Relocating to Bulgaria for Israelis: D Visa, Residence Permit, Digital Nomads, Retirees, Family and the Path to Permanent Residence

Bulgaria attracts Israelis with its 10% flat income tax, a cost of living that is low by EU standards, short flights and its entry into the eurozone. But the right to live there does not come from buying an apartment or setting up a company. It comes from a ground of residence that the law recognises, and from a two-stage process: a visa obtained in Israel and a permit obtained in Bulgaria. This guide covers every route, the requirements, and the path to permanent residence and citizenship.

1How long can an Israeli stay in Bulgaria without a visa?

Up to 90 days in any 180-day period, as in all Schengen countries. Israel is on the list of visa-exempt countries under Regulation (EU) 2018/1806, and the exemption is intended for visits, tourism and business meetings, not for living or working. Since 1 January 2025 Bulgaria and Romania have been full Schengen members, after the Council of the EU decided on 12 December 2024 to lift land border checks. In practice, days in Bulgaria are counted together with days in Greece, Italy or any other Schengen country. The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully operational since 10 April 2026 and records every entry and exit, so overstaying the 90 days is logged automatically.

2What is the difference between an Israeli with only an Israeli passport and an Israeli with a European passport?

A citizen of an EU member state, for example an Israeli with a Romanian, Portuguese or German passport, needs neither a visa nor a ground of residence. They may stay for up to three months with an ID card or passport, and then apply to the local migration office for a long-term residence certificate according to their status: employee, self-employed, student, or a person with sufficient means and insurance. After five years of continuous lawful residence, they and their family members can obtain permanent residence. A spouse who holds only an Israeli passport follows a separate route for family members of EU citizens, which is usually simpler than the ordinary routes for foreigners. Anyone looking into a Bulgarian passport by descent will find details in the guide to property, residency and citizenship.

3What is the Bulgarian D visa and where do you apply for it?

The D visa is a national long-stay visa. According to the guidelines of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is issued for up to 6 months, with a right of stay of up to 180 days, to those who intend to settle in Bulgaria for the long term or permanently. You apply at a Bulgarian consular mission, no earlier than 3 months before your planned travel date, and after entering you apply in Bulgaria for a residence permit at the Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior or at the regional migration department.

• Passport: valid for at least 18 months, with two blank pages.
• Health insurance: for the entire period of stay, from a company licensed to operate in the EU, with cover of at least EUR 30,000, including repatriation, emergency treatment and emergency hospitalisation.
• Accommodation: proof of a place of residence in Bulgaria. With a lease, a notarised declaration from the owner consenting to the tenant's registration at the address is required.
• Means of subsistence: for example a bank statement, in an amount of at least 6 Bulgarian minimum monthly wages, and for retirees 6 pension payments. The minimum wage in 2026 is EUR 620.20 a month, so by simple calculation this comes to about EUR 3,721.
• Criminal record certificate: from the country of citizenship or the country of residence. Minors are exempt.
• Documents for the specific ground: a work permit, company documents, a pension certificate and so on, depending on the article of the law.

All documents must be translated into Bulgarian and duly legalised. For Israeli documents this usually means an apostille and a certified translation. An application for a minor is submitted by both parents, or by one parent with a notarised declaration from the other.

4What long-stay routes exist in Bulgaria?

The Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act (Zakon za chuzhdentsite v Republika Bulgaria) lists in Article 24(1) the grounds for an extended residence permit. The table summarises the routes usually relevant to Israelis, based on the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidance document for the D visa.

5How does the retiree route work in Bulgaria?

The retiree route (Article 24(1)(10)) is intended for those who receive a retirement pension. In addition to the basic documents, you submit a certificate from the competent authority in the country of origin that the applicant receives a pension, and a confirmation from a bank in Bulgaria of an account into which the pension payments will be transferred. According to the guidelines, a retiree's means of subsistence are calculated by pension payments rather than by wages. The route sets no minimum age, and it does not permit work in Bulgaria. The permit is granted for periods of up to one year and is renewable. Israelis receiving a pension from the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi), a pension fund or a provident fund should check in advance with the paying body how to obtain a certificate in English and how to transfer the pension to a Bulgarian account.

6What is new in Bulgaria's digital nomad route?

In June 2025 the Bulgarian parliament approved an amendment to the Foreigners Act creating a ground of residence for digital nomads. According to law firm reviews, the amendment was published in State Gazette No. 52 of 27 June 2025, and the implementing regulations entered into force at the end of December 2025, so applications have in practice only been possible since then.

• Who is eligible: an employee of an employer registered outside the EU and the European Economic Area, an owner or partner in such a foreign company, or a freelancer who provides services remotely using technology.
• Income: average annual income of at least 50 minimum monthly wages. There are different interpretations of which minimum wage applies, that of the previous year or of the current year: on the 2025 figure it is about EUR 27,533, and on the 2026 figure about EUR 31,010.
• Duration: a one-year permit, with the option of one renewal, meaning up to two years in total.
• Restrictions: you may not work for a Bulgarian employer or provide services to clients in Bulgaria.
• Permanent residence: according to the reviews, time spent on this route does not count towards long-term resident status.

7Can you obtain a residence permit through a Bulgarian company?

