Bulgaria residence for pensioners: the law counts your means for the whole stay, not the size of your pension

Bulgaria sets no minimum size for the pension itself: the law asks for means over the period you are allowed to stay, and one consulate reads that as its minimum pension for each month, which for a one-year permit comes to the sum shown above. Before the visa, one consulate's checklist also wants a letter from a Bulgarian bank naming the account your pension will be paid into.

Aiming at a monthly pension figure misses what the officer counts. The Foreigners Act asks for a right to a pension, under the law of Bulgaria, your own country or any other state, and enough money to live on for the whole stay. The Act names three floors for that money (the minimum wage, the minimum stipend or the minimum pension), each over the period granted, so even a generous pension needs proof that covers the whole stay.

The minimum pension rose by 7.8% on 1 July 2026 and rises again each July, so a quote prepared earlier may use the older bar.

The two stages

First comes the long-stay visa, valid for up to six months. One consulate's checklist asks a pensioner to show a sum equal to six minimum pensions, a certificate from the pension authority, the Bulgarian bank's letter, health insurance and proof of a home; a rented one needs the owner's notarised consent to register you there. In practice that means opening the account before you file.

The migration office then grants residence for up to a year, with housing and compulsory health insurance required alongside the means.

What the state charges, and what the firm charges

To the Bulgarian state:

• The consular visa fee, then a request fee, the stay itself priced by length, and the residence card. Six months costs far less than a year; the range above covers both. A card issued within 10 working days costs double, within three working days five times as much.

To the firm and others:

• The firm's own fee on its own line, plus translations, legalisation, the notary and insurance.

Ask the firm before paying:

1. Is the quote built on a six-month or a one-year permit, and do your means cover every month of it?
2. Which minimum pension does the quote use, the one before 1 July 2026 or after?
3. Who opens the Bulgarian account, and is the bank letter ready before the visa appointment?
4. Does your home's paperwork let you register at that address?
5. If the visa or the permit is refused, or the minimum pension rises before a decision, what happens to the fee you have paid?

Holding a Bulgarian law firm's or relocation agency's quote for the pensioner permit? Say yes to the box's first question, and it is read line by line against the published rules. No quote yet: say no and type the sum you plan to show. The check compares a document or a figure with the published rules, and does not look at your application or advise on it; for advice on your own case, speak to a qualified immigration lawyer.

General information, not legal advice.