🏠 Orientation, not forum folklore

Address Registration in Bulgaria: Which Procedure Applies to You?

“Does the rental contract have to be notarised?” Ask that in any expat group and you get three contradictory answers – and all three can be right. Behind the question sit three different procedures, with different documents and, crucially, different types of notarisation.

Pick your residence status below. You get the document list, the notarisation type and the competent authority that belong to that procedure – not to one of the other two.

Go to the status picker Discuss my situation

The actual reason for the confusion

Three procedures that keep getting mixed up

Ask about address registration in a Facebook group and you get answers from three different procedures blended together. The advice is rarely wrong – it just belongs to a procedure other than yours.

1. The address on an EU residence document
For EU, EEA and Swiss citizens. Handled by Migration, and the leanest of the three procedures.
2. A residence permit for a third-country national
Notably stricter requirements for proving accommodation – this is where the more demanding type of notarisation comes in.
3. The municipal population register (GRAO)
Permanent and current address in the population register. Only concerns people recorded in the Bulgarian population register – and it has its own prescribed form.

The most expensive mix-up: paying for notarisation of signature and content when your procedure only needed the signature – or turning up with a signature-only certification and being sent away.

Status picker

Which residence status do you hold?

Pick the status printed on your residence document. If you are unsure: the exact wording on the card decides, not how long you have been in the country.

Pick your status on the left – we will show the documents, the notarisation type and the competent authority for that procedure.

All three procedures side by side

The same information as an overview – useful if you need to forward it to someone about to buy the wrong notarisation.

Status	Competent authority	Notarisation
EU / EEA / Swiss citizen	Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior, for your new address	A notarised signature is generally enough when the owner does not attend in person.
Third country, prolonged residence	Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior	Signature AND content, certified simultaneously.
Third country, long-term or permanent residence	First the district (rayon) administration for your new address, then Migration	For the municipality: the prescribed form “Deklaratsiya po chl. 92, al. 3 ZGR”. The owner submits it in person or has the signature notarised.

None of these rows replaces the competent authority's own answer. Confirm the notarisation type before you pay at the notary – the two variants cost different amounts and are not interchangeable.

What to say at the notary's counter

Two sentences, two prices, two procedures. Which one applies follows from the status of the person who needs the address – not from the owner.

EU / EEA / Swiss citizen

Нотариална заверка на подписа.

For EU, EEA and Swiss cases, where the owner does not attend in person.

Third country, prolonged residence

Нотариално удостоверяване на подписа и съдържанието, извършени едновременно.

For third-country nationals, where the owner does not submit the declaration to Migration in person.

Confirm the variant with the competent authority first. The wrong notarisation is paid for twice and still gets rejected.

Template

Owner's declaration: a draft for the notary appointment

This draft is not a form to file. It is text the owner takes to a notary. Two legal bases are offered – delete the one that does not apply before signing.

Template · BG

ДЕКЛАРАЦИЯ
ОТ СОБСТВЕНИК ЗА ПРЕДОСТАВЕН АДРЕС НА ПРЕБИВАВАНЕ

[Изберете едно основание и изтрийте другото:]

[Вариант 1 – за гражданин на ЕС/ЕИП/Швейцария:]
по чл. 20а от Закона за влизането, пребиваването и напускането
на Република България на гражданите на Европейския съюз
и членовете на техните семейства

[Вариант 2 – за гражданин на трета държава:]
за удостоверяване на осигурено жилище по Закона за чужденците
в Република България

Аз, долуподписаният/ата:
...............................................................................
/трите имена на собственика/
ЕГН/ЛНЧ: ..........................................................
Лична карта № .................................................,
издадена на .............................. от ..............................,
с постоянен адрес:
...............................................................................

