Bulgaria Startup Visa and Founder Residence in 2026

Bulgaria has a statutory Startup Visa framework for third-country founders with a qualifying high-tech or innovative project. The Startup Visa is a ministry-issued project certificate; it is not itself the residence permit.

Route structure

Article 24p links the residence route to three key steps:

  1. obtain the official high-tech/innovative project certificate;
  2. obtain the required long-stay Visa D; and
  3. after Visa D, become a partner or shareholder in a Bulgarian commercial company and hold at least 50% of its capital.

The Bulgarian company's activity must correspond to the project for which the certificate was issued.

What the certificate does not replace

The certificate does not replace company registration, Visa D, the Migration Directorate residence decision, tax/accounting obligations or sector licensing. Ministry materials describe it as the high-tech and/or innovative-project certification used by Article 24p; the residence right is granted through the immigration process that follows.

ReloTide does not state a universal minimum investment or hiring threshold for Startup Visa because the current official Article 24p framework centers on the certificate, company participation and ownership requirement.

Startup Visa versus ordinary entrepreneur residence

The ordinary commercial-activity route uses a different statutory business test. Do not automatically import that route's workforce condition into Startup Visa cases.

Startup Visa versus digital nomad

A founder keeping a qualifying foreign company outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland may instead fit the digital-nomad route if the statutory remote-work conditions are met. A founder moving the venture into a Bulgarian company should analyze Article 24p.

For settlement planning, see long-term and permanent residence.

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

Official and supporting sources

Related routes in Bulgaria