Bulgaria Digital Nomad Visa: Requirements, Income & How to Apply (2026)

You must be a non-EU/EEA citizen — EU nationals already have free movement and do not need this permit. The work has to be genuinely remote and paid from outside Bulgaria, whether you are a salaried employee, a freelancer, or the owner of a company registered abroad. There is no degree requirement and no fixed profession list.

The gate is income and paperwork rather than credentials. You prove a year of earnings at or above the threshold, show a clean criminal record, and hold qualifying health insurance. Bulgarian nationals cannot apply.

The floor is set at 50 times Bulgaria's monthly minimum wage. For 2026 that minimum wage is €620.20, which puts the annual requirement at roughly €31,010 — commonly rounded to €31,000. Because the number is a multiple of a wage that rises most years, expect it to climb: an older guide quoting around €27,500 was using the 2025 minimum wage before the increase and the euro switch.

You demonstrate the income over the past year with contracts, invoices, payslips and bank statements. Since the requirement is annual, a strong twelve-month record matters more than any single month, which suits freelancers with uneven billing better than a strict monthly test would.

It is a two-stage process. First you apply for a Type D long-stay visa at a Bulgarian embassy or consulate in your home country, which usually takes four to eight weeks. That visa is what lets you enter and then register for residence. Within 14 days of arriving in Bulgaria you file for the digital-nomad residence permit at the Migration Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior.

The 14-day window is strict and easy to miss if you treat the Type D visa as the finish line. Line up your accommodation proof and translated documents before you fly so you can register on time.

Bulgaria taxes residents on worldwide income at a flat 10%, the lowest headline rate in the EU, and that rate is the main reason people choose it over cheaper-to-enter neighbours. You become tax resident by spending more than 183 days in a calendar year in Bulgaria or by centring your life here. The flat rate is genuinely simple, but your home country may still have a claim on your income, so check the relevant double-tax treaty before assuming 10% is all you pay.

You can bring a spouse and minor children, but they come in through Bulgaria's standard family-reunification process rather than being bolted onto your file with a fixed income surcharge. Each dependant submits their own passport, insurance and supporting documents, and you show you can support the household. There is no per-child income figure published specifically for the nomad visa, so budget on the general subsistence expectation instead.

Among Eastern EU options, Bulgaria undercuts most on both entry income and ongoing tax. Romania's nomad visa asks for a much higher monthly income, Greece and Croatia sit above it on the income bar, and Hungary's White Card is comparable on money but taxes differently. What Bulgaria adds in 2026 that its neighbours cannot is the combination of Schengen membership, the euro, and a 10% flat tax in one place. If your priority is a low tax base inside the EU rather than a fast path to citizenship, it is hard to beat.

Because the visa is new, consular practice is still settling and processing times vary by embassy, so apply with a comfortable buffer before you want to move. The two avoidable failures are the criminal-record certificate — it must be apostilled and translated into Bulgarian, and people often skip the translation — and the 14-day registration deadline after arrival. Have your accommodation contract ready before you land. Keep a clean, complete twelve-month income record rather than a few strong recent months, since the requirement is annual and reviewers read the whole year.