в качеството ми на собственик/съсобственик на недвижим имот,
находящ се на адрес:
гр. ............................, район ....................................,
ул./бул./ж.к. ................................................................,
№ ........, вх. ........, ет. ........, ап. ........,
кадастрален идентификатор, ако е приложимо:
...............................................................................,

правото на собственост върху който е удостоверено с:
Нотариален акт № ........, том ........, рег. № ........,
нотариално дело № ........ / ........ г.,
на нотариус ...................................................................,
рег. № ........ на Нотариалната камара,

ДЕКЛАРИРАМ:

1. Предоставям горепосочения адрес за пребиваване и давам изричното
си съгласие в имота да живеят следните лица:

1. ............................................................................
дата на раждане: ............................
гражданство: .................................
паспорт/личен документ № ....................................................
ЛНЧ, ако е издаден: ..........................................................

2. ............................................................................
дата на раждане: ............................
гражданство: .................................
паспорт/личен документ № ....................................................
ЛНЧ, ако е издаден: ..........................................................

2. Давам съгласието си горепосоченият адрес да бъде заявен, вписан и
използван като адрес на пребиваване на посочените лица пред
компетентните органи.

3. Лицата имат право да обитават имота на основание договор за наем
от ............................, сключен за срок до ............................
/ за срока на действие на договора.

4. Декларирам, че предоставените данни са верни и че съм запознат/а с
наказателната отговорност по чл. 313 от Наказателния кодекс за
деклариране на неверни обстоятелства.

Дата: ............................
Място: ...........................

ДЕКЛАРАТОР: .........................................
/подпис/

Only the owner signs. The tenants do not sign this declaration and do not need to go to the notary with them.

Before the owner signs

Keep the correct legal basis and delete the other – it determines which notarisation you need.
For a married couple, take two notarised originals or two separate declarations: if the first authority keeps the original, the second application stalls.
Enter every person with full name, date of birth, nationality and document number.
Copy the notarial deed details in full: number, volume, register number, notarial file number, date, and the notary's name and register number.

Frequently asked questions

The questions the group threads keep getting stuck on.

Does the rental contract have to be notarised?

Not automatically – it depends on the procedure. In the EU procedure the rental agreement is only one of several ways to evidence the address. For third-country nationals the requirements are stricter: proof of the right of use is typically required in original or with notarised signatures.

Is the rental contract invalid if it does not state the rent?

We are not aware of a provision in these address-registration rules that makes a lease unusable for this purpose simply because the rent is missing. Even so, a lease should identify the parties, the property, the term, the right of occupation and the rent – otherwise the question of whether it is a genuine lease comes up quickly.

Is an owner's declaration required as well?

For a rented apartment it is the safest document to have. In it, the owner expressly confirms that the named people may live at the property, use it as their residence address, and register that address with the authorities.

Does the landlord have to go to the notary together with both tenants?

No. Only the owner signs the owner's declaration. The tenants do not sign it and do not accompany them to the notary. Each adult then normally submits their own residence-document application in person.

Do I need a copy of the landlord's notarial deed?

It belongs in the safe package. The authority needs to be able to verify who signed as owner. For municipal address registration, proof of ownership or right of use is part of the document list anyway.

We are a married couple – is one declaration enough for both of us?

Only if you have two notarised originals or two separate declarations. If the first authority keeps the original, the second application is left without proof.

Official sources

The authority is always the binding source, not this page. Forms, fees and opening hours live there – and change without telling us.

Migration Directorate (Ministry of Interior)
Residence documents, applications and declarations, contact details for the competent offices.
eGov.bg – municipal address registration
Official description of the municipal service, including the document list and the form under chl. 92, al. 3 ZGR.
Sofia – municipality and districts
For the registered address it is the district administration for the apartment that is competent, not the central building.

As of July 2026. This page is editorial orientation, not legal advice. Confirm documents, deadlines and the notarisation type with the office responsible for you before your notary appointment.

The three articles behind this page, and the topics that hang directly off it.

Not sure which procedure is yours?

If your card says something other than you expected, or the municipality and Migration contradict each other, we can work out which order and which documents apply in your case.

Discuss my situation

We are not lawyers. Where it turns legal, we say so and point you on.

Last editorial review: 2026-07-26 · Procedures, deadlines and forms change. This page is orientation, not legal advice – the competent authority is always the binding source.