Bulgarian Citizenship for Children, Spouses and Parents

Families rarely apply alone. One person finds the old certificate, and suddenly the question is about children, grandparents and a spouse with no Bulgarian roots at all. I like to plan everyone together from day one, because the evidence on the ancestor is shared, but the legal position of each family member is different.

Children under 14

Under Article 17 of the Citizenship Act, children under 14 acquire Bulgarian citizenship if both parents, or the surviving parent, acquire it. They also acquire it if only one parent does so and the other parent is already a Bulgarian citizen.

The application for a child under 14 is filed by the parents or guardians, and the interview is held with them. The consent of a parent deprived of parental rights is not needed. If parents disagree, the law sends the dispute to the district court, whose decision is final.

Children aged 14 to 18

Teenagers acquire citizenship under the same conditions, but only if they ask for it themselves. Their application is co-signed by the parents, and they attend the interview accompanied by a parent. I always suggest talking to a 15-year-old about it early. It is their citizenship too.

Children born later

Article 8 is simple: a person with at least one parent who is a Bulgarian citizen is Bulgarian by origin. Children born after you become a citizen do not go through naturalisation. They are Bulgarian from birth, wherever they are born. What remains is paperwork: getting the child’s first Bulgarian documents.

Adult children

An adult child files his or her own application, with his or her own documents and interview. The good news is that the evidence about the ancestor is the same. The adult child adds one more generation to the chain: their own birth certificate linking them to you. If you are the grandchild of the Bulgarian ancestor, your child is the great-grandchild and still within the third degree. One generation further, the line is too long for that person to apply directly. Once you hold citizenship, however, your child has a separate ground under Article 15(1)(3), because one parent is a Bulgarian citizen. Children under 14 who have one Bulgarian citizen parent can also become citizens under Article 18 with the written consent of both parents.

Parents, brothers and sisters

Every direct descendant of the qualifying ancestor has a ground, as long as the ancestor is within three degrees of that person. Your parent is one generation closer to the ancestor than you are, so if you qualify, your parent usually does too. Your brothers and sisters share your line exactly. Each adult files a separate application, but the archive work is done once.

Spouses without Bulgarian origin

A spouse does not inherit your origin. Article 5 says that marriage between a Bulgarian citizen and a foreigner does not change the citizenship of the other spouse by itself. The spouse has a separate route under Article 13: at least three years of marriage to a Bulgarian citizen and at least three years with a permanent or long-term residence permit in Bulgaria, plus the general conditions, including Bulgarian language. Spouses of Bulgarian citizens do not have to give up their own citizenship.

In everyday life the spouse does not have to wait for that. Once you are a Bulgarian, and therefore an EU, citizen, your spouse and children can live with you in another EU country under the EU rules on free movement for family members. Your Europe explains those rights in detail.

Residence in Bulgaria for the family

The Foreigners Act allows a permanent residence permit for foreigners of Bulgarian origin, and also for minor and unmarried children of a Bulgarian citizen. If your family wants to move to Bulgaria before the citizenship decree, these provisions are worth discussing. I cover the origin route in the guide to the certificate of origin and residence.

Planning the whole family

• Draw the family tree once and mark each person’s degree of kinship to the ancestor.
• Decide who files when. BRIDGES prepares the adult files of one family at the same time so they support one another.
• Check each person’s other citizenship. Bulgaria does not ask applicants of Bulgarian origin to renounce it, but your other country may have its own rules.

When a child is born after you become a citizen, the first Bulgarian documents follow a different process from your own. BRIDGES describes it on its page about citizenship and a first passport for a child. For the documents each person needs, see the checklist.

Family rules have details that depend on dates and on each person’s situation. Check them with the Ministry of Justice before you file. Last checked 17 October 2026.