🧭 Your move and your company as one project
Relocate to Bulgaria as an entrepreneur
Your personal move and your business setup belong together. This page puts the business and practical steps in order and shows where legal, tax or immigration advice becomes necessary — so you can engage it before it's urgent.
For entrepreneurs, freelancers and founders who genuinely intend to live in Bulgaria and work from there. This page is not written for a move without a business behind it.
Starting point
What are you moving to Bulgaria?
The three cases look similar from the outside and run completely differently. Pick yours — what it depends on appears below.
Pick what is actually moving, on the left — this is where you will see what it depends on.
Yourself
Residence, address and local registration
You move; the business stays as it is for now. Then it is mainly about residence formalities, your residential address and registering locally.
Your business
Company, banking, accounting — without moving yourself
If you are not moving to Bulgaria yourself, this is not a relocation project. Forming remotely and building a local site or team each have their own page, which answers those questions properly.
There is a better-matched page for this
Both
Plan the personal move and the company setup as one project
The most common case on this page, and the only one where residence, management and company genuinely end up in the same place. Whether the company is new or already exists is a question the form asks.
Do you know where in Bulgaria yet?
Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas differ materially as business locations — and where you live and where the company operates do not have to be the same place.
The order matters
A move rarely gets expensive because a step is missing. It gets expensive because a step happens too late. The sequence below is the order in which the steps actually depend on each other.
Before you move
Everything that is only fixable afterwards at a cost.
Step 1: Clarify the starting point
Decided by: You decide
Where do you live today, what kind of business do you have, and what will actually take place in Bulgaria? Without those three answers every later question is guesswork.
Step 2: Plan the business structure
Decided by: You decide
A new EOOD or OOD, an existing foreign company, a subsidiary or self-employed activity — the choice decides the documents, the accounting and what actually moves.
Step 3: Plan the personal move
Decided by: Authorities and banks decide
Which formalities apply to you depends above all on your citizenship and your personal situation. The three routes differ fundamentally — the next section goes through them one by one.
Step 4: Sort out the addresses
Decided by: You decide
Your residential address and the company's registered office are two different things with two different procedures. They sometimes coincide, but never automatically.
Setting up on the ground
The steps that need you — or a power of attorney — in Bulgaria.
Step 5: Register the company
Decided by: Authorities and banks decide
Documents, the notary appointment, the Commercial Register entry and the operational steps after it. The formation page describes the process in full — here it only sits in its place in the sequence.
Step 6: Prepare for banking
Decided by: Authorities and banks decide
Relocating does not automatically produce a business account. The bank runs its own review and decides for itself. One advantage remains: residence and banking appointments can often be planned into the same period.
The first 90 days
What has to be running once the company exists and you are there.
Step 7: Set up accounting, VAT and payroll
Decided by: Specialist partners provide
Registration does not finish the company — it makes it subject to bookkeeping obligations for the first time. Who takes on the ongoing duties should be settled before that happens.
Step 8: Complete residence and local admin
Decided by: Authorities and banks decide
Residence documentation, your registered address, health and social-security questions, and the registrations that are only possible once you are there.
The sequence is yours to control. Residence documentation, bank onboarding and every registration that needs formal approval remain the decision of the responsible institution — at its own pace.
The personal move: three different routes
Residence rules do not compress into one checklist. Which documents you need depends on which of the three cases you fall under — and that is decided by the competent authority, not by this page.
EU, EEA and Swiss citizens
A longer stay requires registration or residence documentation under the applicable Bulgarian procedure. Which evidence is required depends on your status — for example employment, self-employment, or sufficient resources together with health insurance.
Framework per the authority
According to the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior, EU citizens may stay in Bulgaria for up to three months on a valid identity card or passport; for a longer stay, the relevant residence documentation must be applied for. The EU-level guidance on Your Europe describes the same three-month framework and notes that the required documents differ by status.
Non-EU citizens
A different body of law applies: the visa, the ground for residence and the supporting evidence are assessed individually. These questions should be settled before contracts are signed or moving dates are fixed — that needs specialist advice, which you engage yourself.
