Updated on 10/09/2025
If you have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in Bulgaria, you have the right to apply for a Travel Document. With this document, you can travel abroad and apply for a visa if the country you want to go to requires one.
Attention! If you undertake a return to your country of origin, this may lead to the revocation of your refugee/humanitarian status.
How to apply
As soon as you get refugee status or subsidiary protection/humanitarian status, you can apply by going to your nearest police station in the city where you have registered your permanent address.
You can find the websites and contact details of the regional police departments in Bulgarian language here.
At the police station, you will get an application form.You will need to fill in this form and submit it together with the following documents:
- The decision granting you refugee status or humanitarian protection
- Previously issued Bulgarian ID if you have one
- A certificate of address registration that was issued by the municipality
- A receipt showing that you paid the required application fees
- Colour picture in a special format, unless there is an option to be photographed in the police station
After you submit the documents, the responsible official will take a photo of your face and signature and will take your fingerprints. The police will cross-check your information with the State Agency for Refugees.
Please note: If you are under 14, your parent or legal guardian has to submit and pick up the application. If you are between 14 and 18, you should submit your application in person with the assistance of your parent or legal guardian, who needs to give consent by signing the application.
Fees and how long it takes
If you have refugee status, humanitarian protection or asylum granted by the president you can collect your Travel Document from the police station:
- in 30 working days for 50 leva or 55 leva if you have been granted asylum by the president; or
- in 10 working days for 100 leva or 110 leva if you have been granted asylum by the president
You will need to pick up your Travel Document in person. In exceptional cases, another person can do it for you, but only if that person has a notarized power of attorney explicitly authorizing him or her to pick up the document on your behalf.
Rights
The Travel Document that people with refugee status and humanitarian protection get is not a national passport and it does not give you the same rights as the Bulgarian red passport.
You may need to get a visa to travel to the country you wish to visit. As countries’ entry and stay requirements regularly change, you should consult the embassy of the destination country before you make travel arrangements.
You can find the contact details of embassies in Bulgaria here.
If your trip involves transiting through another country, you need to check the relevant entry requirements for that country too.
Note that holding a Bulgarian Travel Document does not mean that you have the right to stay or work in another country.
As of 31.03.2024 Bulgaria is part of the Schengen area of the European Union by air and by water and from 01.01.2025 also over land. The Schengen area is an area in the EU consisting of 29 European countries that do not require a passport and border controls at their common borders. This means that if you travel to and from Schengen countries you will only go through a security check, and no passport check. You can read more about crossing state borders and the requirement of visa here.
Travel Documents for refugee status holders
If you hold refugee or humanitarian status and have a Travel Document, you have the right to:
- Travel to EU countries and stay there for up to 3 months without a visa.
- Travel to non-EU countries with a visa.
Keep in mind:
- If you stay in another EU country for up to 3 months, you must go back to Bulgaria for at least 6 months before traveling again.
- If you travel to another EU country and want to stay for more than 3 months, you need to get a residence permit in accordance with the national law of that country.
- If your destination country requires a visa, you can stay in that country only for the period of time that is written on your visa.
- If you have refugee status and travel to your country of origin, you may lose your status in Bulgaria.
Your Travel Document will be valid for no more than 5 years if you hold refugee status and no more than 3 years if you hold humanitarian status. However, its maximum period of validity cannot exceed the validity indicated on your refugee card. This means that if your refugee card is valid for 3 years, your Travel Document will be valid only for 3 years too.
How to renew your Travel Document
You need to renew your Travel Document at least 2 weeks before it expires. You will need to go to your nearest police station, file an application for renewal and pay a fee for issuing the document.