Moving to Bulgaria: Pros and Cons

Hello everyone. If you are planning to move to Bulgaria, then before making an important fateful decision you need to weigh all the pros and cons.

Please note that we do not work in the real estate and tourism industries, so the information in the video is as it is, without any distortions.

Moving to Bulgaria. Arguments “For” 

The climate in Bulgaria is perfect for a European person and is maximally comfortable for him. Mild and gentle winters, and warm, but not very hot summers. The country is located in the continental and Mediterranean climate zones. Therefore, Bulgaria offers the possibility of additional tuning to your personal preferences: if you want warmer winters, sometimes even without snow, then seaside cities such as Varna or Burgas will suit you. And if you do not really like the humid climate, then the flat and mountainous part of Bulgaria is presented to your choice. By the way, mountains occupy more than 40% of the territory of Bulgaria.

Bulgaria has well-preserved wildlife and the environment. Bulgaria has one of the richest biodiversity in Europe. It is preserved in three national parks, 11 nature parks, 10 biosphere reserves and 565 protected areas. 93 of Europe’s 233 mammal species live in Bulgaria. Fish are found in the sea and lakes, and many animals live in the forests. 

Due to the fact that there are few polluting industries in Bulgaria, the ecology is good. Bulgaria ranks 30th in the Environmental Performance Index 2018. On the interactive world map we can see the air quality right now. The higher the number, the greater the pollution. The pollution figures in the region of India are impressive, as we can see in Bulgaria the air is one of the cleanest. In Sofia, the air quality is not ideal, but there are some peculiarities. And this is the air quality in Varna. In terms of pollution by other substances, the situation in Bulgaria is also encouraging. 

Bulgaria is conveniently located in the south of Europe and borders Greece, Turkey, North Macedonia, Serbia and Romania. For example, the minimum distance from the Bulgarian border to the Mediterranean Sea is about 50 km, and to Vienna 900 km. The airports of Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Bucharest, Istanbul are accessible…

Bulgaria has a well-developed network of roads, good quality. Bulgaria offers railway and road transport in good condition and at reasonable prices. Also in Bulgaria taxi prices are comparatively low. 

A Slavic language that is close in spelling and understanding. Bulgarian is the only language in the European Union that uses the Cyrillic alphabet. Many words have the same meaning. It is easy to communicate in Bulgaria even for a person who does not know Bulgarian. Because in Bulgaria, Russian was a compulsory language to study in the school curriculum during the Soviet era. Therefore, older people probably know or understand Russian. And even now, Russian-language films with Bulgarian subtitles are often broadcast on central TV channels. And sometimes Russian pop music is played on the radio. In terms of language, Bulgaria again offers you a choice. If you do not want to completely leave the Russian-speaking environment, the same Varna is at your service. And vice versa, if you want more foreign countries, then you should choose a place to live not on the Black Sea coast. 

Bulgaria is a country with a very loyal attitude towards foreigners, including Russian speakers. It often happens that the interlocutor switches to Russian himself. At first, we joked that we would not learn Bulgarian this way. People move to Bulgaria from countries such as Germany, Great Britain, Israel, the USA.

People in Bulgaria are similar to us in appearance and mentality, which helps, especially at the adaptation stage. But in general, people are more polite, tolerant and friendly, and there is no such aggression. You will not see a drunk or so-called gopniks on the streets of Bulgaria. In Bulgaria, in public places or on the streets, you are unlikely to hear swearing. In Bulgaria, it is not customary to pester strangers on the street, although this does not apply to tourist places. Also, in general, animals are treated more humanely. This can be understood by the cats and dogs on the streets, who behave languidly.

Bulgaria is a safe country. Of course, there is no absolute safety anywhere in the world, but still this is proven by our feelings after living in Bulgaria for many years, and impartial statistics. According to the most recent data for 2020 ( Crime Index for Country) , Bulgaria has a safety index of 38.55, which is higher. And crime is lower than in Belgium 45.29, Great Britain 44.54, Italy 44.24, Ukraine 48.84, Russia 40.60, New Zealand 42.19, Australia 41.67, Canada 40.64, Greece 41.30, USA 47.70, France 47.37 and many other countries. 

Bulgaria has a stable currency – the lev. The lev exchange rate has been tightly tied to the euro for 20 years! In the near future, Bulgaria plans to switch to the euro. Also, living in Bulgaria and having official status, you can apply for a housing loan. So, interest rates for people with permanent residence and citizenship status are now about 3% per annum. For holders of temporary residence status, it is slightly higher.

Bulgaria is a country with an ancient and long history and a large number of attractions. There are 10 UNESCO World Heritage Sites here. 

In general, the quality of education in Bulgaria is higher than in the former CIS countries. There is a lot of educational material for practical life, for example, even in schools they develop the basics of entrepreneurship. Also, a diploma obtained in Bulgaria is recognized in more countries.

A clearer system of health insurance. For permanent residents of Bulgaria, the insurance includes basic types of assistance, including dentistry.

There is almost no corruption at the everyday level in Bulgaria. If you are stopped by the traffic police, it is unlikely that they will pickle you just because you are a foreigner. If everything is in order, you will quickly continue on your way with all your money. 

It’s trivial, but Bulgaria is the only country in the European Union where it is easiest for our people to move. Especially if you do not have ancestors of the required nationality. In many other EU countries, the immigration process is more complicated, more expensive or longer. It often happens that there is no guarantee that immigration will take place at all. For those who have moved to Bulgaria, there is also a clear prospect, having lived for a certain time. This is the so-called naturalization. The time lived depends on your initial official status. Obtain Bulgarian citizenship and then you will have the opportunity to live and work in any EU country.

