Happy new year to all readers of this blog. I will do my best to inform you of the latest trends and legal changes in the Bulgarian legislation. As a lawyer, I will try to give you best advice for your particular case.

If you are a freelancer (writer, programmer etc.) Bulgaria is an attractive place to do your job. Pursuant to the Employment Encouragement Act, being a “freelancer” means that you both:

1. don’t work for an employer and
   
2. you are working in your capacity of a person (not through your company).

Then what type of agreement you are obliged to have signed? Easy, the type of agreement which is required you to have signed is the assignment agreement. The Bulgarian legislation sets a distinction between the employment contract and the assignment agreement. Sure, both of them entitles you to receive certain amount of money for the work, but if you have an employment contract : (inexhaustible)

• the employer is obliged to register the contract within the National Social Security Institute
• the employer is obliged to pay part of your social security installments
• there are certain restrictions and conditions in case of firing an employee
• there is a mandatory annual full-pay leave etc.

In summary, the Labour Code sets a whole different set of contract conditions in the employer-employee relations. The freelancer is freed of this restrictions, but the work is regulated by the common civil legislation: The Obligations and Agreements Act.

Sufficient funds: Pursuant to the Regulations for the appliance of the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act, a foreigner to be able to stay in Bulgaria if he/she possesses the minimum required 50 Euro per day of stay. This means that if you are a freelancer, you should prove that you have (or will have) at least 1,500 Euro per month.

The Bulgarian Migration Directorate misapplies the Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament. The Directive regulates the regime of free movement of EU citizens and members of their families.

The particular rule that has been misapplied is that the citizens of EU member states are under the same regime as the members of their family in other EU host country. The only difference is that, in some EU member states, the family members may be required to apply for entrance visa. NO other requirements are set in the directive.

If you are married to a Bulgarian (already a EU citizen), you can apply for long term residence, on the ground that your spouse is a Bulgarian. The Migration Directorate will issue a long term certificate for you, but it will require you to pay 500 Levs per year.

Usually, the latter fee is required by the common foreigner regime. The fee is not required for family members of EU citizens. But Bulgarians are EU citizens, aren’t they?

A paradox! You are eligible to receive residence certificate on the ground of EU Directive, but you have to pay a fee which is required by the common regime. In fact this fee should be illegal.

Every citizen of an EU member state who wants to stay more than three months in Bulgaria has to notify the Migration Directorate for that stay. The latter issues a long-term residence certificate (”the Certificate”) and an Unique Citizen Number (”UCN”) is assigned to the foreigner.

Prior to Bulgaria’s accession to EU, ID cards were issued to every foreigner who resided for more than three months in the country. Now, as Bulgaria is an EU member state, the citizens of other EU countries don’t have to obtain such ID cards. They can use their own passports or ID cards. But in order to identify themselves before Bulgarian authorities (e.g. the Police Department, municipalities etc.) it is necessary that they have the Certificate.

Since very few of the clerks working in the state authorities can speak English or any other language except Bulgarian , it is necessary to identify yourself with the Certificate (which is written in Bulgarian).

The curious thing about that Certificate is that it does not look like a certificate at all. It is a rectangular, laminated, white sheet of paper measuring about 7cm x 5 cm with personal information details printed on it.

I think that Bulgaria’s accession to the EU kind of surprised the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior. I mean that the above mentioned certificates are being issued while at the same time:

1. the Ministry of Interior hasn’t notified its clerks and the Police Departments about the existence of the Certificate, and
2. the Certificate does not have the UCN printed on it

Therefore one can find himself/herself in pretty unusual situations: for instance a foreigner couldn’t prove his/her status in Bulgaria because the authorities still require the old ID cards issued to foreigners.