Setting up a company does not by itself give a right to live in Bulgaria. As we wrote in the guide to company formation in Bulgaria, appointing an Israeli as a director does not confer a right of residence or work. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs document list, the business ground in Article 24(1)(2) requires, among other things, a certificate from the tax authority that the company employs 10 Bulgarian citizens and a certificate of no debts. The route therefore suits a business that actually operates, not a holding company. An alternative for someone with an Israeli company is to register a commercial representative office with the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, after which the representative can apply for a permit under Article 24(1)(6). The corporate aspects of an Israeli company operating in Bulgaria are set out in the guide for an Israeli company doing business in Bulgaria.

8Does buying an apartment in Bulgaria give a residence permit?

An ordinary apartment purchase does not confer status, and at most the apartment serves as proof of accommodation in a file based on another ground. However, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs document list includes a ground in Article 24(1)(19) for anyone who has invested at least BGN 600,000 (about EUR 306,775 at the fixed rate) in buying real estate in Bulgaria, or who holds more than 50% of a Bulgarian company that has invested such an amount. A confirmation from a licensed Bulgarian bank of the investment is required, and where the investment is financed by a loan, the loan balance is limited to 25% of the amount. This is a renewable extended residence permit, not citizenship. The citizenship-by-investment route was abolished in 2022. A comparison between countries can be found in the guide to golden visas in Europe, and details on acquiring land through a company in the guide to land ownership in Bulgaria.

9What are the rights of the spouse and children?

The spouse and minor children of a foreigner holding a residence permit valid for at least one year can apply for family reunification. According to the EU Immigration Portal, the application is submitted to the Migration Directorate, and after approval the family members obtain a D visa at the Bulgarian mission and apply for a permit after arrival. The family members' permit is granted for the term of the main applicant's permit and for no more than one year.

• Similar basic documents are required: passport, accommodation, means of subsistence, health insurance and a criminal record certificate.
• Israeli birth and marriage certificates need an apostille and a Bulgarian translation.
• Moving with children requires the consent of both parents. The family checklist we wrote for Romania, most of which is also relevant to Bulgaria, is in the family relocation checklist.

10How do you move from a D visa to a residence permit? Step by step

1. Choose your ground: check which article of the law actually fits you, because all the documents follow from it.
2. Prepare documents in Israel: criminal record certificate, birth and marriage certificates, pension certificate or employment contract, with an apostille and a Bulgarian translation.
3. Arrange accommodation and insurance: a lease with a notarised declaration from the owner, and health insurance with cover of at least EUR 30,000.
4. Open a bank account in Bulgaria where the route requires it, for example on the retiree route.
5. Apply for the D visa at the Bulgarian mission, up to 3 months before travelling.
6. Enter Bulgaria and apply for the permit at the Migration Directorate or the regional migration department, within the visa period.
7. After receiving the permit: register your address, check registration with the tax authority and with health insurance, and plan the annual renewal in good time.
8. Renew every year and keep your residence continuous, because continuity is a condition for long-term status.

11When can you obtain permanent residence in Bulgaria?

After five years of lawful and continuous residence. According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior service page, long-term resident status is granted to a foreigner who has resided in Bulgaria lawfully and continuously for 5 years before the application, and it is permanent as long as no ground for revoking it arises. The application is submitted no later than two months before the current permit expires, and processing takes up to two months, with the possibility of extension. Stable means of subsistence for at least one year, health insurance and accommodation are required. It is important to check in advance which route counts towards the five years. According to the reviews of the digital nomad route, years spent on it do not count, so anyone planning to stay must switch to another route in time.

12When can you obtain Bulgarian citizenship?

Generally after at least 5 years on a long-term permit or permanent residence, under Article 12 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act. The conditions include knowledge of Bulgarian, demonstrated in an official test, means of subsistence, no conviction for an intentional offence, and renunciation of previous citizenship. Renunciation is not required of spouses of Bulgarian citizens, of EU citizens, and in a number of other exceptions. The spouse of a Bulgarian citizen, after 3 years of marriage, can apply after only 3 years.

13Residence permit and tax residency: are they the same thing?

No. A residence permit determines whether you may live in Bulgaria. Tax residency determines where you pay tax on your worldwide income. Someone who lives in Bulgaria for more than 183 days in a 12-month period, or whose centre of vital interests is there, may be treated as a Bulgarian tax resident, and at the same time may remain an Israeli resident under the centre-of-life test. Our companion guide on tax residency in Bulgaria and what happens in Israel explains the tests, the 10% flat tax and the tie-breaker rule in the Israel-Bulgaria tax treaty. A general overview of the treaty is in the guide to Israel's tax treaties.

14What common mistakes should you know about?

• Staying beyond 90 days in the hope of regularising afterwards. The visa is applied for before entry, and the EES records every overstay.
• Assuming a Bulgarian company confers status. It does not, except under the conditions of the business or investment ground.
• Working for a Bulgarian client on the digital nomad route. This is prohibited on that route.
• Missing a renewal. The permit is renewed every year, and a gap in residence may break the continuity needed for the five years.
• Arriving with unlegalised documents. A document without an apostille or without a Bulgarian translation may delay the file.

Conditions and procedures in Bulgaria change, especially on the new routes, so check the current wording with the mission and the Migration Directorate before applying. This guide is general information, correct as of November 2026, and every case requires individual review.

More on relocating to Bulgaria: Tax residency in Bulgaria · Ending Israeli tax residency · Moving abroad with an Israeli company or business · The family legal checklist

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