Bulgarian returning permanently to Bulgaria

Reni99 Member

Member since 20 November 2023

Reni99Member13 August 2025 13:24:38

HI all,

Is there any web sites in Bulgaria that advise on Bulgarian returning permanently to Bulgaria( health insurance, taxes,

if you were retired abroad how to聽 deal with all the institutions etc.)

PlovdivEd Active member

Member since 09 January 2022

PlovdivEdActive member13 August 2025 13:54:25

I've seen a specific Facebook group exactly for this but I can't find it again right now, I'll send a link once I have it.

PlovdivEd Active member

Member since 09 January 2022

PlovdivEdActive member13 August 2025 15:19:03

Here it is:

gwynj Bulgaria Expert

Member since 30 June 2020

gwynjBulgaria Expert17 August 2025 06:23:08

2489

@Reni99

Welcome back! It might be a bit of a culture shock (depending on how long you lived abroad), but otherwise returning to your home country should be fairly painless.

There are no immigration formalities to bother with, and you can worry about taxes after you're comfortably settled in. (Your American taxes will be a more urgent issue, if you're American/Bulgarian.)

Pensions too should be straightforward as many retirees choose to relocate abroad to live out a peaceful, cheaper retirement. Typically, you just have to give your pension administrators your new address/bank account, if you're closing your current one.

The main issues are finding a place to live, and sorting out health coverage. You can pay privately out-of-pocket as care is still very cheap here, especially compared with USA medical. You can also buy a private medical insurance just like you can in USA (for a fraction of the cost). Public medical coverage might be portable if you're coming from another EU country, but not from the USA. Instead, you might be able to re-enroll in NHIF and pay voluntary contributions (about $25 pm) to get full public coverage.