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Migration and Home Affairs
  • 1 April 2025

Trainee in Bulgaria

Are you a non-EU citizen wishing to carry out a traineeship in Bulgaria? You can find information below on the conditions to fulfil and procedures to follow, as well as the rights you can enjoy during your stay.

Conditions

You may come to Bulgaria as a trainee if you have an employment contract for doing traineeship with a local employer. You do not need a work permit.

You must obtain:

  • a long-stay visa (“type D”), if needed; and
  • a residence permit.

Procedures

Where and how to apply

Visa

Once you have signed a labour contract for doing traineeship with a local employer, you must obtain a visa "type D" at the Bulgarian embassy or consulate in your home country.

Residence permit

Once you have arrived in Bulgaria with your valid visa (in case you need a visa to enter the country), you must also obtain a residence permit from the Migration Directorate.

Documents required

To obtain a visa, you must submit the following documents:

  • document for paid state fee under Tariff No 4 on the Fees Collected in the System of the Ministry of Interior under the State Fees Act;
  • photocopy of the page of the transborder travel document containing the photo, the personal data, the entry visa and the stamp of the last entry in the country;
  • signed labour contract for doing traineeship with a local employer;
  • accommodation;
  • health insurance.
Duration of validity of permitsThe duration of your residence permit is aligned to the duration of your labour contract for a maximum of one year.
Further requirementsAfter you arrive, you have five days to notify your address of residence to the competent authorities.
AppealsDecisions related to researcher permits can be challenged before local administrative courts within 14 days.
Further informationN/A

Rights

Change of status

To obtain the right of prolonged residence and a prolonged residence permit of the “Single residence and work permit” type, an application, accompanied by the following documents, shall be submitted:

  1. a copy of a valid passport or a document replacing it, containing the pages of the photo, the personal data, the visa under Art. 15, Para. 1 of the Law on Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria (where required), and the stamp for the last entry into the country. To verify the authenticity of the copy, the original passport or document replacing it, shall also be presented;
  2. evidence for available housing;
  3. compulsory medical insurance, valid on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, when the person is not insured under the Law on Health Insurance;
  4. a criminal record certificate issued by the state of which the third-country national is a citizen, or by the state of his/her usual residence - upon initial submission of the application.

The Migration Directorate shall attach to the application the copy of the written decision for employment, issued by the Employment Agency, received ex officio.

Family membersProlonged residence permit may be obtained by third-country nationals who hold a visa under Art. 15, Para. 1 of the Law on Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria and are members of the family of a third-country national: 1) who has received a prolonged or permanent residence permit, or 2) who has received international protection — where the documents certifying the family relations and the right to maintenance have been recognised or admitted for execution under the Bulgarian legislation. For this purpose, an application for family reunification should be submitted to the Migration Directorate or the relevant Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior by the third-country national with a residence permitted for at least one year on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Long-term residence

Long-term residence status shall be granted to a third-country national who has resided legally and without interruption on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria within 5 years before submitting the application for a long-term residence permit. After its acquisition, the status of long-term residence is permanent, insofar as no grounds have arisen for its revocation under Art. 40 of the Law on Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria.

When calculating the specified period of residence, only half of the residence time of the third-country nationals as students, pupils or trainees is taken into account on the grounds of Art. 24c of the Law on Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria.