- What do you need to enter?
- What do you need to get a visa?
- Features of registration of children's visas
- How much does it cost to apply for a visa?
- Useful details for Bulgarian visa applicants
A beach vacation in Bulgaria is a favorite scenario for a summer vacation for many Russian travelers. Regulars in Varna, Sunny Beach or Golden Sands are well aware of all the formalities that a tourist has to go through while preparing a trip. If you are going there for the first time and are looking for information on what kind of visa you need to enter Bulgaria, please note that you have several options for possible entry into the country.
What do you need to enter Bulgaria?
The republic is a member of the European Union, but does not participate in the Schengen Agreement, and therefore the rules for entering Bulgaria for Russian citizens are somewhat different from those for countries that have signed the Schengen agreements. So, what do you need to fly to Bulgaria on vacation?
Entry into a country with tourist whole is possible for three categories of citizens:
- Holders of a national visa for Bulgaria. You can apply for it yourself through visa centers or entrust this task to representatives of travel agencies.
- Tourists who have valid visas from the Republic of Cyprus, Romania and Croatia in their foreign passports. The decision has been in effect since July 2014.
- Those travelers who have an open double or multiple Schengen visa category C. Stay on this type of visa cannot exceed 90 days during every six months.
If your passport has at the same time two or more types of open visas described above, entry into the territory of Bulgaria must be carried out on a national basis. If you have a residence permit issued by any of the Schengen countries and are looking for an answer to the question of whether you need to apply for a visa to Bulgaria in order to go there for tourist purposes, pack your suitcase without additional bureaucratic formalities. Your residence permit or category D national visa, which allows you to permanently reside in a European country, is legally allowed to enter Bulgaria, but for no more than 90 days every six months.
All visas issued by the embassies and consulates of Bulgaria to Russians are divided into four main types: short-stay, group, transit and immigration visas. As part of a tourist trip or to visit family and friends, a Russian citizen needs a short-stay visa.
What do you need to get a visa to Bulgaria?
Before buying air tickets, tourist vouchers or booking hotels in Bulgarian resorts, collect the package of necessary documents for obtaining a visa and issue it. So you can insure against material losses in case of refusal.
First of all, check the validity of your passport. At the time of the end of the planned trip, it must be valid for at least another 90 days. If you go on an organized trip through a travel agency, in addition to your passport, you will have to collect and prepare the following list of original documents:
- A completed and personally signed application form, which is offered to applicants at consulates, visa centers or on the website of the visa center. The questionnaire should be printed on sheets of A4 paper on both sides.
- Color photograph, size 3.5x4, 5 cm. The background of the photo must be light, the corners on the photographic paper must be absent, and the photo itself must be taken no earlier than six months before the moment of contacting the visa center. Remember to remove hats unless you are religiously motivated to wear them.
- Medical policy for the entire period of the trip, valid in the EU countries and covering medical expenses in the amount of at least 30,000 euros.
To the package of original documents, you will need to attach photocopies of the first page of the foreign passport containing the applicant's personal data and the health insurance policy.
If you are planning an independent trip, you will have to add to the above:
- Printouts of air or train tickets booked for the upcoming trip.
- Bank statement or certificate of purchase of currency, confirming that the applicant has sufficient funds. The rate is 100 euros per day per person, but not less than five hundred euros - for the entire duration of the trip.
- A certificate from the place of work, which indicates the length of service, position and salary of the visa applicant. The certificate must contain the signature of the head, be certified by a seal and be executed on the letterhead of the company or organization.
If the purpose of your trip to Bulgaria is to visit relatives, you can get a visa if you have an invitation. A citizen of Bulgaria or the holder of a residence permit in the republic must certify the original and a photocopy of the document in the migration department of the regional police department.
If you are applying for a visa to Bulgaria for the first time, you can count on an annual double or multiple entry visa. Repeated Russian citizens can obtain a visa valid for three years and giving the right to multiple entries.
Features of registration of children's visas
If you receive an entry permit with minor children, you will have to fill out a separate questionnaire for each little tourist, regardless of whether they are included in your passport or have their own. If the child has reached the age of 14, a copy of the birth certificate of the young traveler should be added to the package of documents, including tickets, a photo, medical insurance and a passport.
If a minor is accompanied by only one parent on a trip, a notarial permission from the other will be required to travel abroad. The possibility of the absence of a power of attorney from the second parent must be confirmed either by a certificate of his death, or by a certificate of the status of a mother or single father, or by an original certificate from the internal affairs bodies stating that the second parent is absent due to imprisonment, search, etc..d.
The validity periods of visas issued to children may differ depending on the age of the child. Children under 4 years old can get a two-year multiple-entry visa. If at the time of filing the application the young applicant is 4 years old, but less than five, a visa can be issued only for a year, no more. In the second case, a power of attorney from both parents for the departure of the child, certified by a notary and valid for a year, will have to be attached to the package of documents.
How much does it cost to apply for a visa to Bulgaria?
You can independently apply for a visa to the Bulgarian visa centers. They are open in many large Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, etc. There are no entries at the visa centers and documents are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. If you cannot personally take the package of documents to the visa center, it is really possible to instruct a close relative or family member (kinship and relationships are confirmed by a marriage or birth certificate), a representative of the company where you work (in this case, you will need a certificate on the letterhead of the organization, indicating that the applicant works there). In other cases, the authorized person must have a notarized power of attorney from the visa applicant.
The consular fee for issuing a visa in normal mode (4-6 working days) is 35 euros, in urgent, when it is issued 48 hours in advance, 70 euros. In addition, you will have to pay 19 euros for the services of the visa center. Payment is accepted by cash desks directly upon submission of documents. The cost of VC services depends on its distance from the center of the country and other circumstances, and the above-mentioned fees are not included in this amount.
The consular fee is not charged:
- from children under 6 years old,
- from close family members of Bulgarian citizens (spouses, children, parents),
- from relatives of Russian citizens living in the country legally and for a long time,
- with disabled people and their attendants,
- from civil servants going to Bulgaria on a business trip,
- with students whose purpose of travel is educational,
- with those who enter the country through various exchange programs.
If the applicant is denied a visa for some reason, the funds paid are non-refundable.
If you want to get a visa directly at the Bulgarian embassy and avoid additional costs, make an appointment by calling the consular department +7 (499) 709 92 81, but be prepared to increase the time frame for processing your application.
Useful details for Bulgarian visa applicants
If your passport expires on the Bulgarian visa, and you plan to get a new one, you will need to submit documents no earlier than seven days before the expiration of the current one.
If you do not have a Schengen visa, visas for Cyprus, Croatia and Romania or a short-stay visa, you need to apply for a transit visa for transit through the territory of Bulgaria. It allows you to leave the airport and stay on the territory of the republic for the period specified in it. Usually it does not exceed five days in one visit. Docking at a Bulgarian airport without entering the city does not require a visa.
The site of the visa centers in Bulgaria provides an opportunity to track the online status of documents submitted for obtaining a short-term visa of category C. The address of the site of the visa centers is www.bulgariavac.ru.
Do not forget about the enactment of the Federal Law on Personal Data, according to which each applicant must attach a completed consent to their processing to the package with documents. You can download the consent form on the website of the visa centers.
Any operations carried out in visa centers, whether it is the submission of documents or obtaining a passport with a visa, are performed only if the applicant and the recipient have an internal passport of the Russian Federation.
