Bulgaria Citizenship by Investment: What Ended, What Remains in 2026

Citizenship by investment in Bulgaria no longer exists: the fast-track investor citizenship scheme was abolished, and no current Bulgarian programme sells a passport for an investment. What remains is residency by investment, with a path to citizenship only through standard naturalisation. This is a status explainer, not an offer. If you have seen Bulgarian citizenship by investment marketed recently, you have almost certainly seen an outdated page, and this guide sets out what happened, when, why, and what an investor can actually do today.

On this page

• Did Bulgaria suspend citizenship by investment?
• How the old Bulgarian CBI worked (historical)
• What exists instead: residency by investment
• The realistic path to a Bulgarian passport in 2026
• The FATF grey list and what it means for applicants
• Residency vs citizenship by investment: which do you need?
• Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information about the status of Bulgaria’s former citizenship-by-investment scheme and its current residency-by-investment programme. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice, and it does not describe any active route to buy citizenship. Several dates and requirements below are noted as subject to official confirmation. Obtain independent professional advice before making any application or investment decision.

Did Bulgaria suspend citizenship by investment?

The word searchers most often use is “suspended”, which implies a pause that might be lifted. That is not what happened.

Not suspended: abolished

Bulgaria’s fast-track investor citizenship route was abolished, not paused. The National Assembly adopted the amending act on 24 March 2022, and it was promulgated in State Gazette No. 26 of 1 April 2022, repealing Articles 12a and 14a of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act, the provisions that had allowed naturalisation on the basis of investment. The Ministry of Justice’s consolidated text of the Act records both articles as repealed by that issue of the State Gazette (dv.parliament.bg). The change is legislative and permanent in nature rather than a temporary administrative hold; summaries that date the change to 2024 are describing later cleanup, such as revocations of previously granted passports, not the abolition itself. There is no live route to purchase Bulgarian citizenship.

Why it ended

The route ended in 2022 under sustained EU-level pressure and money-laundering scrutiny of investor-citizenship schemes across the Union. The European Commission had raised infringement concerns about “golden passport” programmes generally, and Bulgaria’s move sits in the same policy wave that saw Cyprus close its citizenship scheme in 2020 and, later, Malta’s investor-citizenship route terminated after a 2025 European Court of Justice ruling. The direction of EU policy has been consistently against citizenship for investment, and Bulgaria’s abolition reflects that.

How the old Bulgarian CBI worked (historical)

This section is history, included so readers can recognise the scheme that stale pages still describe. None of it is available today.

The government bond route and the doubled-investment fast track

The former scheme was built around a qualifying investment held for permanent residence, historically including government bonds, with an accelerated citizenship option under Article 14a of the Citizenship Act for investors who doubled their commitment. In its final form the fast track was described as compressing the citizenship timeline substantially in exchange for the larger investment. Both have ended: government bonds were removed from the qualifying residence-investment grounds when those provisions were restructured in 2021, and the investor naturalisation articles were repealed in 2022. We describe them in the past tense deliberately, and we do not quote the old figures as if they were live, because presenting an abolished route as current is exactly the error this page exists to correct.

Why old marketing pages still describe it

Investor-migration marketing has a long tail. Pages that ranked well for Bulgarian citizenship by investment were not always updated when the law changed, and some firms quietly retarget those searchers toward other countries without ever explaining what happened in Bulgaria. The reader-protection point is simple: if a page offers you Bulgarian citizenship for a bond purchase or a doubled investment, it is describing a scheme that no longer operates. Check any such claim against the primary Bulgarian sources before engaging.

What exists instead: residency by investment

Immediate permanent residence from about EUR 512,000

The programme that does operate is residency by investment, under the investment grounds of the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act. A non-EU investor who places a qualifying investment, from approximately EUR 512,000 (the statutory BGN 1,000,000 converted at the fixed euro rate), into a licensed Bulgarian alternative investment fund or collective investment scheme can obtain immediate permanent residence; directly held shares of listed Bulgarian companies qualify at a higher threshold of approximately EUR 1,022,600. The funds and schemes are licensed or registered by the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission (fsc.bg). The full mechanics are in our Bulgaria golden visa pillar and requirements guide.

How it differs from CBI: residence now, citizenship only through naturalisation

The distinction is the whole point. Citizenship by investment gave a passport in exchange for money. Residency by investment gives a residence permit now, and citizenship only later, through the ordinary naturalisation process that any long-term resident follows. There is no shortcut that converts the investment directly into a passport. Understanding that difference is what separates a realistic plan from a disappointed one, and we treat the concept in depth in our guide to residency and citizenship by investment.

The realistic path to a Bulgarian passport in 2026

Naturalisation after 5 years of permanent residence

The genuine route to a Bulgarian passport runs through naturalisation, generally available after five years of holding permanent residence, subject to the requirements of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act. This is the standard immigrant path, not an investor fast track. We treat the five-year figure as the standard route and verify the specific conditions per file, because naturalisation requirements are exactly the kind of detail that should never be stated with false precision.

