Residence in Bulgaria: three months, a certificate of 3.58 euros and a personal number
As an EU citizen you may be in Bulgaria for three months without conditions. After that, within those three months, you apply for the certificate of long-term residence, for 3.58 euros, valid for up to five years — and that certificate gives you the personal number the bank, the health fund and the traffic police ask for. The proof of address is the trap: a notarised declaration from your landlord, or a title deed.
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As a Dutch citizen you need neither a visa nor a permit for Bulgaria. You may be there three months without conditions. Whoever stays longer applies within those three months for the certificate of long-term residence.
What to know about that certificate:
- Since 1 January 2026 it costs 3.58 euros.
- It is valid for up to five years.
- According to the ministry's tariff 4, the fees have been in euros since the euro changeover. The card instead of the paper costs 15.34 euros.
The pitfall is not the price but the proof of address. A declaration from your landlord only counts if it is notarised, meaning certified by a notary. And a holiday let via a platform doesn't produce that paper.
What changes after three months?
Bulgaria asks of an EU citizen exactly what the European rules allow: a registration after three months. The difference from its neighbours lies in two things: what that certificate yields, namely a personal number, and the paper you need for it.
As an EU citizen you may be in Bulgaria for three months with your passport or identity card without conditions. If you stay longer, you apply within three months of entry for the residence certificate at the Migration department of the regional directorate of the Ministry of the Interior for your place of residence.
What does it cost, and how long is it valid?
The fee has been 3.58 euros since 1 January 2026. If you want the certificate as a card instead of on paper, that costs 15.34 euros. The certificate is valid for up to five years, or shorter if you ask for that yourself.
| Deadline | Cost | Validity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free stay with passport or ID | 3 months | — | — |
| Certificate of long-term residence (paper) | apply within 3 months of entry | 3.58 euros | up to 5 years |
| The same certificate as a card | idem | 15.34 euros | up to 5 years |
| Personal number for foreigners | comes with the certificate | — | — |
| Certificate of permanent residence | after 5 years of uninterrupted legal residence | 3.58 euros | — |
The cost indication for Bulgaria reckons with 5 to 25 euros per person, including passport photos and copies. The paperwork is cheap here. The money is in the move and the first months.
Which documents do I bring?
You bring:
- your passport or identity card;
- proof of your purpose of residence: an employment contract, a business registration, or with your own means your pension decision and bank statements;
- proof of health cover; for pensioners that is the S1 from the CAK, which you then have registered at the regional health fund (see healthcare in Bulgaria);
- proof of your address;
- the proof of payment of the fee.
Why is the proof of address the trap?
The proof of address is the step where Dutch citizens get stuck. Bulgaria accepts three kinds of proof:
- a title deed;
- a declaration from your landlord;
- an allocation of a municipal home.
That landlord's declaration must be notarised if the landlord doesn't come along to the counter.
A holiday let via a platform doesn't produce that paper. So arrange a rental contract with a landlord willing to go to the notary with you, and have the declaration made straight away when the contract is signed. The notary in Bulgaria is cheap and everywhere. Whoever spends the first weeks in a holiday home therefore has no address to register yet, and the three-month clock keeps running meanwhile.
What does the personal number open?
With the certificate you get a personal number for foreigners, the number with which you exist in Bulgaria. Who asks for it:
- the bank;
- the regional health fund, when registering your S1;
- the traffic police, when registering your car, which must happen within a month;
- the tax authority, at your first return under the flat tax of ten per cent.
Without that number nothing starts. That is why the residence certificate is the first step in Bulgaria, not a formality for later.
The two clocks also run against each other: three months for the residence certificate, one month for the car. So whoever brings the car arranges the certificate in the first weeks, not in the third month.
What happens after five years?
After five years of uninterrupted legal residence you have the right to permanent residence as an EU citizen. The certificate of that costs the same, 3.58 euros. The residence certificate from the first years is then the proof of your years. One more reason to arrange it on time and complete.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey, step 1.1: 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 1.1 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Egov.bg — residence of EU citizens longer than three months — egov.bg
- Ministry of the Interior — long-term and permanent residence of EU citizens — mvr.bg
- Tariff 4 of the Ministry of the Interior — the fees, in euros since 2026 — mvr.bg
- Your Europe — residence rights of EU citizens — europa.eu
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