site.btaDigital Nomad Visas and 10-Year ID Cards Greenlit by Bulgarian Government

Council of Ministers adopted changes to residence rules and identity documents, the government press service said here Wednesday. The changes aim to clarify residence rules for foreign nationals, introduce a digital nomad residence permit and centralize the personalization of Bulgarian identity documents.

The main purpose is to align the implementing regulation under the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act with the Act itself, in order to ensure clarity and predictability both for foreign nationals seeking a long-term residence permit and for the state authorities responsible for issuing such permits, by clearly specifying the documents required under the Act.

A procedure is introduced for granting a “digital nomad” residence permit, which allows individuals to reside in the country without an employment relationship with a local employer. This type of residence permit is intended to generate economic benefits for the country by attracting people working in innovation, high technology and the creative industries, who require high-speed internet and well-developed infrastructure.

The amendments to the regulation on Bulgarian identity documents introduce fully centralized personalization of all Bulgarian identity documents, to be carried out by the Bulgarian Identity Documents Directorate at the Ministry of the Interior. New application forms are introduced for issuing electronic identity certificates when applying for a new identity card or other identity document, as well as for including such a certificate in an already issued document, and for suspending, restoring and terminating an electronic identity certificate stored on the electronic data carrier in the respective types of documents.

The aim is to establish an optimal organization for the provision of these electronic identity services, ensuring that administrative services are delivered without delay. The procedures and conditions for issuing driving licences, temporary identity cards and seafarers’ passports are streamlined. The amended application form for issuing identity documents will allow adult citizens to choose a validity period of 5 or 10 years and will provide for the processing of the applicant’s email address and telephone number, in line with personal data protection rules.

The adoption of the amendments to these secondary legislative acts does not require additional financial resources.