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Unfortunately, nowadays, the problem of finding workforce and quality staff is becoming more serious and a large part of Bulgarian companies choose to import workforce from abroad.
Abroad refers to “third-country nationals”, i.e. those who are not part of the European Union, as European citizens prefer to work in countries such as Germany, France, Spain and others, where payment is much higher than in Bulgaria, and third-country nationals come to work in Bulgaria for Bulgarian salaries that are higher than salaries in their countries.
The advantages for Bulgarian employers are that these third-country nationals, when they work at a Bulgarian company, work much more, and often better than the available staff, and their efficiency is much higher, that is, they in any case pay the incurred expenses for issuing all necessary documents for their legal residence and work in Bulgaria.
The disadvantages for Bulgarian employers are that unfortunately the legislator has complicated the procedure for lawfully obtaining:
1) Work permit for Bulgaria,
2) “D” visa, and
3) Residence permit for these citizens in the Republic of Bulgaria.
In this situation, some employers take chances and hire such workers illegally, but the maximum time for entering our territory through the customs is 90 days within 180 days, and work is absolutely forbidden and the fine for the employer starts from BGN 20,000/person. Everyone says “we will not be caught”, but then bitterly regrets that they did not follow the legal procedures.
You may be wondering why you need this explanation, and the answer is that you should consider well all risks, costs and future benefits.
The legal procedure for perhaps the most affordable and secure way of hiring third-country workers/nationals is by sending them work abroad:
Obtaining a “Work permit” on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria for a period of one year, with the possibility of a further extension for a total of up to 3 years.
The first and most important condition is that you have signed a Contract with a foreign company outside the European Union (EU), such as (Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, China, Vietnam and many others). This Contract is concluded between your company and the foreign company, which, generally speaking, sends your workers to Bulgaria to work in your company for a period of approximately 3 years, from date xx/yy/2020 to date xx/yy/2023 to provide a certain type of services. It may be in construction, restaurants, fast food restaurants offering exotic foods and other professional fields.
A copy of this Contract is required, which is the grounds for accepting the persons sent to work (third-country nationals); it shall be certified by the parties to the contract with their signature and seal.
It is important to know that there is a requirement regarding the rate of Bulgarian staff employed by foreigners. For medium and small companies the rate is maximum 35% foreigners against 65% Bulgarians, and if more foreigners are needed, a solution may always be found.
A registration document legitimizing the foreign employer – party to the Contract, legalized according to the Bulgarian law. This is a certificate of current status or court registration, which is different in all foreign countries. The important thing is that this document must be notarized or judicially certified in the respective foreign country, after which it must be translated into Bulgarian by a certified translator with a notarized signature of the translator, i.e. legalized.
4 colour photographs of each foreign person 3.5/4.5 cm.
Preparation of all other documents for obtaining a Work Permit on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria is our concern.
Note that a fee of BGN 400 shall be paid to the Employment Agency bank account for each individual and then before the permits are issued.
Obtaining “D” visa is the second stage.
“D” visa entitles the foreign citizen to travel freely on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, enter and leave as many times as they want within 1 year. It will be issued after obtaining a Work Permit and may also be renewed annually. What is specific about it is that if foreign workers from a third country have a “Work permit” but do not have “D” visa, they will not be admitted to the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria after 90 days, i.e. the “Work permit” does not entitle the foreign national to freely cross the territorial border, but it is a justification for obtaining “D” visa. Here are the costs:
Foreign citizen’s medical insurance. The price is approximately BGN 200 per person for one year, but for complex medical insurance, i.e. for more than two persons, the price is lower. The company that makes this insurance necessarily issues a policy and an invoice. /It is recommended to cover a one year period/. We can help you with this type of insurance.
“D” visa fee = EUR 100 + document processing fee = EUR 25. These fees are paid at the Bulgarian Consular representation office of the respective foreign country.
A place where foreign citizens will live during their stay in Bulgaria. When coming to work in Bulgaria, these people need to be accommodated to live. A copy of a Notary Deed for an apartment/house in Bulgaria where the foreigners will live if the dwelling is the property of the Bulgarian company in which they are sent to work. Provided that the Bulgarian company does not provide its own property, then a notarized house/apartment lease agreement is required, which will accommodate the foreign nationals and a signed Declaration according to paragraph 1, item 20 of the supplementary provisions of the Law on the Ownership Act by the homeowner, declaring that he/she is renting it out. We will prepare this Declaration as needed.
Evidence of financial guarantee for the time of stay in Bulgaria for every foreign citizen. It is necessary to open an account with a Bulgarian bank in BGN or EUR and deposit a cash equivalent of approximately BGN 3000 per person. A statement of the availability of the money and the account shall be provided at the embassy. After receiving the “D” visa, the money may be withdrawn. This amount may be paid by any of the workers, if they have it, or by the Bulgarian company, as an advance payment of salary for future periods.
We may prepare all the additional documents you need, but these will be submitted personally by the foreign nationals at the Bulgarian Consular services.
Obtaining a permit for residence in the Republic of Bulgaria of foreign nationals from the Ministry of Interior; we may also represent you to this institution.
In general, all payments for one third-country worker/citizen for one year will cost you approximately BGN 1,700; please read carefully and note that a foreign worker with perfectly correct documents will cost you approximately BGN 1,700 divided by 12 months of the year, i.e. approximately BGN 140/month. This is money that may be deducted from their salary, gratuity, bonus or at your discretion, so that they will eventually get paid monthly as much as a Bulgarian worker in the same position or even cheaper, this is up to you. We however are obliged to inform you about the entire procedure, which is not easy and not cheap, but is legal and will help you have working employees available.
For a further extension to a total of 3 years, the procedure is the same, but with lighter conditions and lower end price.
Contacts: Tel. 0885 966 699
E-mail: documentexpress@abv.bg
All clients who are interested and wish to use our services may contact us at the phone number or email address shown in Bulgarian, which is the official language for all state institutions in the Republic of Bulgaria.