Working in Bulgaria

This is the mainstream employer-backed route for non-EU staff in Bulgaria. The employer applies through the Employment Agency, the labour-market test still applies unless the case is exempt, and the process is tied to residence formalities managed with the Migration Directorate.

Min salary

No single current national threshold is published on the official English route pages; pay still has to satisfy the filed contract and route conditions.

Timeline

Official sources do not publish one clean end-to-end clock for the whole route, so applicants should budget for employer approval, visa D where required, and residence formalities rather than assuming one short decision period.

Bulgaria's EU Blue Card is the high-skill route for highly qualified employment. It requires a qualifying contract or binding offer of at least six months, the route's salary threshold, and the usual supporting residence material such as travel document, insurance, and housing evidence.

Min salary

Verify the current Blue Card salary threshold at filing time; the EC immigration portal still publishes 2,609 BGN for 2023, which should not be treated as a current 2026 figure.

Timeline

The current MoI route sheet says a complete Blue Card file is examined within 7 days, while the act says the permit should be issued within 60 days from submission.

The ICT route is narrower than a standard work permit and only fits intra-group transfers to a specific receiving enterprise or group entity in Bulgaria. It is tied to a manager, specialist, or trainee role and uses its own admission rules instead of the standard single-permit logic.

Min salary

No route-wide salary figure was surfaced in the current official English sources reviewed for this update.

Timeline

The official English route guidance describes the permit decision first, then visa D, then the residence card, so applicants should allow time for each stage rather than relying on one public overall processing promise.

Bulgaria keeps a separate seasonal scheme. Work up to 90 days can run on employer registration after arrival, while work from 90 days up to 9 months needs seasonal-worker approval and a visa D, and the official English page limits the permit track to approved sectors such as tourism and agriculture.

Min salary

No route-wide salary figure was published on the official English sources reviewed for this guide.

Timeline

Up to 90 days uses employer registration only, while 90 days to 9 months uses a seasonal-worker permit plus visa D before the long-stay period starts.