Accompanying family members
A partner and children do not automatically follow your status. With mixed citizenships, two different procedures can run for the same family at the same time. That belongs in the planning, not in the weeks after the move.
This page organises the procedures; it carries out none of them. Start in BG does not advise on residence law, does not file applications, does not refer firms and makes no promise about the outcome.
Official sources
The authority is binding, not this page. Document lists, fees and procedures live there — and change without telling a website.
- Migration Directorate (Ministry of the Interior)
Residence documents, applications and declarations, plus the competent offices.
- Your Europe — residence in another EU country
EU-level guidance on residence rights and registration for EU citizens.
Moving from Germany or another EU country?
Then registering a Bulgarian company is not the whole job. Four questions decide considerably more than the registration — and they are answered by facts you are in the process of changing.
- Where will you actually live from now on?
- Where will the company's decisions actually be made?
- What happens to your existing residence — do you keep it or give it up?
- Which country's social-security system will apply to you afterwards?
Cross-border tax and social-security consequences should be reviewed before the move rather than after it — by suitably qualified advisers, not by us. What we do is plan the sequence so that review happens in time.
Further reading
Who does what
A relocation touches areas where we are deliberately not the party performing the work. The three columns are here so it is clear up front who you are engaging for what.
Project management — somebody has to own itOrder, schedule and handovers between everyone involved.
Specialist partners provideReview their own part and state what they need for it.
Authorities and banks decideSet the deadlines and opening hours the plan has to fit around.
Project management — somebody has to own itPreparing the formation, the documents and the appointments.
Specialist partners provideNotarial acts and translations.
Authorities and banks decideThe Commercial Register decides on the entry.
Project management — somebody has to own itGetting the registered office and aligning it with the residential address.
Specialist partners provideLandlord, notary and the bodies that certify documents.
Authorities and banks decideThe municipality or district decides on the address registration.
Project management — somebody has to own itPreparing documents and organising appointments.
Specialist partners provideTranslations and certifications where the bank requires them.
Authorities and banks decideThe bank decides on its review and on opening the account.
Project management — somebody has to own itSelecting an accounting firm and handing the work over to it.
Specialist partners provideThe accounting partner takes the engagement, the filings and the responsibility.
Authorities and banks decideThe tax administration decides on registrations and audits.
Project management — somebody has to own itFinding specialist advice and scheduling the appointments.
Specialist partners provideImmigration advice and representation.
Authorities and banks decideThe migration authority decides on residence documents.
Project management — somebody has to own itAsking the questions while the facts can still be shaped.
Specialist partners provideTax advisers in both countries assess the case.
Authorities and banks decideBoth tax administrations decide how it is treated.
Project management — somebody has to own itSettling the question before the move, not after it.
Specialist partners provideSpecialist advice establishes which system applies and what evidence is needed.
Authorities and banks decideThe social-security institutions decide on the assignment.
Project management — somebody has to own itAn overview of what is needed, when, and by whom.
Specialist partners provideCertifications, apostilles and translations.
Authorities and banks decideDetermine which form they accept.
Project management — somebody has to own itKeeping open decisions visible until they are made.
Specialist partners provideAdvise within the scope of their engagement.
Authorities and banks decideMake the official decision, which no service can substitute for.
Specialist services are engaged and invoiced separately. What Start in BG performs itself and what third parties charge for is stated in the proposal before anything is commissioned.
What this page does not cover
This page is deliberately narrow. For the items below you need specialist providers — and it is better to know that beforehand than in the middle of a move.
- Immigration advice or representation in an application procedure.
- Tax advice — neither in Bulgaria nor for your country of origin.
- Property brokerage, house hunting as an agency service, or listings.
- Promises about residence permits, tax residency or processing times.
- Removal companies, school and leisure guidance, or general expat concierge services.
- Binding rulings on social security or on which law applies.
Where a move needs one of these, this page names it. Nothing is referred: Start in BG is paid for no recommendation and therefore has no reason to point you at a particular firm.
Common questions about relocating as an entrepreneur
The questions that come up first in almost every initial call.
Do I have to move to Bulgaria for a Bulgarian company to be worth it?
