Bulgaria’s proposed stay rule could collide with tax residence

A new presence condition is being proposed

Bulgaria's government approved a package of amendments to the Foreigners Act on 22 July 2026, and bill 52-602-01-29 was filed in Parliament on 28 July. One provision has direct significance for foreign permanent residents: Their status could be withdrawn if they did not stay in Bulgaria for at least six months and one day during the previous calendar year.

This is a bill, not an effective rule. The parliamentary record checked on 8 August shows committee distribution but no State Gazette reference for an enacted law. Permanent residents should not behave as though the condition already applies. Nor should they ignore the possibility that their future presence obligation may change.

Why investment-route holders need to watch it

Invest Bulgaria Agency describes a mechanism under which a foreigner investing a specified amount in legally defined financial instruments may obtain permanent residence and, subject to additional conditions, consider a path to citizenship. The proposed six-month-and-one-day condition does not sit in a section limited to workers or family reunification. Its wording broadly addresses foreigners who have been granted permanent residence.

On a cautious reading of the filed text, an investment-based permanent resident could therefore fall within the measure if Parliament passes it without a tailored exception. This is an inference from the bill's scope, not an individual eligibility decision from the migration authority.

The consequence is larger than adding travel days. A route used to allocate residence rights without moving most of a family's life to Bulgaria could begin to affect where the family keeps a home, where a business is managed and where cross-border assets are overseen.

Six months and 183 days are not the same test

Bulgarian tax guidance lists several ways in which an individual can be treated as tax resident, regardless of nationality. They include having a permanent address in Bulgaria, spending more than 183 days in any 12-month period, or having a centre of vital interests in the country. Family, property, work or business activity and the place from which assets are managed can all inform the centre-of-interests analysis.

The immigration bill, by contrast, says “at least six months and one day” during the “previous calendar year”. It does not use the tax test's wording of “more than 183 days in any 12-month period”. Month lengths, the treatment of arrival and departure days, and the reference period can produce different results for some travel patterns.

The practical point is that the distance between the two tests may be narrow. A presence plan sufficient to protect permanent residence could bring an investor close to, or beyond, the domestic day-count threshold. The result should be modelled across both a calendar year and each rolling 12-month period before any conclusion is reached.

Immigration residence does not automatically create tax residence

An entry right or permanent residence card answers where a person may live and what must be done to preserve that legal status. Tax residence answers a different question: Which country may tax the individual as a resident, and what income falls within that claim.

Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency identifies an important qualification. A person with a permanent address in Bulgaria can still be non-resident when their centre of vital interests is outside the country. Conversely, not holding an immigration document called “permanent residence” does not by itself disapply the day-count or centre-of-interests tests.

If Bulgaria and another country both treat an investor as resident under domestic law, an applicable double tax treaty may need to resolve the overlap through factors such as a permanent home and centre of vital interests. The answer depends on the particular treaty and the person's facts; it cannot be reduced to one headline day count.

Consequences for assets and capital decisions

Bulgaria's Ministry of Finance guidance distinguishes resident individuals' income from Bulgarian and foreign sources from non-residents' Bulgarian-source income. A change in presence planning can therefore prompt a review of investment income, accounts, dividends, interest, rental income, holding structures and cross-border reporting.

That does not mean the immigration bill itself creates a tax bill. It creates a reason to remodel a capital decision before committing to more days in the country. An investor should also avoid moving family arrangements or business-management functions solely to meet an immigration condition without considering the evidence those changes create about the centre of vital interests.

What to watch before changing a plan

Three points require further confirmation: Parliament's final text, the commencement date if the measure is enacted, and administrative guidance on proving six months and one day. A new exception, transitional protection or a defined day-count method could materially change the analysis.

Until those details exist, a defensible review runs two calendars in parallel: One for maintaining permanent residence and one for tax residence in Bulgaria and every other relevant jurisdiction. It then adds the investor's homes, family, business activity, asset-control arrangements and applicable tax treaty. The bill brings the two exercises closer together; it does not make them one.