Civil status certificates and duplicates

Civil status certificates are issued by municipalities. The first birth or marriage certificate is the original; every later one is a duplicate. From abroad you can order them in three ways: through a representative at any municipality, online with electronic identification, or through a Bulgarian embassy or consulate.

duplicate

from €5.11

in Sofia, up to 7 days

via a mission

€20

under Tariff No. 3

apostille

€2.56

at the regional administration

Types of certificate

• From civil status records: duplicate birth certificate, duplicate marriage certificate, extract from a death record, full copy of a record.
• From the population register: certificate of marital status (single, married, divorced or widowed), of marital status with spouse and children, for marrying abroad, and of identity of a person with different names.
• Multilingual documents: a multilingual extract under the Vienna Convention and a multilingual standard form under Regulation (EU) 2016/1191.

Who can request them

The person concerned, their parents or legal representatives, the spouses (for a marriage record) and the heirs (for a death record). Anyone else needs a notarised power of attorney (Art. 88a of the Civil Registration Act and Art. 5 of Regulation No. RD-02-20-6).

Three ways from abroad

Certificates from the population register are issued by any municipality, wherever you are registered (Art. 2(2) of the Regulation). Duplicates of birth and marriage certificates are issued by any municipality and by consular officers from the National Electronic Register of civil status records (Art. 88b of the Act). Older records that are not in the electronic register are issued by the municipality where they are kept.

Multilingual forms in the EU

For use in another EU country no apostille is needed for certificates of birth, marriage, name, divorce, parenthood, nationality and others. Instead of a translation you can ask the municipality for a multilingual standard form under Regulation (EU) 2016/1191, presented together with the certificate. In Sofia the form costs the same as the document it accompanies. Exceptionally, the foreign authority may still ask for a translation.

Apostille for countries outside the EU

1. Request the certificate

   At the municipality, online or through a representative. At the same time ask for certification for use abroad (service 2110). In Sofia it costs €5.11 and takes 24 hours to 2 working days.

2. Apostille at the regional administration

   Documents issued by municipalities are apostilled by any regional administration — not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fee is €2.56; it takes up to 8 working hours, or up to 2 working days in exceptional cases.

3. Translation in the country of use

   Translation requirements are set by the receiving country. Check them in advance.