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VT Bulgaria Ltd. endeavors to provide an independent and competent legal advice concerning all aspects of property purchasing and other legal matters as follows:
ENTRY TO BULGARIA:
In relation to Bulgaria’s entry to the EU this year, the Bulgarian government adopted a new law for EU citizens residing in Bulgaria. It came into force from the 1st of January, 2007 when Bulgaria joined the European Union. The law makes a distinction between EU citizens and nationals of other countries. For the latter, all previous regulations remain unchanged. For EU citizens the following regulations apply:
Up to 3-months stay: EU citizens can stay in Bulgaria within 3 months just with their ID card or passport.
3 months to 5 years: EU citizens can reside in Bulgaria for over 3 months if they have received a Certificate for Long-Term Residence issued by the Bulgarian Police. This document allows stay for up to five years and applies to EU citizens working under contract in Bulgaria or self employed. Self-employed is considered a person who is a company owner or shareholder, the company needs to be Bulgarian registered. They need to prove they are capable of meeting the financial expenditures of their stay in the country and also to have a health insurance.
Over 5 years: EU citizens can receive Certificate for Permanent Residence if they have resided in Bulgaria for the past 5 years. This Certificate is also issued by the Police and applicants must meet the same criteria as that is required for Long-Term Residence.
The new certificates are not like the old ID cards for foreigners or like the present BG ID cards. They do not have a picture of the holder, nor do they give the national identification number (EGN in Bulgarian). The document contains only the name, sex, date of birth, date of registration, date of expiry and a police stamp.
In order to identify themselves, EU citizens residing in Bulgaria must show their passport or ID card and verify their stay in the country with Certificate for Long-Term Residence or Permanent Residence.
Besides the new documents being issued to EU citizens, one other change in the law applies to any members of their families who are not citizens of an EU state. The new rules provide for these family members to be issued with residence card “for long or permanent stay in Bulgaria”. The term of the stay of the person who is not a EU citizen, depends on the period of the stay of the member of the family, who is a EU citizen.
There are other conditions applicants may meet in order to stay in the country for a long term or permanently, for example being enrolled in school or university. For additional information please ask at the National Police Service Migration Directorate, or use the services of a competent solicitor.
COMPANY SET UP
At
present foreigners can own buildings but not land in Bulgaria. Foreigners can
only own land by registering a company in Bulgaria, which then acquires legal
ownership of the land. Most often the company is set as a Limited Liability
Company (Ltd).
We can prepare the necessary documentation and register a company in your name
in Bulgaria for 400 EUR. This fee includes all state fees, translation of documents, notary taxes, company stamp. After these fees are paid you need to open initial company bank account and deposit 5000 leva
(approx. 1800 pounds) in it. This amount is required as an initial capital for
the registration of the company, it is refundable and can be withdrawn in full
as soon as the registration of the company is completed. The whole process
usually takes about 2-3 weeks.
All the information required for the company registration is: passport details and address of the shareholder(s), company name and an address in Bulgaria where the company will registered. For initial company address our clients can use VT Bulgaria’s office address, but as soon as the company is formed and has acquired a property, we require for the company address to be moved to the address of the property. The moving of the company address is charged additionally at 200 EUR.
PROPERTY PURCHASE:
The procedure for buying a property is very simple and only takes two steps – placing a deposit and signing a final notary deed.
Preliminary
contract
The preliminary contract contains all of the agreed details (term for signing
the final contract, description of the property, selling price, etc.) and states
the deposit paid. The deposit is normally 10% of the selling price, but in some
cases you can reserve a property with less than 10% (500 EUR for example).
The deposit is not refundable if you decide not to buy the property. We
act on your behalf and do all the checks regarding title deeds, permissions,
licenses, debts on the title etc. You can use your own solicitor if you already
have one arranged.
Notary deed
The notary deed is the final document for ownership of the property which is basically a contract between the seller and the buyer for the sale of the real estate. This deed is issued by the notary and is stamped by the Registry Office, sent to the local Townhall, Tax Administration. A copy is kept in the notary’s office as well. The Bulgarian notaries are an independent legal institution that witness deals for transferring of ownership and legalize signatures. They do not act on behalf of the buyer or the seller. If you are not present when the notary deed is signed, you have to authorize someone to act on your behalf and sign the deed for the property.
The transfer of the ownership of the property is subject to notary and municipal fees. These fees are paid on the value of the property stated in the notary deed and are approximately 3% of the value of the property stated in the final notary deed.
Please contact us for more information.