Since Bulgaria became a part of the EU in 2007, it has given tens of thousands of Bulgarian passports to non-nationals seeking citizenship. This was introduced in a bid to combat the country’s large demographic shortfall.

It has been announced that following some amendments to the Act on Bulgarian citizenship, more than 30,000 people will be approved for Bulgarian citizenship each year.

Since 2002, over 40,000 people have applied for citizenship, from various countries including Moldavia, Russia and Serbia. There are still over 50,000 people on the waiting list. The authority to issue the certificates of nationality is now solely controlled by the Agency for Expatriate Bulgarians; this is to reduce the forgery of documents and middlemen can’t sell fake documents to unassuming people.

The availability of citizenship gives persons of other nations the opportunity to live, work and travel throughout Europe and in the first six months of 2010, over 9,500 applications for Bulgarian citizenship were approved.

For minors, the application must be filled out by both parents or their legal guardians. They must also countersign the documents. Any parents of minors who have been deprived of their parental rights will not be required to give authorisation.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Bulgaria, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Bulgaria Property Buying Guide’