What naturalisation actually requires

Beyond the residence period, Article 12 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act sets the standard conditions: at least five years since permanent or long-term residence was granted, a clean criminal record, income or occupation sufficient for self-support, command of the Bulgarian language, and release from the previous citizenship, with exemptions from the release requirement for categories including EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and spouses of Bulgarian citizens. How those conditions apply to a specific applicant should be confirmed against the Act and the Ministry of Justice (justice.government.bg) before relying on them. In our advisory experience, the realistic framing is that a Bulgarian passport is achievable, but as the end of a residence-first journey, not a purchase.

How this compares with other EU naturalisation ladders

Every EU country now routes investors through naturalisation rather than sale, but the ladders differ in length and conditions. Bulgaria’s standard five-year permanent-residence route is comparable in shape to several peers. For contrast, see how the Hungarian ladder works in our guides to Hungarian citizenship and the Hungary golden visa path to citizenship, and how the programmes sit against each other in the best golden visa countries in Europe guide.

The FATF grey list and what it means for applicants

Bulgaria’s grey-list status

At its plenary of 19 June 2026, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) kept Bulgaria on the grey list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, but made the initial determination that Bulgaria has substantially completed its action plan and authorised the on-site assessment that precedes removal from the list. Bulgaria is at the final stage before delisting, but has not been delisted yet. Because the FATF plenary cycle can change this, the current status should be verified against official FATF publications (fatf-gafi.org) and Bulgarian reporting (bta.bg) at the point of application.

Practical effects: enhanced KYC, bank onboarding friction, advisor due diligence

Grey-listing does not invalidate the residency programme, which remains legally valid and active. Its practical effect is compliance friction. In our advisory experience, this is precisely where grey-list conditions bite: compliance teams ask sharper source-of-funds questions, bank onboarding can take longer, and advisers apply enhanced due diligence to files connected with the jurisdiction. The workable posture is to disclose the position early, confirm that the specific banks in the plan will accept the profile, and build a clean, fully evidenced source-of-funds file before filing. We cover that discipline in our due diligence guide.

Residency vs citizenship by investment: which do you actually need?

Many people who search for Bulgarian citizenship by investment do not actually need a passport; they need what they assume a passport delivers, usually mobility, a secure EU base, or tax positioning. A short framework:

• If your goal is Schengen travel and a settled EU status without relocating, residency by investment already delivers it, and faster.
• If your goal is a low-tax EU base, Bulgaria’s 10% flat tax attaches to residence and the 183-day rule, not to citizenship.
• If your goal is genuinely a second passport, understand that no EU country now sells one; a passport comes only through naturalisation, which requires years of residence.

We expand this decision in our guide to residency and citizenship by investment. The honest headline is that residency by investment meets most investors’ real objectives, and citizenship is a longer, separate ambition.

Frequently asked questions

Does Bulgaria still offer citizenship by investment?
No. Bulgaria abolished its investor citizenship (fast-track CBI) route in 2022. What remains is residency by investment, with citizenship possible later through standard naturalisation.

Was the Bulgarian CBI program suspended or abolished?
Abolished, not suspended. The National Assembly adopted the amending act on 24 March 2022, promulgated in State Gazette No. 26 of 1 April 2022, repealing the investor naturalisation provisions (Articles 12a and 14a) of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act. The change is permanent in nature.

Can I still get Bulgarian residency by investing?
Yes. Non-EU investors can obtain immediate permanent residence with a qualifying investment, from approximately EUR 512,000 (statutory BGN 1,000,000), in a licensed Bulgarian fund or collective investment scheme, or approximately EUR 1,022,600 in directly held listed shares.

How can an investor get a Bulgarian passport now?
Through naturalisation after holding permanent residence, generally after five years, subject to the requirements of the Bulgarian Citizenship Act. There is no direct purchase route.

Why did Bulgaria end citizenship by investment?
EU-level pressure and money-laundering concerns. The move parallels Cyprus closing its scheme in 2020 and Malta’s investor-citizenship route being terminated after a 2025 ECJ ruling.

Does Bulgaria’s FATF grey-list status affect applications?
It can add banking and compliance friction. At the June 2026 plenary the FATF kept Bulgaria on the grey list but determined its action plan is substantially complete, with the final on-site assessment before removal now authorised. Check the current status with FATF publications.

The bottom line

The honest takeaway is straightforward: no EU country now sells citizenship directly, and Bulgaria is no exception. What Bulgaria does offer is a credible residence-first ladder, immediate permanent residence by investment, Schengen mobility, the EU’s lowest flat tax, and naturalisation as the eventual route to a passport. That is a genuine proposition, and it is the one worth planning around, rather than chasing a scheme that no longer exists. For the parallel citizenship story in the Maltese context, see our Malta permanent residency programme guide. If you want a clear read on which route actually fits your objectives, the sensible next step is a confidential assessment. The Aegir Global team advises HNW investors and their professional advisors on exactly this, and advisory fees are quoted per engagement.