Long-term residence of citizen of the European Union
The main weakness of the certificates for temporary residence is the too short term of validation. This makes them completely inapplicable for citizen of the European Union who tend to start working or to receive education in Bulgaria. Because of that the legislature has foreseen the issue of certificates for long-term residence. They are valid for up to 5 years and are issued to citizen of the European Union work in the Republic of Bulgaria as an employee or are self-employed, have medical insurance and enough funds to cover their expenses and the expenses of their family for their residence (in order for them to not need funds from the social assistance system) or participate in education by an educational establishment.
As an employee or a self-employed person is considered every citizen of the European Union who has been an employee or a self-employed person in the past but now is:
1. temporary unfit for work because of illness or accident;
2. registered at the National Employment Agency as unemployed after being employed for at least one year;
3. Registered at the National Employment Agency as unemployed after their employment contract with length up to one year has been canceled or after their employment contract with length more than one year has been canceled within the first 12 months; or
4. Has begun a professional education related with their profession when the employment contract has been canceled by their means or has begun education unrelated with their profession when their employment contract has been canceled by the means of their employer. That status holds true up to six months or until the end of the education.
The procedure for issuing the certificate for long-term residence has to be initiated by the person – citizen of the European Union or by his proxy, by handing an application to the Bulgarian Migration Directorate. The application has to be handed up to three months after crossing the Bulgarian borderline and has to contain the following documents in it:
- Copy of a valid ID or passport
- Document for paid state fee in amount of 18 leva
- Copy of a document verifying the circumstance on top of which the certificate will be issued (employment contract, medical insurance, etc.)
Up next is to examine the procedure about the residence of the other family members. The family members who are also citizen of the European Union can receive a certificate equal to the certificate we already mentioned. On the other hand, family members who are not citizen of the European Union can receive a card for residence of family members of the citizen of the Union. The card for long-term residence is issued within a month after handing an application to the Bulgarian Migration Directorate. The application has to be handed up to three months after crossing the Bulgarian borderline and has to contain the following documents in it:
- Copy of a valid passport;
- Document verifying the membership of the family;
- Document for paid state fee in amount of 18 leva
The Certificate for long-term residence is issued in the same day in which the application has been handed. The applicant may declare that he/she wants the certificate to be issued in the form of a card. That card will be issued within three days. During that period she applicant will receive a Certificate for short-term residence which will be valid until the card is issued. In order to get the Certificate as a card, the applicant has to add a document verifying his/her address to the application.