How long can I stay in Bulgaria without a visa in 2026, now that EES records every entry and exit?

"How long can I stay in Bulgaria without a visa?" now has a firm answer: no more than 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole Schengen area, as of 2026. Since 10 April 2026, the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) has replaced passport stamps with a digital record of every crossing and flags overstayers automatically. If you are trying Bulgaria out before moving, the real decision is when to go home and file a type D visa application at a Bulgarian embassy or consulate in your country of permanent residence, which is the normal place to file it.

Below we set out how the count works, what EES records, what an overstay can lead to under the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act (the Foreigners Act), and when to switch to a long-stay visa.

How long can I stay in Bulgaria without a visa? 90 days in any 180

Under Art. 6(1) of the Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EU) 2016/399), visa-exempt non-EU nationals may stay in the Schengen area for no more than 90 days in any 180-day period. Bulgaria is part of that area, not a separate allowance. For British travellers, UK government travel advice says the same: they can visit the Schengen area, including Bulgaria, without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Bulgaria has been a full Schengen member since 1 January 2025, when checks on persons at internal land borders with and between Bulgaria and Romania were lifted under Council Decision (EU) 2024/3212. The practical result is that your days in any other Schengen country in the previous 180 days count towards the same 90-day limit as your days in Bulgaria: one balance, not one per country.

Not sure which of your past trips still count? Send us your travel dates and we will check your balance.

How the Bulgaria 90/180 rule counts your Schengen days

The 180-day period is not a calendar half-year, and it does not reset on 1 January. It moves with you. On any given day of your stay, look back over the preceding 180 days: your Schengen days in that window must not exceed 90. The Commission's short-stay page puts it as counting back 180 days from each day of your stay.

A dated example

A hypothetical case: say your record shows 40 days in Romania in May and June 2027. You fly into Sofia on 1 August 2027 planning to stay until Christmas. On 1 August, the look-back window reaches back to early February, so all 40 Romanian days sit inside it. You have at most 50 more Schengen days, not 90, and they run out around 20 September, not at the end of October.

The Romanian days drop out of the window only from late October 2027, more than 180 days after them. By then you would have been overstaying for weeks, so a Christmas plan needs a D visa, not a longer visa-free stay.

Passport conditions at every entry

Under Art. 6(1)(a) of the Schengen Borders Code, your passport must have been issued within the previous 10 years and be valid for at least 3 months after your intended departure from the Schengen area. Check both dates before each trip.

What EES changed at Bulgaria's borders on 10 April 2026

According to the European Commission, EES started operating progressively on 12 October 2025 and has been fully operational since 10 April 2026. From that date it replaces passport stamping. Instead of an officer reading ink stamps, the border reads a digital record of each crossing. For each non-EU short-stay traveller, EES records:

• your name and travel document data;
• biometrics: a facial image and, if you are visa-exempt, your fingerprints (if you need a visa, they are already held in the Visa Information System and are not stored again in EES);
• the date and place of every entry and exit;
• any refusal of entry.

In Bulgaria, Art. 9m of the Foreigners Act (consolidated text up to State Gazette No. 55/2026) requires the border control authorities to record entries into and exits from Bulgaria in EES in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/2226, that is, for non-EU short-stay travellers crossing the external Schengen borders. The system also includes an automated calculator that shows your maximum authorised stay, and the border authorities must tell you what it is (Art. 11 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226). EES normally keeps each entry/exit record for three years (Art. 34(1)). Keep your own list of entry and exit dates as well, so you can check the figure the border gives you.

EES and overstays in Bulgaria: entry bans and five-year records

Since 10 April 2026, EES automatically identifies overstayers: travellers whose entry record has no exit record after their authorised stay has ended. Two consequences follow.

Five years in the record

If no exit is recorded after your authorised stay ends, EES keeps your data for five years from the date the authorised stay expired (Art. 34(3) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226), instead of the usual three.

An EU-wide entry ban under Bulgarian law

Since State Gazette No. 52/2025, Art. 42z(1)(4) of the Foreigners Act provides that a ban on entering and staying in the EU Member States is imposed when a short-stay visitor does not leave after the authorised period. Under Art. 42z(3), the ban is normally for up to 5 years. That matches the EU Return Directive (2008/115/EC), under which the length of a ban depends on the circumstances of the case and should not in principle exceed five years.

Switching to a D visa: why the application starts back home

The type D visa is the bridge from short stays to a residence permit. Under Art. 15(1) of the Foreigners Act, it is valid for up to 6 months and allows a stay of up to 180 days. It may be issued to a foreigner who wants a prolonged, long-term or permanent residence permit on one of the grounds in the Act. While it is valid it allows multiple entries into Bulgaria, and it is cancelled when the authorities issue the residence permit (Art. 15(3)–(4)).

Where you file, and why it matters

This is the point that catches people out. Under the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidance, you file at a Bulgarian embassy or consulate in your country of permanent residence. Someone staying lawfully in another third country may apply there only as an exception, so a visa-free stay in Bulgaria is not the normal starting point. The EU Immigration Portal tells workers the same: apply in your home country. The Ministry makes no exception from the personal interview for long-stay visa applicants either.

Why the switch stops the 90/180 clock

Time spent under a residence permit or a long-stay (D) visa does not count towards the 90/180 limit (Art. 6(2) Schengen Borders Code). Holders of residence permits and long-stay visas also fall outside EES (Art. 2(3) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226), and Bulgaria does not register them in it (Art. 9m(3) Foreigners Act).

What comes after the visa

• Criminal record certificate: on the first application for permission to stay, applicants over 18 (other than stateless persons) must present one from their country of nationality or customary residence. Order it before you leave home.
• Employment: the EU Immigration Portal states that after entering on a type D visa you must also obtain the Single permit itself from the Migration Directorate.
• Other grounds: for your own company, see our guide to the D visa for non-EU business owners; for a spouse or partner, family reunification; for remote income, the digital nomad visa and its tax trap.

That is the route in outline. We prepare the Bulgarian side step by step; here is how to start.

Step-by-step plan: from a visa-free stay to a Bulgarian D visa

Whether you are American, British or Canadian, if your passport lets you in without a visa, the order of steps is the same. Work backwards from your target move date:

1. Count back from your planned departure. List every Schengen entry and exit in the 180 days before it.
2. Leave before you reach 90 Schengen days in the rolling 180-day window, with a margin, not on the last day of your balance. That can be well before 90 days from arrival if you have earlier Schengen trips.
3. Prepare documents at home. Passport dates (10 years and 3 months), the criminal record certificate and the papers for your ground.
4. File the D visa at the Bulgarian embassy or consulate in your country of permanent residence, and attend the personal interview.
5. Enter Bulgaria on the D visa. These days do not count towards your 90/180.
6. Apply for the residence permit at the Migration Directorate. We accompany you there or represent you with power of attorney.

Our visa and residence work covers Type D visas, EU residence cards and digital nomad visas. If you go the nomad route, our Nomad Clock calculator is the next tool to use once the permit is in hand.

Questions about your nationality or older trips? Ask us before you book the flight home.

Frequently Asked Questions

The bottom line on visa-free stays in Bulgaria

So, how long can I stay in Bulgaria without a visa? As of 2026, 90 days in any 180-day period, shared with every other Schengen country and logged by EES since 10 April 2026. If no exit is recorded after your authorised stay ends, EES keeps your data for five years, and an overstay can lead to an entry ban of normally up to 5 years. To stay longer, go home before you reach 90 Schengen days in the rolling 180-day window, which can be well before 90 days from arrival if you have earlier Schengen trips, then file the type D visa where you live and return on it.