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Bulgaria: visas, tax & cost of living

Moving to Bulgaria as a remote worker: cost of living, the new digital nomad visa, the 183-day tax rule, healthcare and banking after the euro switch.

Bulgaria: visas, tax & cost of living
Your passport

United KingdomBulgaria

Your move to Bulgaria on a United Kingdom passport

  • VisitEasyVisa-free entry
  • NomadFairly easyNomad visa, stricter rules
  • RelocateMediumResidence with conditions

Visiting

Visa-free for up to 90 days. Travel on a passport valid for your whole stay, with a return or onward ticket and proof you can support yourself.

Passport validity:Passport issued within the last 10 years and valid for at least 3 months beyond your planned departure from the Schengen area.

Heads-up:Bulgaria became a full Schengen member on 1 January 2025, so internal EU land border checks are now lifted.

At the border:Proof of accommodation, sufficient funds and travel medical insurance may be requested.

Working remotely

Digital Nomad Residence Permit.

Income needed:around EUR 31,000 per year (50 times the gross minimum monthly wage)(estimate)

Duration:24months

Who qualifies:Non-EU remote employees of a foreign employer, owners holding over 25 percent of a foreign company, or freelancers with at least one year of experience, all earning income only from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland.

Tax and residency

You are generally a tax resident if you stay over 183 days in any 12 month period or your centre of vital interests is in Bulgaria, after which worldwide income is taxed at a flat rate estimated around 10 percent.(estimate)

The UK decides residence with its Statutory Residence Test (days in the UK plus your ties). As a non-resident you are usually taxed only on UK income; where one exists, a double-tax treaty with the destination decides who taxes what.

Practical

Currency:BGN. Cost of living:low.

Healthcare:Foreigners are expected to hold valid medical insurance for their stay and may be asked to show proof at the border.

Driving:EU and most foreign licences are accepted, though an International Driving Permit is a useful backup for non-EU licences.

Sources: Bulgarian Migration Directorate (Ministry of Interior) · National Revenue Agency (NRA) · European Commission: Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen Area · PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Bulgaria individual residence · GOV.UK: tax on foreign income · HMRC: double-taxation treaties

Estimates, not advice. Confirm with the official sources before you act.

Should you move to Bulgaria?

Here is the honest pitch from someone who has looked hard at the numbers. Bulgaria gives you the lowest cost of living in the EU, a flat 10% income tax that is the envy of half the continent, Schengen and eurozone membership, and fast internet in cities that most of Europe has never bothered to visit. Sofia has a real remote-worker scene, Plovdiv is calmer and prettier, and Varna puts you on the Black Sea. The trade-off is that everyday life still runs partly in Cyrillic and partly in cash, bureaucracy can be slow, and English thins out fast once you leave the big three cities. If you want cheap, tax-light, and inside the EU, Bulgaria is one of the best-value moves going. If you need everything in English on day one, it will test your patience.

Cost of living in Bulgaria

Bulgaria is genuinely cheap by Western European standards, and that is the main reason digital nomads keep landing here. As a rough guide to confirm against current listings, a comfortable single person in Sofia budgets somewhere around 1,300 to 2,000 EUR a month all in. A one-bedroom flat in a good central district tends to run about 600 to 750 EUR, while cheaper options outside the centre can start near 450 EUR. Move to Plovdiv or Varna and rents typically drop by 15 to 25%, with one-bedroom flats often found in the 300 to 400 EUR range. Groceries, transport, and eating out are all a fraction of Berlin or Amsterdam prices. Treat these as estimates from listing sites and cost-of-living trackers rather than fixed numbers, because rents in the desirable Sofia districts have been climbing.

Bulgaria digital nomad visa and entry

Good news that is genuinely new: Bulgaria launched a dedicated digital nomad route in late 2025, so for the first time there is a purpose-built visa rather than a workaround. It targets non-EU remote employees, freelancers with a track record, and owners of a foreign company, letting you live in Bulgaria while working for clients outside the EU, EEA, and Switzerland. Reported requirements include an annual income of around 31,000 EUR (roughly 50 times the minimum wage) documented for the prior year, and the process runs in two steps: apply for a long-stay Type D visa from abroad, then convert it to a one-year renewable residence permit shortly after you arrive. Because the scheme is so young, the exact threshold, document list, and permit length are still settling, so confirm the current rules with a Bulgarian consulate or the Migration Directorate before you book anything. EU and EEA citizens skip all of this: you can move freely and simply register your residence locally. Not sure which route fits your passport and income? Voymo’s visa-checker walks you through the options in a couple of minutes.

Tax residency and the 183 day rule

This is where Bulgaria gets interesting, and where people trip up. The headline is the flat 10% personal income tax, one of the lowest in the EU, applied to worldwide income once you are a tax resident. You generally become a Bulgarian tax resident if you spend more than 183 days in the country within a 12-month period, or if your centre of vital interests (family, home, main economic ties) sits in Bulgaria even with fewer days. Cross that line and Bulgaria can tax your global income at 10%; stay under it and only Bulgarian-source income is in scope. The catch most nomads forget is that leaving your old country is not automatic, and a tax treaty tie-breaker can still pull you back. Model your own situation with Voymo’s tax-residency checker, and get a cross-border accountant to confirm before you rely on the 10% rate, because tax for expats is exactly where cheap advice gets expensive.

Healthcare and insurance

Once you are a Bulgarian tax resident, you are generally expected to pay into the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). Self-insured people typically contribute around 8% of a declared income base, and as long as you stay current you and your dependants get GP visits, hospital care, and most prescriptions on the public scheme. Miss roughly three months of contributions and access lapses, so this is not a set-and-forget item. In practice most remote workers pair NHIF with private insurance or an international policy, because public waiting times and the language barrier make private clinics the easier option for anything non-trivial. Confirm the current contribution rate and base with the NHIF or an accountant, since the figures shift year to year.

Money, banking and settling in

The big change to know: Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026 at a fixed rate of 1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN, and the euro has been the sole currency since 1 February. Old lev bank balances were converted automatically, so if you arrive now you are simply dealing in euros. Opening a local account usually means showing up in person: EU citizens can often manage with a passport or ID, while non-EU nationals typically need a passport, proof of address, and frequently a residence permit, with banks like UniCredit Bulbank and DSK among the common choices. Many nomads run day-to-day money through Wise or Revolut and keep a Bulgarian account mainly for local admin and paperwork. One last practical note: card acceptance is good in cities, but cash still rules for small purchases and anywhere rural, so keep some on you.

Figures are estimates. Always check the official source.

Frequently asked questions

Bulgaria: is there a digital nomad visa?
Digital Nomad Residence Permit. Non-EU remote employees of a foreign employer, owners holding over 25 percent of a foreign company, or freelancers with at least one year of experience, all earning income only from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
Bulgaria: when do you become a tax resident?
You are generally a tax resident if you stay over 183 days in any 12 month period or your centre of vital interests is in Bulgaria, after which worldwide income is taxed at a flat rate estimated around 10 percent.
Bulgaria: what is the cost of living?
The cost of living is low and the local currency is the BGN. Treat any figures as estimates.
Bulgaria: do you need health insurance?
Foreigners are expected to hold valid medical insurance for their stay and may be asked to show proof at the border.
Bulgaria: can you drive on a foreign licence?
EU and most foreign licences are accepted, though an International Driving Permit is a useful backup for non-EU licences.

Terms worth knowing

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Last verified: 2026-07-25

Voymo gives general information to help you organise your move. It is not legal, tax, or immigration advice, always confirm with an official source or a qualified professional before you act.

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