This article is useful both for people who submit documents for a Bulgarian visa or residence permit on employment grounds and for employers preparing work-permit documents in Bulgaria for foreign employees.
Under Bulgarian law, a foreign employee is a person who needs compulsory medical insurance — it is required for all foreigners who stay in Bulgaria on a short-term or long-term basis. Therefore, when applying for a visa on employment grounds, the applicant must present a compulsory medical insurance policy.
This type of insurance is mandatory. The terms of compulsory medical insurance for foreigners are governed by a Bulgarian government ordinance, which sets out the cover requirements that such a policy must meet.
When preparing documents for an EU Blue Card, it is important to provide insurance policies for the full term of the employment contract. This means that if the contract is for three or four years, the relevant number of insurance contracts must be arranged, because compulsory insurance for foreigners in Bulgaria cannot be issued for more than one calendar year at a time.
The compulsory medical insurance policies we offer meet all Bulgarian government requirements. They are issued by Bulgarian insurance companies in Bulgarian and English and include:
Emergency medical-care limit: treatment, medical transportation and repatriation1 following an accident or acute illness.
Emergency dental-treatment expenses.
Territorial cover in Bulgaria and the Schengen Area2.
An insurance contract (policy) can be issued for a maximum of one year. When it expires, a new policy is issued for the next period — for example, for another year.
Insurance terms and policy examples are available on this page.
Useful information about applying for a D visa is available here.
If you are interested in voluntary medical insurance with broader cover and greater convenience, see the information here.
Arrange your insurance in advance to avoid difficulties when extending your residence permit.
1 Repatriation is included in the insurance cover when the policy is territorially valid in Bulgaria and the Schengen Area. Read more here.
2 At the customer’s request, UNIQA offers territorial cover in the Schengen Area. Other insurers normally include cover in Bulgaria and the Schengen Area automatically.
