Significant modifications are awaiting the program obtaining a residence permit through registration of a trade representative office at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). This legalization scheme is very popular with non-EU foreigners.
The main possible changes:
- The turnover of the parent company for the last 2 years should be at least 500,000 leva (255 000 euros) per year, and it should have no tax arrears.
- Only two employees (plus family members) can be registered from one representative office instead of three.
- A sales representative must have an office. It will not be possible to register a representative office for residential real estate. The BCCI will have more powers to check the activities of the trade representative office, in particular, for the presence of business ties with Bulgarian counterparties. Violations will result in the loss of a residence permit.
We emphasize that the final version of the law may be softer.The BCCI supported some points of the amendments, and criticized some. Thus, the chamber considers an increase in the annual turnover threshold to BGN 500,000 to be discriminatory for startups and small businesses and suggests lowering the bar to BGN 100,000. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry insists on introducing a transition period of three years for already registered representative offices.
Part of the amendments to the legislation regulates issues related to the short-term stay of foreigners. Guests will be required to notify the police department of their residence address in Bulgaria within three days of crossing the border. There are other innovations, including for applicants for the EU Blue Card.
