Opening a Bulgarian bank account as a foreigner (2026)

Opening a Bulgarian bank account as a foreigner comes down to one thing most guides skip over: you need a Bulgarian personal number tied to your residence status before a bank will even start the paperwork. Sort that out, bring your ID, proof of a Bulgarian address and a source-of-funds declaration to a branch in person, and you walk out with an account — one that, since 1 January 2026, is denominated in euro, because Bulgaria joined the euro area that day as its 21st member (European Central Bank).

There is a piece of good news buried in EU law. Any consumer lawfully resident in the EU has a statutory right to a basic payment account that no bank may refuse on grounds of nationality or the lack of a permanent address, under Bulgaria’s Payment Services and Payment Systems Act (ЗПУПС). The catch: heavy anti-money-laundering checks mean a non-EU national without a residence permit is still routinely turned away at the counter. Here is how the process actually works, step by step.

Step 1: Get your residence status and personal number

Before any Bulgarian bank opens an account, a foreigner needs a Bulgarian personal number. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens use an ЕГН (with permanent residence) or an ЛНЧ; non-EU nationals receive a 10-digit ЛНЧ from the Ministry of Interior (МВР) when granted a residence permit. No number, no account.

The ЛНЧ — личен номер на чужденец, the foreigner’s equivalent of a citizen’s ЕГН — is a 10-digit number the Ministry of Interior (МВР) inscribes on your residence document when you are granted a permit. You need it not only to open a bank account but to pay taxes, gain health-insurance rights and sign an employment contract, so it is the master key to living in Bulgaria, not just to banking.

To get it, you apply in person at the МВР Migration Directorate or a regional office for the residence permit that carries the number. A state fee applies and varies by the type of residence: a permanent-residence permit is commonly cited at 45 BGN (about 23 euro), but the amount differs between long-term and permanent permits, so confirm the current figure for your permit type directly with МВР rather than assume it.

Step 2: Choose a bank that speaks English

As of 31 December 2025, 23 banks operate in Bulgaria, six of them branches of foreign institutions (Bulgarian National Bank). The five largest by assets are Banka DSK, UBB, UniCredit Bulbank, Postbank and First Investment Bank. UniCredit Bulbank is the one most consistently recommended for English-speaking foreigners.

According to the Bulgarian National Bank (БНБ), 23 banks were operating at the end of 2025, and the five biggest — Banka DSK, UBB (ОББ), UniCredit Bulbank, Postbank (Пощенска банка) and First Investment Bank (Fibank) — each hold more than 9 billion euro in assets. Size matters here mostly because the larger banks have the staff and the experience to handle foreign paperwork.

UniCredit Bulbank is the name that comes up again and again for expats, thanks to English-speaking branches and the widest experience with foreign KYC. It also runs an Expat Package aimed at foreign citizens who transfer a monthly salary of at least 4,000 euro to the bank; it bundles a current account, debit card and online banking and waives fees on money transfers and up to six periodic utility payments a month. That salary floor puts it out of reach for many, but it signals which bank has built its counter around foreigners.

Step 3: Prepare your documents — apostille and translation

Every applicant needs a valid ID or passport, proof of a Bulgarian residential address and a source-of-funds declaration. Documents issued outside the EU must be legalised or carry a Hague Apostille and then be translated into Bulgarian by a sworn translator before a bank will accept them.

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens open an account under a simplified procedure: a valid national ID card or passport, proof of address and the personal number from Step 1. Non-EU nationals present the same core papers but under stricter scrutiny — and their foreign documents must first be apostilled or legalised and then translated into Bulgarian by a sworn translator.

One useful shortcut: Bulgaria’s bilateral legal-aid treaties — with Austria, France, Serbia, Romania, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic among others — waive the apostille requirement, leaving only a certified translation. Watch the fees, too. Some banks levy a non-refundable document-examination fee on foreign applicants, charged up front and kept even if the account is ultimately refused; DSK Bank’s tariff is frequently cited as an example. It is separate from the routine monthly maintenance fee, and it is the trap most first-timers do not see coming.

Step 4: Complete KYC in person

Physical presence is mandatory for the initial identity check at a traditional Bulgarian bank; a first personal account generally cannot be opened by power of attorney. Fintech providers such as Wise and Revolut allow fully online onboarding with video verification, but these are e-money accounts, not full Bulgarian bank accounts.

Know-your-customer (KYC) rules require you to identify yourself in person for that first account, so plan on a branch visit rather than a remote sign-up. If the bank decides to refuse a basic payment account, it must issue a written decision stating the grounds no later than 10 days after receiving all your documents — a paper trail that matters if you want to challenge the refusal (see the section on your rights below).

Online-only providers fill the gap for day-to-day spending: Wise and Revolut onboard you fully online with video verification. But an e-money account is not the same as a Bulgarian bank account — it will not always be accepted for a local salary, a mortgage or utility direct debits, which is exactly why the in-person route still matters.

EU vs non-EU applicants: who can open, and who is refused

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens open a Bulgarian bank account under a simplified procedure and enjoy the statutory right to a basic account. Non-EU nationals are handled under the Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria Act, and since 2019 most banks decline a personal account for anyone without a valid residence permit or at least a long-stay Type D visa.

The practical dividing line is not your paperwork but your passport. Below is what changes depending on which side of the EU border you come from.

What a Bulgarian bank account costs in 2026

The Bulgarian National Bank’s published averages, as of 31 December 2025 across 17 banks, put branch servicing of a payment account at about 2.18 euro (4.27 BGN) a month, falling to about 1.26 euro (2.47 BGN) a month with a debit card included. Banks had to align their basic-account fees to these averages by 1 June 2026.

Under БНБ Regulation No. 3, banks had to bring their basic-account fees into line with these published averages by 1 June 2026, which puts a real ceiling on what the entry-level account can cost. To put the numbers in perspective, running a basic account for a whole year costs less than a single monthly transport pass in Sofia — the maintenance fee is rarely the expensive part of banking as a foreigner. The one-off document-examination fee from Step 3 usually is.

Service	Average fee (EUR)	Average fee (BGN)
Payment-account servicing at a branch (per month)	2.18	4.27
Payment-account servicing with a debit card (per month)	1.26	2.47

Source: Bulgarian National Bank (БНБ), average payment-account fees, released 27 February 2026.

Your right to a basic payment account

Any consumer lawfully resident in the EU has a statutory right to a “payment account for basic operations” under the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act (ЗПУПС), which transposes EU Directive 2014/92/EU. A bank may refuse only on narrow grounds, must give reasons in writing within 10 days, and must tell you where to complain.

The covered services are listed in чл. 118, ал. 1 ЗПУПС, and the right extends even to people without a permanent address and to asylum seekers. A bank can lawfully say no only on narrow grounds — chiefly that you already hold an equivalent payment account at another bank in the country, or that opening one would breach anti-money-laundering rules. Nationality and the lack of a Bulgarian address are not valid grounds.

If you are refused, the Ministry of Finance confirms the bank must issue a written decision with its reasons within 10 days of receiving all required documents, and must inform you of the right to complain to the Bulgarian National Bank and to the Conciliation Commission for Payment Disputes (Помирителна комисия за платежни спорове). That written refusal is your evidence — do not leave the branch without it.

This article does not replace professional legal advice.

Have you ever wondered why a rule as clear as the “right to a basic account” can feel so different at the counter — and what a written refusal actually lets you do about it?