Bulgaria: what happened to its investment route, and why people still go
The fast-track citizenship route was abolished in 2022. The country that remains is an EU and Schengen member with the lowest flat tax in the Union.
Bulgaria ran an investment route that offered permanent residence and, on a larger investment, an accelerated path to citizenship. The accelerated citizenship element was abolished in 2022 amid the same European pressure that closed programmes elsewhere.
What is left
- Permanent residence by investment in qualifying instruments — government securities and other defined categories — which survives in modified form and should be checked in its current shape.
- Ordinary routes: employment, business with substance, study, family, and residence for people of independent means.
- Citizenship by ordinary naturalisation after long residence with a language requirement, and by descent for those with Bulgarian ancestry — the latter being a real route that generates its own industry of dubious offers.
Why people go anyway
- A flat personal income tax at the lowest rate in the European Union, and a low corporate rate alongside it.
- EU and, since 2025, full Schengen membership, which changed the practical experience of living there.
- Costs — property, services and living expenses well below western European levels.
- A functioning outsourcing and technology sector in Sofia, which means there is an actual economy behind the tax rate.
What to check carefully
- The descent claims industry. Bulgarian citizenship by origin is genuine and the market around it has a documented history of fraudulent facilitation, including prosecutions of officials. Use the state channel and expect it to be slow.
- Substance for business residence. A company that employs nobody and trades with nobody does not support a permit at renewal.
- Tax residence, not just tax rate. The flat rate applies to Bulgarian tax residents, which requires actually being one — days, home, centre of interests — and your previous country will apply its own test.
The summary
Bulgaria is now what it should always have been described as: an inexpensive EU member with an attractive flat tax for people who genuinely relocate. As a shortcut to an EU passport it is finished, and the offers that say otherwise are selling the abolished version.
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This write-up is published for information only. It is not legal or tax advice and does not replace a qualified adviser in the relevant jurisdiction. Programme terms, timelines and requirements change — check them against the rules in force on the day you apply.