site.btaBulgarian Citizenship Applications by Turkish Nationals Number 7,188 in January 2020-December 2023 - Justice Minister

From January 2020 to December 2023, the applications for Bulgarian citizenship by Turkish nationals numbered 7,188, Justice Minister Atanas Slavov said during Question Time in Parliament on Friday. The approved applications numbered 1,349 in 2020, 626 in 2021, 965 in 2022, and 1,466 in 2023. The majority of applicants claim to have a Bulgarian parent, Slavov specified.

The Justice Minister explained that in 2020, a total of 657 files were opened on the basis of Art. 15 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act (acquisition of Bulgarian citizenship by naturalisation). This number grew to 1,595 in 2021, a majority of them based on a Bulgarian parent and 36 on Bulgarian origin, and to 3,107 files in 2022, of which 14 on the basis of Bulgarian origin. In 2023, a total of 6,179 files were opened on the basis of a Bulgarian parent and 52, on Bulgarian origin.

The Citizenship Council reviewed 10,889 files in 2021 and 26,120 last year.

Regarding the procedure, Slavov explained that it passes through the Citizenship Council and is only administered by the Justice Ministry. The Justice Minister has no powers regarding whose application for citizenship gets approved or rejected. The Citizenship Council is an institution comprising various bodies; it is chaired by the Deputy Justice Minister and has members representing the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, the State Agency for National Security (SANS), the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, and the State Agency for Refugees. Only when the SANS and the Interior Ministry have issued a positive position does the procedure for granting Bulgarian citizenship move forward, Slavov added.

Last year, 3,738 files raised doubts over the authenticity of the documents and were referred to the Interior Ministry's Institute of Forensics, the Justice Minister said. Based on the expert opinions, alerts were submitted to the Prosecutor General and the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office about 102 persons having submitted false documents.