What EU and Schengen Status Means for Students in Bulgaria

No single student visa lets you study in each state in Europe. Each one runs EU law in its own way, and the length of your course can change the route you take. The EU Immigration Portal has a page on students for each state in the bloc. It is a good first stop before you read a school's own page.

Schengen made checks at the border lighter, but it did not turn a short trip into a right to study, so a full-time degree still needs a type D visa and a card. Our overview of student visas in Europe lets you set the routes side by side, and you can also read about study in Romania, North Macedonia or Greece.

Who Must Get a Type D Visa to Study in Bulgaria

The passport you hold and the kind of course you join set the papers you need, and the table below lays this out in short form for each case.

A visa of type A or C will not do for a degree, and a short stay on a Schengen visa cannot be turned into a card to study once you are in the country.

Inside the Bulgarian Residence Permit for Study

The card ties your stay to your course and your school, and the table sets out the rules that count most, one by one.

If you let the card lapse, you risk a fine or being sent home, so keep a note of each end date and of the papers you will need when it is time to renew.

Papers for the Mission and the Migration Office

The mission and the Migration Directorate ask for much the same set of papers, so a student visa for Bulgaria goes far more smoothly if you get them all at once and keep two copies of each.

School Papers and the Note From the Ministry

• The note from the Ministry of Education and Science, plus the school's own letter that says you have a place on the course.
• Your diploma and marks from past study, stamped with an apostille, along with a sworn translation into Bulgarian.
• Proof that you passed a test in the language of the course, which the EU Immigration Portal lists for full-time study.
• A police record from the state where you hold a passport or most often live, if you are over 18, with a sworn translation and a stamp.
• A passport that is still valid, copies of the pages with your data and your past visas, and a new colour photo.

Bank Letter, Health Cover and a Signed Lease

• Proof that you have the funds to live on and to get home, worth at least the lowest monthly wage the state sets for each month of your stay.
• Health cover that is valid in the country for the whole time the card runs, with at least 30,000 euros of cover, as schools ask.
• A lease or some other proof of a place to live, which in most cases is signed in front of a notary.
• A health check note from a doctor for the visa, which the EU Immigration Portal lists with the other visa papers.
• The slip that shows you paid the fee for this term at your school, which the permit office will want to see.

From Ministry Note to Card: The Bulgarian Route

The steps run in a fixed order, since the visa rests on the note from the ministry and the card rests on the visa you came in with.

1. Win a seat on a course: send your school papers to the school you want, sit any language test it sets, and pay the fee it asks for once it gives you a place.
2. Wait for the ministry note: the school sends your file on to the Ministry of Education and Science, which gives out the note that both the visa and the card rest on.
3. Book your visa slot: book a time at the mission in the state where you live, hand in your file in person and then sit the short talk with the staff.
4. Tell them where you live: within five days of the day you land, let the state know where you live, since the Migration Directorate wants your address from the start.
5. Ask for the residence permit: before your type D visa runs out, hand in the form at the local office of the Migration Directorate, with the letter from your school that says you study there.
6. Renew in good time: the card runs for six or 12 months, so file a new request well before each one ends, and do this each year until your course is done.

You fill in the visa form and go to the talk at the mission yourself, as staff make no exceptions to the visit in person. Then you sign the form for the card in Bulgarian at the office near you, while your school just gives you the letters you need.

What a Bulgarian Study Visa Costs

The country now uses the euro, and the law asks you to show at least the lowest monthly wage for each month you stay, with no help from the state. Some schools also set their own sum for the bank letter, so check the one that your school uses.

Fees can change from one year to the next, so check the sum at the mission and at the office for the card on the day you pay, and keep each slip in your file.

How Long the Type D Visa and Card Take

The mission sets its own pace, and you cannot ask for the visa till you have the note from the ministry, so start as soon as your place is firm. A type D visa lets you stay for up to 180 days, or up to 360 days for some short or postgrad courses.

Once you land, tell the state where you live within five days, and ask for the card well before the visa ends. If a paper is missing, the office may give you only a short time to bring it, so take the full set with you on your first visit.

Part-Time Work on a Student Card in Bulgaria

With a valid card, you can work for 20 hours a week at most, both in term and in the breaks the state sets, with no extra work permit on top of your card. Your course must stay the main reason you are there, so a job should not get in the way of your class work or your tests.

The firm that takes you on needs a proper contract and should keep a log of your hours. For a full-time job once your degree is done, read about the Bulgarian work visa and single permit, which shows how the state checks each job first.

