Issuing Bulgarian Identity Documents and Temporary Travel Documents

Attention!
The indicated terms for issuance of Bulgarian identity documents (BIDs) are applicable to the territory of the state. As there is no permanent schedule of diplomatic carriers, if Bulgarian citizens residing abroad wish to receive their BIDs faster, they can use the services of DHL.

General provisions

The documents for passport services are submitted personally within the working hours of the Consular Service of the embassy and with a time slot arranged in advance whenever the respective embassy has introduced that requirement.

Pursuant to the Bulgarian law every Bulgarian citizen can hold only one valid regular passport. Before receiving the new passport, the person is required to submit the old one to the Consular Service to be destroyed. In case the passport is lost or destroyed the person is required to present a document from the local police certifying that the document is lost, destroyed or stolen.

In case a Bulgarian identity document is lost, stolen or destroyed, the holder shall inform the Consular service within 3 days. The passport is declared invalid. In those cases the person submits an application for a new passport, and in certain extraordinary cases – a temporary passport for returning to Bulgaria.

Documents for persons under 18

In case a passport is issued to a person under 18, both parents sign the application before a consular official. The child’s birth certificate (original or copy) must be submitted too.

The signature of only one of the parents is sufficient provided that one of the following documents is submitted:

A power of attorney of the other parent notary certified – original or a copy certified by the consular official in the embassy with a translation in Bulgarian. It shall contain the consent of the other parent for the child’s passport being issued and for the child’s traveling abroad.
Explicit court ruling for depriving the absent parent from parental rights
Court ruling or statement which says that a passport can be issued to the child without the explicit consent of the absent parent
A document certifying that the other parent is dead
A document by a Bulgarian court or a foreign court affirmed by a Bulgarian one that the other parent is missing

Documents for persons under 14

In case of children under 14 neither the child nor the parents lay their signatures in the field for signature in the application form.

Receiving issued Bulgarian personal documents

General provisions

The newly issued BIDs shall be received personally by the applicant. This shall be indicated in the application in advance when filling in the respective box for reception of the document. When receiving the new document the person shall give back the previous one of the same type, if any.

Obligation to return the old passport

A passport with expired validity shall be returned to the institution that issued it within three months. The holder may keep the passport after its validity expires if the holder presents within the three-month term determined for returning the passport to the relevant institution a declaration for the need to certify foreign visas and border stamps in the passport. In this case after the declared need expires the passport shall be returned within three months.

Documents of persons under 14, under 18 and under legal disability

Documents of persons under 14, under 18 and under legal disability are received by their parents, guardians or tutors, who must be Bulgarian citizens, against signature, and their names and data are filled in.

Fines and penalties

Old documents (identity card and passport) are declared invalid and this is marked in the system of the Ministry of Interior and they cannot be used by the holders.

The Bulgarian identity documents are a property of the state. Citizens who hold passports are obliged to keep them so that they are not destroyed, lost or damaged. Citizens who lost, damaged or destroyed their passports shall pay fines as per the administrative and criminal provisions of the Bulgarian Identity Documents Act. Penalties under the Bulgarian Identity Documents Act are imposed in other specific cases too.