Bulgaria Digital Nomad Residence Permit in 2026

Bulgaria's “digital nomad visa” is no longer just an internet label. Amendments published in 2025 added a statutory digital-nomad definition and a prolonged-residence basis to the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act.

The residence route is aimed at third-country nationals whose economic activity remains outside Bulgaria. It is not designed as a substitute for local Bulgarian employment or Bulgarian freelance clients.

Who qualifies as a digital nomad?

The law identifies three main profiles.

1. Foreign employee

You are employed under an employment contract by an employer registered or established outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, and provide remote services using information technology.

If the employment contract has a fixed term, its remaining term must be at least as long as the residence permit requested on this ground.

2. Foreign-company owner, manager or significant shareholder

You are a legal representative, management-body member, owner, partner or shareholder holding more than 25% of a company established outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland.

The company provides remote services using IT, and you do not work or provide services to persons in Bulgaria.

3. Established independent remote-service provider

You personally provide remote services through IT and have done so for at least one year before the application.

You must not work or provide services to persons in Bulgaria and must not carry out freelance activity in Bulgaria.

That final restriction is important: a person who wants to build a Bulgarian client base should review the freelancer/self-employment route, not rely on the nomad permit.

2026 income requirement

Article 24s requires proof of average annual gross income of at least 50 minimum monthly wages under Bulgarian law for the previous calendar year.

For a 2026 application:

  • official 2025 minimum monthly wage: BGN 1,077;
  • statutory multiplier: 50;
  • resulting annual gross threshold: BGN 53,850.

The arithmetic is 50 × 1,077 = 53,850. This amount should be recalculated for later years because the statute is formula-based.

Permit length

The prolonged-residence permit is valid for one year.

The law allows one extension for one additional year if the conditions continue to be met and the extension application is timely.

This means the digital-nomad ground is not an indefinite residence category by itself.

Visa D

The route is connected to the long-stay Visa D framework under Article 15(1).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the standard long-stay Visa D can be issued for up to six months with a right to stay up to 180 days, and a personal interview is mandatory.

Visa D is the entry/long-stay visa; the digital-nomad residence permit is a separate Ministry of Interior decision.

What evidence should a digital nomad expect?

The implementing rules and Migration Directorate procedure should be checked at filing time, but the core evidence logically follows the statutory category selected:

  • passport and Visa D where required;
  • proof of accommodation;
  • health insurance;
  • criminal-record evidence at first filing where required;
  • proof of sufficient means;
  • employment contract and employer registration evidence for the employee category;
  • corporate registration, ownership/management evidence and remote-service activity for the company-owner/manager category;
  • contracts/invoices or equivalent evidence showing at least one year of personal remote-service activity for the independent category; and
  • income evidence showing the statutory 50-minimum-wage test is met.

Do not rely on a generic “nomad letter” if it does not prove the legal category.

Can I serve Bulgarian clients?

For the company-owner/manager and personal-service categories, the statutory definition expressly excludes working or providing services to persons in Bulgaria.

That makes local Bulgarian client work incompatible with the core nomad definition used by those categories.

A professional who wants local clients should compare the freelance permit.

Can I work for a Bulgarian employer?

The nomad route is not the route for a Bulgarian employment contract.

A person hired by a Bulgarian employer should generally analyze the Single Residence and Work Permit or another employment-specific status.

Company founders

A founder of a foreign company can potentially fit the digital-nomad definition if the company is outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland, the applicant meets the ownership/management limb and the activity stays outside the Bulgarian client market.

A founder moving the business into Bulgaria should instead compare the Startup Visa and commercial-activity entrepreneur routes.

Permanent-residence planning

The digital-nomad permit is prolonged residence, while long-term EU resident status/permanent residence follows separate legal rules.

Do not assume the one-year + one-year nomad period creates an automatic permanent-residence path. Review the long-term residence guide and confirm current counting rules with Migration before structuring a settlement plan.

Return to the Bulgaria hub, browse visa types, explore Europe, and read the legal disclaimer.

Official and supporting sources

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