Sunny Bulgaria attracts not only for its sandy beaches, well-developed tourist infrastructure, high-quality service and budget prices. Obtaining a visa to Bulgaria for Russians practically does not cause difficulties, so that domestic tourists travel stably to the country to enjoy all the delights of relaxation in the European Union.
Despite this, travelers are faced with many questions. For example, do Russians need a visa to Bulgaria? Due to regular changes in migration legislation, this issue continues to be relevant. We will examine further what visa is needed for Bulgaria for Russians and how to get it.
Do I need a visa?
Do you need a visa to Bulgaria for Russians as of 2018 or not? Recently, media have reported that the Bulgarian side allegedly plans to issue visas to Russians already upon arrival, that is, at the airport of the aircraft's landing. This practice, however, did not become commonplace, as Bulgaria is a member state of the European Union, and this would be contrary to the rules of the EU migration law.
It is easier for Russians to get a visa to Bulgaria than a “standard” Schengen. In addition, if you have an open Schengen visa of Romania, Croatia or Cyprus, then you can visit Bulgaria for a period of not more than 90 days out of 180 maximum. A Bulgarian visa gives you the opportunity to visit in one trip also in Romania or Cyprus. Only those who have a double or multiple entry visa for Bulgaria can enter Croatia.
Do Russians need a visa to Bulgaria in 2018? Yes, definitely needed. But the important point is that a Schengen visa and a Bulgarian visa are different types of documents. The fact is that Bulgaria is a member of the EU, but is not included in the Schengen zone. So, with a Schengen visa, a congress is allowed for Russians to Bulgaria, but only from the Bulgarian to the countries of the Schengen zone there.
Moldovan citizens do not need to receive a document authorizing entry. To enter Bulgaria, they only need to have a biometric passport (civilian) in their hands. The same applies to Ukrainians with a biometric passport. In this case, you can stay in the country for a maximum of 90 days. For Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians, a visa to Bulgaria in 2018 is needed.
Visa Categories
What visa is needed for Bulgaria for Russians? There are several types of documents. You can choose the appropriate type of visa depending on the purpose of the trip, the desired duration of stay in the country and the number of entries. Short-term is issued to persons whose purpose is a tourist trip or visiting relatives.
A group visa to Bulgaria for Russians in 2018 is issued for an organized group of citizens of one state (the group must be formed before applying). Such a document gives the right to stay in the country for 30 days with a maximum of a single entry. Group transit visas can be single or double entry through Bulgaria. During your stay in the country, the composition and size of the group should not change, this will be a violation of the rules of migration law.
A transit visa is suitable for citizens who need transit (for a maximum of 24 hours) through the territory of Bulgaria in order to travel to third countries. At the same time, you can only be at the airport during the specified period. If Russian citizens arrive in Bulgaria to transfer to another flight and do not leave the transit zone of the airport, a visa is not needed. Persons who plan to obtain a permanent or long-term (one year) stay in Bulgaria are issued an immigrant visa.
What visa to Bulgaria do Russians need? Typically, travelers get a tourist short-term or long-term visa. But if the purpose of your trip is, for example, visiting relatives, you need a guest visa. Otherwise, this may be regarded as a violation of migration law.
List of documents
The standard set of mandatory documents for a visa to Bulgaria for Russians (2018) includes:
- Profile. All columns must be filled. It is filled with letters of the Latin alphabet. In the appropriate field, the application form must be personally signed by the applicant.
- Valid passport and photocopy of its first page. The passport must have the signature of the owner.
- Color photograph of the applicant (35 x 45 mm), taken on a light background. The face should occupy at least 70-80% of the picture. The photo should be taken no more than 6 months ago.
- Health insurance policy valid in the European Union. The amount of covering expenses upon the occurrence of an insured event should be at least 30 thousand euros.
- Air tickets, car documents (registration certificate, copy of registration certificate, photocopy of Green card, travel route) and driver’s license, ticket reservation confirmation.
