight to step 4.1 in the open plan.