Residence Permit. Registration of a Trade Representative Office.

In 2017, the law on the Registration of a Trade Representative Office for foreigners wishing to obtain a residence permit on the basis of opening a representative office in Bulgaria was amended. Whereas previously it was possible to open a representative office on the basis that in a „third“ country there was a company that carried out no activity, it is now required that the parent company in that country have a turnover. Only on this basis is it possible to obtain a residence permit in Bulgaria.

A representative temporarily residing on the territory (a citizen of the former CIS countries) wishing to obtain temporary residence in Bulgaria on the basis of a Trade Representative Office must have a registered address and collect the following documents:

1) An extract from the state register of legal entities confirming the existence of the organisation and its right to carry out entrepreneurial activity. Term: five working days. Stamp and signature of the tax authority.

2) A certificate from the State Tax Service confirming the absence of any tax debts, etc. Term: ten working days. Stamp and signature of the tax authority. (Legalisation) if there is a blue stamp, legalisation is not required.

3) A bank statement of the movement of funds for six months (from the date of issue), certified by the bank.

4) Passport and the page with the registered address, scanned and certified by a notary.

5) The minutes (decision) of the parent company on the registration (to be signed and stamped), with the general director’s signature certified by a notary.

6) A justification of the need to establish a trade representative office, setting out the aims and objectives of the representative office, certified with the stamp and the notarised signature of the head of the parent company.

7) A notarised power of attorney from the head of the foreign company to the representative, including the authority to submit documents to the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, for a term of three years (legalisation).

*Wherever the word legalisation does not appear, a translation into Bulgarian is required.