A tourist trip involves the additional provision of a hotel booking confirmation (e-booking voucher, facsimile copy) to the visa center or consulate of Bulgaria, where the length of stay, hotel details, all arriving by name must be stated. It is also necessary to confirm the fact of payment for accommodation. You will need a certificate from the place of employment with the seal, details of the employer, indicating the position, salary of the applicant, work experience. Pensioners can provide a pension certificate. We need more evidence of the availability of a sufficient amount of cash. A current statement of the state of the account at the bank is suitable. You need at least 50 euros per day per person, but not less than 500 euros for the entire trip.
If you are planning a private visit, you also need to prepare an invitation from an individual (you need an original and a photocopy). According to all the rules, the inviting party will be able to draw up paper at the migration service in Bulgaria. Confirmation of kinship is also necessary if you are going to visit close relatives. In case of transit, a photocopy of the visa of the country of destination is needed, and if there is a visa-free regime for the applicant, then documents must be provided confirming the purpose of the trip. These may be documents for real estate, an invitation, a hotel voucher and the like.
To make a trip for business purposes, you need to provide an invitation from a Bulgarian legal entity, a letter of recommendation, a photocopy of the contract confirming the cooperation between the Russian and Bulgarian parties, other documents that certify the intentions associated with the upcoming trip. I also need a job certificate. It must be issued on letterhead, with a wet seal, the contacts of the responsible person, indicating the address, position, work phone number, salary.
Ride with children
For children (it doesn’t matter whether they are inscribed in the parents' passport or not), a second questionnaire is filled out, and a full set of documents is attached to it. In addition to the general list, you must provide the following papers:
- a copy of the birth certificate of the minor (it is advisable to have the original with you for verification);
- power of attorney if the child travels only with one of the parents or with a third party;
- copy of the main page of the principal's passport;
- relevant documents confirming death or the absence of a second parent (copy of a single mother’s book, certificate, death certificate, etc.).
If the child is older than 6 years old, then a photograph must be pasted into the parent's passport, and children over 14 must have their own passport.
Submission of documents
To speed up the process of applying for a visa to Bulgaria for Russians in 2018, the documents should be folded in this order:
- application form;
- international passport;
- photocopy of the main page of the passport for traveling abroad;
- papers confirming the purpose of the trip;
- insurance;
- booking air tickets;
- certificate from the place of employment;
- documents that confirm material support;
- copy of birth certificate, parental leave permit, if the application is submitted by a minor;
- additional papers (if necessary).
Biometric data
When submitting documents, the staff of the visa center will take biometric data from the applicant , that is, fingerprints. This is a standard procedure. Persons who, due to physical restrictions, cannot submit fingerprints, children and adolescents under 12 years old, those who have already fingerprinted in the last 59 months (all data are entered into a common database, so that they can be used by any consulate if necessary, are exempted from it )
In the latter case, however, there are exceptions. So, if you previously issued a national visa, and now you are doing a tourist visa, then you still need to submit biometric material, because these databases do not overlap. In some cases, the embassy or consulate requires that you re-submit the fingerprints, although 59 months have not passed since the previous procedure. In this case, you should not clarify the relationship - this may cause a refusal to issue a visa.
The fingerprint process takes only a few minutes. You just need to attach four fingers of one hand to a special scanner, then four fingers of the second. Next, you need to attach both thumbs. Next, a photograph of the applicant is made using a special camera. The staff of the visa center can now only add the received data to the applicant's questionnaire in the electronic system.
In 2018, fingerprinting at home is possible. Visa centers in many countries already provide this service, but Bulgaria is not yet on this list. So you still have to personally visit the visa center, if there is no reason to be exempted from the procedure.
Validity period
Short-term visas give the right to stay in the country for 90 days within 180 days from the date of entry. Entry is possible only once. The specific stay permitted in a particular case will be indicated on the visa sticker. A double entry visa “works” in the same way, the only difference is that the document gives the right to two entries. A multiple three-month visa, as the name implies, is valid for three calendar months. You can cross the border any number of times and stay in the country for 90 days. A multiple six-month and annual visa is valid under the same conditions, but gives the right to a total period of stay in Bulgaria for ninety days during the year. A transit visa to Bulgaria for Russians makes it possible to travel through the country to third countries. For each entry, you can stay in Bulgaria for up to five days.
