Criminal record certificate: for and from abroad

The criminal record certificate shows whether a person has convictions in Bulgaria. It is issued by the Ministry of Justice or the criminal records bureau at a district court and is valid for 6 months. If you live abroad, you have three options: online with a qualified electronic signature, through a Bulgarian embassy or consulate, or through a representative in Bulgaria.

online

€1.53

with an electronic signature

validity

6 months

from the date of issue

through a mission

€10 + fee

e.g. €12.56 in Valencia

Online

The electronic certificate is requested at crr.mjs.bg with a qualified electronic signature containing your EGN and issued by a Bulgarian provider, or with an electronic identifier. There is no form to fill in — your data are taken from the signature and the registers.

• The fee is €1.53, payable within 14 days by card, bank transfer or at a bank, quoting the request’s registration number.
• The certificate is issued within 3 working days of the payment arriving. You receive an access link by email.
• It is in Bulgarian and English and does not state its purpose — it can be used anywhere.
• Anyone you give the access link to can check it on the Ministry’s website, including from abroad.
• The electronic certificate has the same legal force as a paper one.

An intermediary can also request the certificate online — only for a Bulgarian citizen and with an express notarised power of attorney attached to the request.

Through an embassy or consulate

You can apply at any Bulgarian mission in the country where you live. The mission sends the application to the Ministry of Justice, and the certificate is received at the mission electronically.

• Bring a completed application form and your original valid Bulgarian ID card or passport.
• If your name has changed — a declaration of identity of names.
• State the purpose; for a job — the exact position.
• You pay a €10 consular fee (Tariff No. 3, Art. 12) plus the Ministry of Justice fee.
• If you want the certificate with an apostille, the original is sent by post and it takes about a month or more.

Through a representative in Bulgaria

The criminal records bureau at the district court for your place of birth issues the certificate the same day or within 3 working days. People born abroad or with an unknown place of birth get their certificate from the Central Criminal Records Bureau of the Ministry of Justice in Sofia.

• A parent, child, brother, sister or spouse can apply with an express written authorisation.
• Any other representative needs an express notarised power of attorney.

Using the certificate abroad

A paper certificate gets an apostille from the Ministry of Justice if the country where you will use it is party to the Hague Convention. Have the translation done where the document will be used — some countries do not accept translations certified in Bulgaria.

The electronic certificate is bilingual and can be checked online. Whether a foreign institution accepts it without an apostille — ask them in advance.

If you live in an EU country, you can also ask for a local certificate: the central authority there requests Bulgarian data through the European ECRIS system and includes them in the document (Art. 6 of Framework Decision 2009/315/JHA).

Foreign certificates for use in Bulgaria

For Bulgarian citizenship the Ministry of Justice requires a criminal record certificate from your country of citizenship, marked as issued “for the purposes of the Bulgarian citizenship procedure”. If the document cannot carry such a note, check with the Ministry or the embassy where you apply.

• The document needs an apostille or legalisation, depending on the issuing country.
• It is translated into Bulgarian — in Bulgaria by a translator whose signature is notarised, or by a translator approved by the Bulgarian mission.
• Check how old the document may be on the date you apply.

A foreign national who has lived in Bulgaria can also request a Bulgarian certificate through a mission: with an ID document, a birth certificate showing the parents’ names translated into Bulgarian, and an official document proving residence in Bulgaria.