Family reunification in Bulgaria: the application

Visas and residence · Last reviewed: 2026-08-23

A file with two sides

Two parties are always involved: the sponsor already living lawfully in Bulgaria, and the spouse, child or other recognised family member abroad. The decision is taken on the sponsor's file; the relative's paperwork is assessed as an annex to it. That is why the instinct to 'get a visa first and sort the rest out later' does not speed anything up and usually sends the case back to the start.

Under the procedure published by the Interior Ministry, the sponsor must hold permitted residence in the country for at least one year. A newcomer holding a first residence card cannot open a reunification case immediately; that first year has to elapse.

The sequence

1. 1

   The sponsor assembles their own file

   Valid residence permit, proof of accommodation, income records and health insurance. These four carry the decision.
2. 2

   Prove the family link

   Marriage certificate, birth certificate or custody decision, with apostille and certified Bulgarian translation where the document is foreign.
3. 3

   Lodge with the Migration Directorate

   The application goes to the Migration unit for the sponsor's place of residence. The test is whether the family will be housed and supported.
4. 4

   Visas follow the decision

   Once the reunification application is accepted and approved, family members are issued visas under a simplified procedure set by an act of the Council of Ministers.
5. 5

   Residence after arrival

   A visa grants entry, not residence. After arrival, a separate residence application and address registration is opened for each family member.

Means of subsistence: a rule, not a figure

The question 'how many euros a month do I need' has no table answer. The legislation sets no fixed amount; it requires the applicant to show they can support themselves throughout the stay without recourse to the social assistance system. The threshold is tied to the national minimum monthly wage and cannot fall below it. That wage was set at 620.20 € by Council of Ministers Decree No. 243 of 13 November 2025; for a larger family the administration may expect a correspondingly higher total.

What the family member submits

• •A copy of the passport pages carrying the photograph and personal data; the implementing regulation requires validity of at least six months from the date of application.
• •An official document establishing the family link, apostilled and translated by a certified translator.
• •Evidence of how health care will be covered.
• •For dependants, documents on the circumstances of maintenance and the need for personal care.
• •At the visa stage, the form and photographs required by the relevant consular post.

Fees

Why files fail

Refusals rarely turn on exotic reasoning. The first classic error is the reversed order — arriving on a short-stay visa and trying to open the case from inside the country. The second is accommodation that does not match the number of people it must house. The third is undocumented income; cash earnings are simply invisible to the administration. The fourth is a broken legalisation chain: an authentic original still fails without apostille and certified translation.

Frequently asked questions

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