Visa cost
Visa to Bulgaria is paid for by Russians. The consular fee is thirty-five euros; an additional service fee of 19 euros is paid. You need to pay in cash in rubles at the exchange rate on the day of application. If urgent paperwork is required, the consular fee will be seventy euros, the service fee will not change. A six-month visa (type D) costs 100 euros, and a year (also type D) costs 200 euros. If you provide paper through the visa center, be prepared to pay an additional 1368 rubles of service fee directly to the center for services.
There are intermediary companies that provide a visa application service. However, everything can be done independently. It is not very difficult, it just takes time and a little attention. A visa to Bulgaria through an intermediary company costs at least fifty euros. This amount includes consultation, assistance in filling out the questionnaire, booking plane tickets and hotels, filing papers and full support, preparing a full package of papers. Additionally paid medical insurance, as well as consular and visa fees. As mentioned above, in most cases, you should not overpay for obtaining a visa, since all documents can be prepared and filed independently. This process is not fraught with absolutely any difficulties.
Benefits and discounts
There are categories of citizens who are fully or partially exempted from paying fees when applying for a visa to Bulgaria. For Russians, this list is as follows:
- children under six years old;
- children, parents and spouses of EU citizens;
- relatives of Russians legally residing in Bulgaria;
- participants in humanitarian trips (persons who are sent to the funeral of a close relative, medical treatment that does not require urgency, to seriously ill relatives);
- students, schoolchildren and the persons who accompany them, if the group is sent for training;
- disabled people and their accompanying;
- civil servants of local, central and regional authorities who are sent on a business trip (if there are documents confirming this);
- persons who participate in sports, educational, cultural, scientific and other exchanges.
Deadlines
Visas to Bulgaria for Russians are issued rather quickly. This will take four to six days. The exact deadline depends on the city where the papers are submitted. Urgent single entry visas, transit, short-term are issued within 48 hours. You can activate the SMS informing service about the stage of consideration of documents or follow the process on the website of the migration service.
Refusal of a visa
The Bulgarian side is friendly towards our compatriots, so in most cases there will be no problems with obtaining a tourist visa to Bulgaria for Russians. In general, organized groups or those whose visas are handled by a travel agency do not worry. If nevertheless you have been refused, then you can try again by updating all the papers, especially those on which questions arose. A second application can be submitted the day after the refusal. Law-abiding citizens, upon second appeal, as a rule, are given a document accurately. The main thing is that all documents for a visa to Bulgaria for the Russians should be prepared correctly and assembled in full.
Where to apply
Visas are issued at the consulate of the country, but people who wish to submit documents cannot go there. You need to submit documents to visa centers. The powers of such institutions include receiving applications from citizens, checking the availability of all necessary documents and transferring a package of papers to the consulate. The center for issuing visas in Moscow is located at ul. Suschevsky Val, 31 \ 2 (metro station "Savelovskaya" or "Marina Grove"). Residents of the Northern capital can submit documents to the address: Chkalovsky Prospekt 7 (second floor of the Chkalovsky shopping center, Chkalovskaya metro station). In Yekaterinburg, the visa center is located at: st. Kuybysheva, 44, second floor of the Panorama (entrance to the business hotel from Belinsky Street).
Visa centers work without prior appointment. Applications are submitted on a first come, first served basis. Applicants can contact the center personally for themselves and family members (if there is confirmation of kinship). Employers can apply for a visa for employees, travel agencies for travelers, and trusted people for other people with a notarized power of attorney.
Schengen to Bulgaria
There is essentially no Schengen visa to Bulgaria for Russians, it is either a Bulgarian visa itself or a Schengen with which you can enter this country and stay on its territory for a maximum of 90 days for six months. In addition, the time spent in Bulgaria is not taken into account when calculating the duration of a trip to the Schengen countries. If the passport has both Schengen and Bulgarian visas, then you can enter and stay in Bulgaria only on the basis of the national document itself.
So, to visit Bulgaria, the Russians still need a visa. Making it simple enough. In the case of tourism, there should not be any difficulties at all, the one who is planning to visit relatives should wait for an invitation from them, and the employer does everything for employees of companies that travel for official purposes.