Procurement of documents in Bulgaria

Schmidt & Schmidt provides services for the retrieval of civil status documents, as well as obtaining duplicates of lost or damaged documents in Bulgaria with their subsequent legalization and translation.

If your personal documents are lost or damaged or you need to obtain current copies of documents it is necessary to request duplicates of documents. Often, those who have left Bulgaria face difficulties in this procedure. Our service allows you to request documents in Bulgaria remotely and we can carry out courier delivery of the document to anywhere in the world.

Validity of civil status documents in Bulgaria

Civil status documents issued in Bulgaria generally have a validity period of no more than 6 months, after which they must be replaced with new ones containing up-to-date data.

When to obtain duplicate documents in Bulgaria

A duplicate birth certificate, marriage certificate, name change certificate, divorce certificate, criminal record certificate or death certificate may be required to register a marriage abroad, a newborn child, citizenship, inheritance, data verification for pension applications, opening bank accounts, employment and other bureaucratic issues.

What documents can be requested in Bulgaria:

Birth certificate
Marriage certificate
Certificate of change of surname
Divorce certificate
Death certificate
Certificates of good conduct
Educational documents
Other civil status documents

Required documents for docuement procurement

Since civil status documents are personal documents containing personal data, they can only be requested by their owners or persons authorized by them. That is, first of all, to request documents, we will need a signed power of attorney from the owner of the document. Additionally:

Copy of passport
Birth data and name and surname change
Data on the place of registration of civil status records

Some Bulgarian registry offices may refuse to request a document even with a power of attorney. In this case, the owner can order a new certificate online independently through the registry office website or by e-mail with subsequent delivery to our office in Bulgaria, since in most cases the sending of documents is possible only within Bulgaria.

Responsible authorities

The Tax Authority of Bulgaria is the body that registers civil status acts.

A marriage certificate can be obtained from the local town hall.

Apostille and legalization of documents in Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a member of the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 , which allows for a simplified procedure for the legalization of documents through apostille. The Republic of Bulgaria acceded to the Hague Convention on the Simplified Legalization of Documents on 1 August 2000, and on 29 April 2001 the convention entered into force on its territory. You can order an apostille for copies and duplicates of documents from Bulgaria from us. As a rule, certification of documents with an apostille takes about two weeks.

Deadlines for requesting documents in Bulgaria

Requesting documents usually takes about two weeks, in some cases, depending on the processing time of the application by local authorities, the terms may differ.
Requesting certified copies of educational documents takes about two weeks. This period does not include the time required for legalization of documents and their translation.

Notarized translation of documents from Bulgaria

Copies and duplicates of civil status documents can be translated into Russian or another language by a sworn translator in Bulgaria or the translation can be done in the destination country. Schmidt and Schmidt provides services for the translation of civil status documents with their subsequent certification. The cost of the work is calculated based on the volume of a specific document.