Bulgarian pension while living abroad

You can receive your Bulgarian pension while living abroad — into a personal euro account at a bank in your country of residence or in Bulgaria. Pensions of people whose current address is in an EU country or a country with an agreement are paid by the Sofia City office of the National Social Security Institute (NOI). To keep payments going, you regularly send a certified declaration of continued receipt of the pension — the so-called life certificate.

account

in euro

with IBAN, in your name

payment

from the 7th

first three working days

declaration

once a year

with a Bulgarian account

in Bulgaria

no tax

pensions are tax-free

Which countries this covers

The general rules below apply if your current address in the national population register is in an EU or EEA country (except Germany), Switzerland, the UK, Canada (including Quebec), Israel, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, the Republic of Korea, Azerbaijan or Tunisia. Germany and Turkey have their own arrangements (see below), as do Russia, Ukraine and Moldova — these are described on NOI’s pages.

How to have your pension paid into an account abroad

1. Open a euro account

   A personal account with an IBAN in your sole name — at a bank in your country of residence, or at a bank or payment institution in Bulgaria.

2. Fill in the application

   “Application for the method of payment of the pension to a person with a current address in another country”. Attach a bank document showing the IBAN, you as account holder, and the bank’s name and BIC.

3. Send it to NOI

   By post to NOI Sofia City office, 62–64 Al. Stamboliyski Blvd, 1303 Sofia, or online with a qualified electronic signature or NOI personal code (PIK). Applications received by the 25th take effect on the 1st of the following month.

4. Attach a certified declaration

   For the first payment NOI also needs a declaration of continued receipt certified by an official body.

Declaration of continued receipt (life certificate)

The declaration is certified with a date, signature and stamp by one of these:

• the social security institution in your country of residence;
• a municipality, mayor’s office or regional administration;
• a notary;
• a Bulgarian embassy or consulate.

Send it as an original by post or online with a qualified electronic signature or PIK — through NOI’s website or the secure electronic delivery system. Email to [email protected] is accepted only if signed with a qualified electronic signature. Declarations sent by fax, uncertified or by ordinary email are not processed.

Germany

The pension can be transferred to a German bank account or paid monthly into a euro account in Bulgaria. For transfers to Germany you need an application, a BIC/IBAN declaration certified by your German bank, a current certificate of address registration in Germany and a certified declaration of continued receipt. Small pensions may be transferred to Germany at longer intervals (3, 6 or 12 months); you can change the interval on application.

Turkey

The pension is paid through the Turkish institution SGK: NOI sends it a list by the 7th of every month. To move your payments, you fill in a bilingual request form at SGK, which forwards it to NOI Sofia City. The declaration is certified at SGK or another official body in January and July. If the January one is missing, payment stops from 1 March; if the July one is missing, from 1 September.

Tax

In Bulgaria, pensions from compulsory social insurance are not taxed (Art. 13(1)(6) of the Personal Income Tax Act). Your country of residence may tax them under its own rules and its double taxation treaty with Bulgaria — check the local rules.

Change of address or account

The payment rules depend on your current address in the national population register. If you move to another country, first declare the new current address, then send a new payment-method application to NOI Sofia City. If you close your account, tell NOI at once — otherwise payments keep going to the closed account.