Your Nine Months to Find Work After Graduation

Once you finish, you have nine months in which to find a job and start work, and if you want help from the state job office, you must ask to sign up with it within seven working days. To keep on working, you then need a work permit on the same terms as any other person from outside the EU.

If you land a skilled job with high pay, you may be able to ask for the EU Blue Card in place of the single permit. Plan the switch well before your student card ends, as a gap can leave you with no legal right to stay.

Bulgarian Cities With Large Student Groups

Courses in medicine that are taught in English draw a lot of students from abroad. Most of the best known schools are in the four big cities, with a few more in small towns.

Before you sign a lease, read our guide on moving to Bulgaria, which looks at where to live, how to open a bank account and what to do in your first weeks.

Mistakes That Slow Down a Bulgarian Student Permit

• Coming in on a short-stay Schengen visa for a full-time degree, when only a type D visa will do the job.
• Not telling the state where you live in the first five days after you land, which is easy to miss in a busy first week.
• Waiting till your type D visa has all but run out before you go to the Migration Directorate for your card.
• Holding health cover with too low a limit, or a plan that is not valid in the country where you study.
• Switching course on the card you already hold, when you should file a new request for the new course.
• Working more than 20 hours a week, or letting a job push your studies to one side.

How EU Helpers Fits Into a Degree in Sofia or Varna

• We check your note from the ministry, your degree papers and your police record against the mission list, so you can fix a gap in time.
• We go over your bank letter and your health cover, so the sums and the limits match what the visa and the card ask for.
• We help you get set for the talk at the mission and for your trip to the office that deals with the card.
• We keep track of your five-day report, the date your visa ends and each time you must renew, so no date slips by.
• We help you plan the move to a work permit or a Blue Card while you are still in your nine months.

You make each request yourself, and the authorities decide every case, which we say at the start. You can look at our visa approvals to date, what our clients say and the people behind our firm.

Get Started With EU Helpers

Pick the path that best fits your plans from the three below, or set up a call with our team before your first trip to the mission.

Register as a Worker (Find Jobs in Bulgaria)

If you want a part-time job while you study, or a role once you have your degree, sign up and we will help you plan both of these stages.

1. A short guide to the 20-hour cap and how it works in term and in the breaks.
2. Roles with firms we have vetted, ready for the day your degree is done.
3. Help to plan the move from a student card to a single permit for work.
4. A list of what your work permit file will need, shaped round your own passport.
5. A nudge from us well before your nine months to find work come to an end.

Register as a Worker

Register as a Recruiter / Agency

If you send students to schools in Sofia, Plovdiv or Varna, work with a team that knows the note from the ministry, the visa and the rules for the card.

1. Brief notes on the type D visa, the talk at the mission and the yearly card.
2. A review of every student's papers against what the mission wants, weeks before the talk.
3. Job leads for those of your students who plan to stay on once they finish.
4. News on each file as it moves, from the offer letter to the card in hand.
5. One person to answer what you ask, not a shared inbox that no one owns.

Register as a Recruitment Partner

Register as an Employer (Hire International Graduates in Bulgaria)

If your firm in Bulgaria takes on students for part-time shifts, or wants to keep a graduate once the course ends, we can help you meet each rule.

1. Tips on the 20-hour weekly cap and on the contracts that students need.
2. Graduates we have checked for posts that you find tough to fill from the local pool.
3. Help with a single permit or Blue Card once a graduate moves to a full-time post.
4. Joint work with your HR team on each form, so the file is whole when it goes in.
5. One contact for each stage, from the first contract to the last permit.

Register as an Employer

Why Registration Is Important

Signing up lets us check each student, partner and firm well before work starts. Your scans also stay in one safe account, which saves time when the school or the office for the card wants a paper that is missing.

Author

EU Helpers Team. We guide students, workers and firms through the rules on visas and cards in Bulgaria and the rest of the EU, and we look at this page each time the law or the lists change.

Official Sources

The state changes its rules for students now and then, so look at these sources before you act:

• Bulgaria, visas and consular fees, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: mfa.bg
• Bulgaria, residence permits, Migration Directorate, Ministry of Interior: mvr.bg
• Bulgaria, admission of foreign students, Ministry of Education and Science: mon.bg
• Bulgaria, job search and registration, Employment Agency: az.government.bg
• EU Immigration Portal, student page for Bulgaria, European Commission: home-affairs.ec.europa.eu