Bulgaria Digital Nomad Visa: Income, Documents and Steps from the UK

UK citizens apply the same way as other non-EU nationals. The official name is a prolonged residence permit for digital nomads, under Article 24, item 23 of the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act. The ground was added in State Gazette No. 52 of 27 June 2025, and the document list followed in the Act's implementing rules on 20 December 2025. The Ministry of Interior publishes the consolidated Act and the implementing rules in Bulgarian.

The permit's key terms fit in one table

Three kinds of remote worker qualify

The Act defines a digital nomad as a foreigner who provides remote services using information technology in one of three ways:

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• Employee: you work under an employment contract for an employer registered outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. On a fixed-term contract, the time left must be at least as long as the permit.
• Company owner or manager: you are the legal representative, a board member, owner, partner or shareholder holding more than 25% of the capital of a company registered outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. You provide remote services through that company.
• Self-employed: you have provided remote services in your own name for at least one year before you apply.

Owners and the self-employed must not work for, or provide services to, people in Bulgaria, and the self-employed must not freelance there either. Some online guides say nomads may only serve non-EU clients. The Act's wording is different: employees and owners are tested on where the employer or company is registered, and owners and the self-employed on not serving people in Bulgaria.

The UK is outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, so a UK-registered employer or company sits on the right side of that line. The Migration Directorate still checks every case on its own papers.

The income test is 50 minimum monthly wages

Article 24s of the Act asks you to prove average annual income of at least 50 Bulgarian minimum monthly wages for the previous calendar year. Gross income counts, not take-home pay.

The minimum wage has risen each year since 2024: Eurostat's minimum wage figures show €477 a month in 2024, €551 in 2025 and €620 in 2026. Eurostat rounds to whole euros, so the totals below are close estimates, not the legal figures. Bulgaria also switched to the euro on 1 January 2026, replacing the lev at a fixed 1.95583 leva to the euro. Guides written before then quote the bar in leva.

The wording ties the test to the previous calendar year, and the Migration Directorate decides how to apply it. Ask which figure it uses before you apply, and plan around the higher one if you want a safe margin. The pound figures use the European Central Bank's euro reference rate of £0.85463 on 30 September 2026, so they move with the exchange rate.

UK citizens start with a type D visa

The Foreign Office's travel advice for Bulgaria says British citizens can visit the Schengen area, which includes Bulgaria, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. That covers a scouting trip, not a move. The nomad permit is only open to people who hold a type D long-stay visa.

Under Article 15 of the Act, a type D visa is valid for up to six months, allows a stay of up to 180 days and gives multiple entries. You apply at a Bulgarian embassy or consulate, and the Foreign Office tells British citizens to check which visa they need with the Bulgarian Embassy in the UK.

Ask for the visa on the digital nomad ground. The Act says a permit is refused when the ground in your permit application differs from the ground your visa was issued on.

The document list comes from the December 2025 rules

Article 32g of the implementing rules, in force since 20 December 2025, lists what goes with the application form, both the first time and at renewal:

• a copy of your passport's photo and personal data pages, your type D visa and your last entry stamp (where one applies), with the original passport to check against;
• a receipt for the state fee under Tariff No. 4, unless you paid it electronically;
• proof of accommodation in Bulgaria;
• compulsory medical insurance valid in Bulgaria, if you are not insured under Bulgaria's Health Insurance Act;
• a criminal record certificate from your country of citizenship or usual residence, for the first application only;
• evidence that you meet the income test;
• papers that prove which kind of digital nomad you are, as set out below.

Papers from abroad must meet the Hague Apostille Convention, a bilateral treaty or Bulgaria's legalisation rules, depending on the country, and need certified translations into Bulgarian. The UK and Bulgaria are both parties to the Apostille Convention, according to the Hague Conference's status table for the convention. In the UK, the Legalisation Office adds apostilles: the standard paper service costs £45 plus postage and usually takes up to 25 working days, so build that into your timeline.

Applying takes five steps

1. Collect your documents, get the UK ones apostilled and have them translated into Bulgarian.
2. Apply for a type D visa on the digital nomad ground at a Bulgarian embassy or consulate.
3. Enter Bulgaria on the visa. The application form asks for your entry date and border crossing, and you attach a copy of your last entry stamp where the Schengen border rules give you one.
4. Hand in the application in person at the Migration Directorate or a regional directorate of the Ministry of Interior, no later than 14 days before your permitted stay ends.
5. Wait for the written decision. The rules allow 14 days, or one month more if officials ask for extra papers, which you then have 14 days to provide. Miss that deadline and the case is closed.

The permit renews once, and family can follow

Article 24s lets you extend the permit once, for one more year. File the renewal at least 14 days before your permit expires; if the decision is still pending when it runs out, you may stay in Bulgaria until it arrives. The renewal uses the same Article 32g papers, including fresh income evidence.

Two years is the ceiling on this ground. Long-term residence under Article 24g and permanent residence under Article 25 both ask for five years of lawful, continuous residence, so the nomad route alone does not get you there.

Family members can apply for their own prolonged residence permit under Article 24, item 13, once you hold yours. The documents proving the family link must be recognised under Bulgarian law.

While the permit is valid, Article 35 of the Act lets you leave Bulgaria and return without a visa. A weekend in Thessaloniki or a trip home to see family needs no visa run.

Video calls decide how much data remote work needs

Video calls are the heavy part of a remote working day. Our data usage calculator counts about 1 GB per hour of video calls. Two hours of calls a day adds up to roughly 56 GB a month on mobile data alone. The calculator's remote-worker preset, which adds social media, music, browsing and an hour of video streaming, comes to about 113 GB a month.

That makes broadband at your flat or a coworking desk the sensible base for daily calls. Mobile data covers the first weeks before your home connection is in, travel days and the odd outage. You can get mobile data plans for Bulgaria sorted before you fly; our Bulgaria plans connect to three local networks, A1 and Vivacom among them.

HelloRoam's Europe plan includes Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and the UK, so one eSIM keeps working across those borders on side trips and visits home.

For a stay of a year or two, compare a contract with a Bulgarian provider once you have your permit and an address. A travel eSIM earns its place in the weeks before that and on trips out of the country. If your plans involve more country hopping, our page on eSIM plans for remote workers covers it in more detail.

The official texts have the final word

Residence rules and fees change. Before you book a visa appointment, read the current texts on the Migration Directorate's legislation page and confirm the details with the Bulgarian Embassy in the UK. This guide explains the rules; it does not decide whether you qualify.

Tax sits outside this guide. The UK has a double taxation agreement with Bulgaria, and the UK government's living in Bulgaria guide sends tax questions to Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency or HMRC.