Republic Of Bulgaria

Regulated profession is an activity or set of activities included in the List of regulated professions of the Republic of Bulgaria, which is of public importance and / or essential for the life and health of people. The pursuit of a regulated profession is determined by law, regulation or administrative action for the possession of a specific professional qualification, legal capacity or membership in a state-recognized professional organization.

The full list of regulated professions on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria is available on the NACID website: nacid.bg/en/professio/.

To find out if a particular profession is regulated in the host Member State of the European Union or in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, you can visit the European Database of regulated professions at the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/regprof.

If you have a Bulgarian professional qualification in a profession that is not regulated in the country where you wish to establish or temporarily provide services, you have direct access to the labor market. Recognition of such professional qualifications is within the competence of the employers themselves.

The authority responsible for issuing certificates of professional qualification in a non-regulated profession on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria required for access to a regulated profession in a host country is the Executive Director of NACID. If your profession is included in the list of regulated profession, you should contact the appropriate competent authority.

If you have acquired a professional qualification, after having completed training in Bulgaria, the necessary documents to enter the procedure for issuing a certificate by the NACID are the following: Application form, approved by the Executive Director of the National Center for Information and Documentation Copy of diplomas, certificates and other documents proving the acquired professional qualification on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria; a copy of a document for a membership in a professional organization, if you are a member of one; a copy of document for identity of different names if you have different names or are a foreign national; a written declaration that you have not been deprived of the right to pursue the profession ; a document for a paid state fee or for the price of the service for issuing the certificate and other necessary documents at your discretion or at the discretion of the competent authority. If, after your training, you have practiced your profession in Bulgaria, you can contact an expert at our Center for administrative service for consultation on whether you need to provide evidence of this or not necessary for the purposes of our certification.

If your professional qualification is acquired after a regulated education and training, you do not need to have and prove professional experience. But otherwise (if your education and training is not regulated) in terms of Directive 2005/36/EC, you must provide proof for at least 1 year full-time or its equivalent of part-time work experience during the last ten years in our country, as your professional experience should be acquired after the training itself and not before it. According to the cited Directive, 'Regulated education and training' means any training which is specifically geared to the pursuit of a given profession and which comprises a course or courses complemented, where appropriate, by professional training, or probationary or professional practice. The structure and level of the professional training, probationary or professional practice shall be determined by the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of the Member State concerned or monitored or approved by the authority designated for that purpose. The experts at our Center for administrative service are available to advise you whether your education and training in Bulgaria has been regulated or not, and accordingly whether you need to provide evidence of professional experience for the purposes of our certification.

Professional experience is not required in case of regulated education and training; while in cases of non-regulated education and training, it is necessary that you have practiced the profession after completing the education/training at least 1 year of full-time or equivalent part-time time in the last ten years in another Member State which does not regulate this profession. The experts at our Center for administrative service are at your disposal for further consultation.

NACID can confirm all valid professional rights to the extent they have been acquired. In the case that you have acquired a Bulgarian professional qualification after a regulated education and training, this circumstance will be confirmed and thus the recognition authority of your regulated profession in the host country will have the opportunity to make a recognition decision on your qualification without requiring proof of professional experience in Bulgaria. In the case that you have acquired a Bulgarian professional qualification after unregulated education and training, we will investigate whether you have the required professional experience and will include this in our certificate.

If you consider that a competent authority is infringing your rights, you may appeal its decision in the corresponding part of this decision with your motives under the appeal rules provided by that authority. According to Directive 2005/36/EC, in the case of unregulated education and training, the Competent Recognition Authority has the right to require you to have professional experience as a condition of recognition at a later stage. Otherwise, Directive 2005/36/EC stipulates that in the case of regulated education and training, the obligation for professional experience is no longer required. NACID can assist any competent authority via IMI (Internal Market Information System) and, upon request, we can confirm professional rights acquired in Bulgaria.

An application for a Certificate of Professional Qualification from the NACID can be submitted in our Center for administrative service at the address “Dr. G M Dimitrov ”52 A, Sofia, 1125, as well as electronically through the NACID electronic services portal.

Applications may be submitted by persons who are your parents, children or wife/husband, if they certify your legal representative status with a document certifying your civil status (birth certificate or other certificates). In all other cases, it is required a power of attorney with notarial certification. The power of attorney is valid only in the original. When reauthorizing, it must explicitly state "Reauthorize" or similar text.

The administrative service deadline is 30 calendar days for a standard service and 10 working days for a fast service.

The procedure for issuing a certificate of professional qualification includes a number of required verifications. You can find a detailed description on the NACID website: nacid.bg/en/bulgarian-qualifications-abroad/certificates/

The fee for a standard service is BGN 60 and for a fast service - BGN 120. Details can be found on our site: nacid.bg/en/bulgarian-qualifications-abroad/certificates/

If you receive a refusal or the application procedure is terminated, the fee paid is not refundable.

You can monitor the status of your application via the NACID e-services portal after entering your Reference number (example 07-00-10 / 01/01/2020), the access code is your personal identification number / personal number of a foreigner and the security code that is generated from the system: portal.nacid.bg/reports. The experts at our Center for administrative service are at your disposal in case of difficulties with your access and for further consultation.

The options for receiving a Certificate are in the NACID Center for administrative service or through a courier service at the address you specify, including an out-of-country courier service at your expense. The method of receipt is your choice and should be indicated when you submit the application.

Yes. Since 20 April, 2015, a complex administrative service "Issuance of APOSTILLE Certificate of the Certificate for professional qualification for non-regulated profession, acquired in the Republic of Bulgaria, required for access or exercise of a regulated profession in the territory of another country" was introduced by NACID. For this purpose, an application combining the two services is available at the NACID Center for administrative service as well as on the electronic portal.

Certificates, issued by NACID do not oblige a foreign competent authority to recognize professional rights. It is intended to facilitate your recognition procedure with the terminology of Directive 2005/36/EC and not to guarantee a positive decision.

No. NACID has no competence to confirm any rights and status beyond Directive 2005/36 /EC.

You need to submit the following evidence for such certification: On the one hand, you should have insured yourself as the owner and / or manager of the company for a certain consecutive number of years, and on the other hand, during the same period, the subject of activity of the company managed / owned by you should fall within the scope of any of art. 17, 18 or 19 of Directive 2005/36/EC. Possible evidence of your social security status could be your social security book / record of service for the relevant number of years according to the articles cited above, and on the other hand, for the same period, you should provide evidence of the subject of activity of the company you manage, such as the Annual Financial Statements of the company, from which it can be seen from what kind of activities the revenues of the company were generated. The directive also provides for a combination of training and professional experience. As these cases are more specific and individual, we advise you to consult our Center for administrative service experts before applying and paying a fee.

The procedure for European Professional Card is currently available for the following regulated professions: general nurse, pharmacist, rehabilitator; kinesitherapist, mountain guide, real estate agent. For more information, visit the following address: nacid.bg/en/bulgarian-qualifications-abroad/european-professional-card/

Detailed EPC information can be received from your Europe website, including checking that you can submit an EPC application, EPC issuance procedure, deadlines, required documents and other useful information.