No — but that is the wrong question. Whether a Bulgarian company does what you expect of it depends, among other things, on where you live and where the business is actually managed from. If you stay abroad and run everything from there, clarify that with qualified tax advice first. If you genuinely relocate, residence, management and company end up in one place — which is why this page exists.
Can I form the company first and deal with residence later?
Technically yes — forming a company does not require Bulgarian residence. In practice that order often creates rework: banking, accounting and address registration all ask for evidence that depends on your residence situation. Planning both strands together is better, even when they are executed weeks apart.
Does Start in BG apply for my residence documents?
No. This page does not advise on residence law and represents nobody in an application procedure. It orders the process and says what can be prepared and what cannot. The advice comes from a specialist firm, the decision from the Migration Directorate.
I already have a sole proprietorship. Does it have to move with me?
That is one of the first decisions and not a formality. An existing business can keep running, be wound up, or be replaced by a Bulgarian company — each with different consequences for contracts, customers, VAT and social security. We lay out the options and bring in the right specialist for the tax assessment.
How long does the whole relocation take?
We do not publish an overall duration, because the longest parts are not ours: authority appointments, the bank's review and the migration authority's processing follow their own pace. Company registration is the only part with a defensible planning range, and it is stated on the formation page.
We are moving as a family. Does that change anything?
Yes, in several places. Accompanying family members go through their own procedures, and with mixed citizenships sometimes different ones. Health insurance and the registered address are settled per person. None of that changes the business side, but it changes the schedule — which is why the form asks.
Who wrote this guide
Legal, tax and relocation information carries more weight if it is wrong than the rest of this website does. So this section says who wrote this page, whether a licensed professional reviewed it, exactly what was reviewed, and where the information comes from.
No professional review
This page has not yet been reviewed by a licensed tax adviser or law firm. Its statements were editorially researched and checked against the primary sources named below - that is a different thing from a professional review, and we do not want to blur the two.
- Last editorial review
- Next review due
- The three moving scopes
- The order of the steps
- Routes by nationality
- Questions from the departure side (exit taxation, deregistration)
- Who is responsible for which step
- What this page does not provide
Primary sources (4)
Accessed on the date of the last review. A later visit can show a different version.
- Migration Directorate, Ministry of the Interior
Responsible for residence documents for EU citizens and third-country nationals, and for the address held on them.
Accessed on
- Municipal administration (population register)
Keeps the population register and performs address registration for permanent-residence holders.
Accessed on
- National Health Insurance Fund (NZOK)
Runs the statutory health-insurance system: insured status, what is covered, choosing a GP, and recognition of EU forms such as the S1.
Accessed on
- The tax authority of your country of residence
Assesses your personal tax liability, the place of effective management and how the double taxation treaty applies. That assessment is not made by Bulgaria.
Accessed on
Change history (3)
Confirmed the page states plainly that Start in BG does not sell relocation as a service, only explains the process.
Rewritten in the voice of a guide rather than a seller; the consultation intake form and sales-style wording removed.
Page published: the path for founders who actually move to Bulgaria, with its own sequence and responsibilities.
Found an error?
Tell us what is wrong, what is correct instead, and where that can be checked publicly. A report never changes anything automatically - it is checked before anything changes.
Report a correctionNext step
Where to go from here
A move and a company formation run alongside each other, not one after the other. The order is above; these are the pages that explain the next step in detail.
Specialist services are engaged and invoiced separately. What Start in BG performs itself and what third parties charge for is stated in the proposal before anything is commissioned.
Would you rather talk it through? The Book →
Where to go next
Your result above is complete — nothing here sits behind a form. These pages go deeper on what you have just told us.
In the book
What changes when you move to Bulgaria yourself — daily life, choosing a location, the labour market — is covered in detail in the book.
Related guides and pages
The topics that most often come with relocating as an entrepreneur.
The move and the company belong together
Both hang on the same decisions: residence, place of effective management, address, health insurance. The book takes the two strands together rather than treating them separately.
Read the bookLast editorial review: 2026-08-02 · This page explains the sequence. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice — the competent authority always decides.