Red Tape Unwound

The municipality-owned company operating the majority of the Sofia public transport network made a step ahead - it introduced ticket-selling machines. These have recently appeared on a great number of buses, trams and trolleybuses. Once you slip your one lev in coins, you get the same paper ticket you can alternatively buy at kiosks or from the driver. The machine will at a later stage also read the electronic cards, once they are introduced, that is. Nothing could prepare you though for the version of the English language used to explain the above - apparently, there’s was no budget for a translation service.

As of 11 August the traffic police no longer has the right to fine you on the spot by issuing a ticket.  According to amendments to the relevant legislation, new bilingual tickets, in Bulgarian and English, have to be introduced. Until they are approved and printed out, anyone who has been fined on the road is to pay up at a post office.

As I mentioned earlier, the new Commercial Register came into effect on 1 January 2008. According to the new regulation, the company registration (as well as re-registration) is done through Registry Agency under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice. Once a company is registered, the agency has the obligation to submit all necessary information to all public bodies, which cannot demand verification of any data entered. The registration can be done online and is supposed to take up to two days. Yet in reality the registration officers can’t cope with the inflow of applications. Personally, it took me two months to register my company. Apparently, the reform needs yet another reform.

Yekaterina

Since the beginning of 2008, the new Commercial Register Act is in force in Bulgaria. In the past, registering a company was done in court, after passing through National Statistical Institute, National Revenue Agency and National Social Security Institute. Now the company registration is done through Registry Agency under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice. Once a company is registered, the agency has the obligation to submit all necessary information to all public bodies, which cannot demand verification of any data entered. You can even register a company and pay the fees online. I wonder what the merits and demerits of the new procedure are.

Yekaterina

Bulgarian visa regulations render it almost impossible for foreigners to settle down in Bulgaria and make a living here. Obtaining work permit from the Bureau of Labour is the first step in the long and time-consuming process. If you are lucky enough to find an employer willing to go through the paperwork burden, he/she will have to provide a salary of min 1500 leva, social security, medical insurance, housing and even tickets to the employee’s home country. The work permit costs 600 leva. Be prepared to fork out another 600 for the work visa itself and the consecutive residence card. In a year’s time you will have to go through the same procedure again. Is there an easier way to stay in Bulgaria legally? What is your experience with obtaining a Bulgarian visa?

Yekaterina

Those of you who have adopted the dog that slept in your building’s entrance or the kitty that was born around the corner can now travel with them. Your vet will issue them European passports that enable them to travel. However, rememberto visit your pet’s doctor before setting off - he’ll be writing in a word or two saying the animal has had all the necessary jabs, etc.

by Ani 

Third party insurance premiums are expected to go up from the current average of 110 leva to about 150 leva, possibly in mid November. Despite that, however, prices remain below the EU average of 150 euro.

Foreigners willing to vote have to write a statement and hand it to their local mayor 40 days before the day of the vote, so that their names are entered in voters’ lists. Also, you need to be a citizen of a EU member country and ou must have lived at your current address for at least 10 months.  

Cameras posted at busy crossroads in cities, as well as mobile radars were recently introduced by the traffic police in an effort to curb speeding as well as other traffic code violations. You may not even notice the cameras, but if your car is equipped with BG plates, the police will contact you at your permanent address. Under the new traffic code enforced this summer, punishments vary from 10 lv to 300 lv fines as well as a temporary ban on driving. Fines are only paid at banks, and this is meant to encourage offenders to not offer bribes to cops. I wonder what is your experience?

by Ani Ivanova 

We recently had to renew our Lichna Cartas and get the new cards. We were sent reminder letters from the immigration department in Gabrovo two weeks before our old cards ran out. We were very impressed (and surprised) at the efficiency. We had to show our passports, our original company decision from the court and get a form from the court confirming that our company owed nothing to the state. This sounded complicated but wasn’t. The only problem was that the application form was in cyrillic and we didn’t understand some of the vocabulary.

Some friends of ours had to get their marriage certificate translated into Bulgarian. Different people have been asked for different documents depending where they live.

It cost us about 25 leva approximately for the court form and all the taxes so it was much cheaper than last year but I was only given a card for three years because my passport is only valid till 2010.

Being in the EU seems to have made this procedure much easier I’m glad to say. 

Pam