Moving to Bulgaria. Arguments “Against”

You have probably already heard about the arguments for moving to Bulgaria. And now I will tell you about what is not talked about or is hushed up, about the arguments “against” moving to Bulgaria. And let’s start with the most important argument.

If you fall into one of the categories: “well-off pensioner” with a pension sufficient to live in Bulgaria. A freelancer who works from home and is not physically tied to the employer’s office. You are the owner of your own business, which you can manage remotely. You own real estate at home that you can rent out. Then moving to Bulgaria is highly desirable for you. Bulgaria is the country for you! And you can skip the next 5 paragraphs. The only thing is that you should have some safety margin in case of a possible change in exchange rates not in your favor.

But what if you don’t fit into these ideal immigrant categories? What do you do then?

Firstly, when moving to Bulgaria on the most common grounds, namely: “wealthy pensioner” and “company representative”, you will not have the right to officially work. And you will have to live on something. But you will have new and considerable administrative costs for the annual renewal of the residence permit status. In Bulgaria, in practice, the right to work is given only by official statuses: permanent residence and citizenship. Today I will not tell you about official statuses in Bulgaria and how to get them, this is a big topic for a separate article. 

But even if you are lucky and find a job, then taking into account the additional expenses that arise and the basic living expenses (what they are, you can find out from my video at the link in the description under this video). Most often, it will be just making ends meet, there can be no talk of any prosperity, unless of course you are hired as a director of a large corporation.

In practice, even an average, not minimum wage, will not cover your increased expenses, and you will have to economize, even on food. Are you ready for such challenges?

There are, however, some exceptions for people with a temporary residence permit, but I will talk about them a little later. Continuing with the economic arguments “against”. I will note that in Bulgaria you must pay for health insurance regardless of your status, the difference will be in the amount of payment. 

There is one option for holders of a residence permit, as well as for everyone else, to earn income in Bulgaria. This is to open your own business by registering your company. Here you may say: “That’s great, now we’ll open our own business in a new country, and then we’ll get going.” But I want to disappoint you, it’s not that simple. The Internet is full of stories of people coming to Bulgaria with money, and a lot of it, opening a cafe, restaurant, store, other business, seemingly doing everything right, according to science, but it didn’t work out, the money was wasted and an inglorious return back to their homeland. The sums were wasted from thousands of dollars to several hundred thousand. And these are not exceptions to the rule, but rather a trend. The reality is that the vast majority of businesses opened by migrants closed. Only isolated cases survived. Where the business owners had extraordinary abilities, a ready-made business model that worked for Bulgaria, the absence of strong competitors, and luck, there’s no way without it.

Why did it happen that emigrants’ businesses closed?

The reasons are individual in each case, but there are also common reasons. The first reason is the small market. Imagine that the entire population of Bulgaria is smaller or comparable to one large region in your country. And in reality, there are even fewer people living there than are listed in the census. After all, many people work, live and spend their money in other EU countries.

The second reason. This is the low purchasing power of the population, due to relatively low salaries and pensions. People simply do not have extra money. All expenses are calculated in advance, a very large percentage of the population lives in debt.

The next reason. It is high competition, there are practically no unoccupied niches, even if you are a genius and come up with such a niche, you will be quickly copied. The next reason is the relatively strict tax legislation, which is constantly being tightened. For example, a store can be closed and sealed just because a few extra stotinki are found in the cash register. Recently in Varna, a 95-year-old grandfather was sentenced to 3 years with confiscation of half of his property for tax evasion. He simply lent people money in the wild 90s and did not pay taxes.

If you open a company, you should keep in mind that the threshold for transferring to VAT in Bulgaria is tiny, only 25,000 euros per year and not calendar, but arbitrary. Having become a VAT payer, you need to pay 20 stotinki from each leva of turnover, and then from what remains, you still need to pay 10% of the profit. Add monthly various insurances, rent of an office, premises or store, utilities, accounting services, etc. Also, in Bulgaria, banking services for business are more expensive (monthly tariff from 12 euros).

Each payment through the bank is paid, regardless, both within the country and within one bank. By the way, opening a company in Bulgaria is easy, fast and inexpensive. But closing it will take a long time, be difficult and expensive. In Bulgaria, the tax office monitors platforms such as OLX, Avito. It also monitors courier companies. If you sell something and the amount exceeds a certain value, the tax office will call you and offer to pay taxes. So we strongly do not recommend the topic of opening a business in Bulgaria. It will be much easier, simpler and more profitable to open your own business at home. Where you perfectly know the native language, mentality and tastes of the client, the pitfalls of doing business, laws, having a much larger market at your disposal and other advantages.

And remember, this is a foreign country. If something goes wrong, you’re unlikely to qualify for any social assistance.

I will sum up the economic part of the “cons”. Bulgaria is a wonderful country where it is good to live and… spend money. But under no circumstances to earn money. 

Despite the similarity of languages ​​and spelling of words, in practice it turns out that in words that are spelled the same, at best the stress will be different. Or it may have a completely different meaning (work Russian – work bg., monitor Russian – monitor bg., bus Russian – bus bg.). For example, words like: pravova bg. – straight ahead meaning Russian, stol bg. – chair meaning Russian, zhivot – life meaning Russian.) Despite the apparent simplicity of the Bulgarian language at first glance. Learning it in practice is difficult, because there are significant differences. A lot of Russian-speaking people living in Bulgaria, having lived for many years, still have not learned the Bulgarian language at a passable level, and not necessarily because they did not study, they simply could not. You also need to take into account. That the older a person is at the time of immigration to another country, the harder it is for him to learn a new language. This rule also applies to the entire process of adaptation in a new country. 

Oddly enough, we did not find any more arguments “Against” than “Economy” and “Society”. Even if a person says that something else was the reason for returning to their homeland. If you dig deeper, it still turns out that the argument “Economy” and/or “Society” were the primary reason for returning back.