How to get international protection in the Republic of Bulgaria

26.02.2022

Parents who accompany in Bulgaria their minor child, may plead for the protection of the child in their application.

 

If you are leaving Ukraine because of the military conflict and are seeking international protection from the Republic of Bulgaria, go to any of the offices of the State Agency for Refugees (SAR) or report to another government authority. In Sofia, for international protection approach the Registration and Reception Center in Ovcha Koupel District, at 21AMontevideo Street.

 

The application to be granted protection shall be filed in writing and if needed, the Republic of Bulgaria provides an interpreter or an explainer. The application shall contain personal data and the specific request to the Republic of Bulgaria. Upon the submission of the application for international protection, you will be registered in the SAR Registration and Reception Center. You must agree to report personal data, to have your photo taken and to have your fingerprints taken.

 

If you possess identity documents, these will be detained and stored in the State Agency for Refugees as long as the proceedings are on and the final decision is in effect. You will be given a registration card to certify your international protection proceedings and you must have this card all the time.

 

Parents who accompany in Bulgaria their minor child, may plead for the protection of the child in their application. The international protection proceedings start upon the registration of the application. After the registration a date for an interview will be fixed and you will be notified accordingly.

 

The interview is the most important chance to motivate your application. The interview will be conducted in the language that you have chosen or in a language that it is assumed that you speak.

 

The duration of the international protection proceedings is four months while a six-month extension is possible and, pending the conclusion and the final decision, you are free to stay in the territory of Bulgaria.

 

If you have money, after the filing of the declaration, you may get permission to choose the address of your accommodation while you pay for your individual and household expenses.

 

Over the period between the registration of the application for protection and the conclusion of the international protection proceedings, you are covered by the health insurance scheme that covers Bulgarian citizens. After the conclusion of the proceedings, the persons who have been granted international production shall pay their health insurance contribution sums.

 

Applicants for protection shall be free to access the labor market even in the course of the proceedings providing the case is not concluded within three months reckoned from the date of the filing of the application for reasons that are beyond their control.