Unemployment benefit when returning to Bulgaria

Unemployment benefit in Bulgaria is paid by the National Social Security Institute (NOI). You need 12 months of unemployment insurance in the last 18 months, and periods in another EU country or a country with an agreement are counted. Register with the Labour Office Directorate of the Employment Agency within 7 working days of your job ending, and claim at NOI within 3 months.

amount

60%

of average daily earnings over 24 months

per day

€9.21–54.78

minimum and maximum, 2026

duration

4–12 months

depending on service

registration

7 working days

at the labour office

Which country pays

Under EU rules the benefit is paid by the country where you last worked. So it matters where your last job was:

• You last worked in Bulgaria (after coming back) — you claim in Bulgaria, and your periods abroad are added to the Bulgarian ones.
• You lived in Bulgaria and worked in another country (for example as a cross-border worker) — you register in Bulgaria. Residence is judged by where your centre of interests is.
• You lived and worked abroad and come back unemployed — as a rule you are entitled in the country of your last job. You can transfer that benefit to Bulgaria with form U2.

How foreign periods are counted: U1

Periods in other countries can be proved in two ways. You can ask the institution in the country where you worked for a portable document U1 (formerly E 301) and hand it to NOI. Or you file NOI’s application for requesting insurance periods and earnings from other EU/EEA countries, and NOI requests them electronically itself (document U002). With a U1 the claim usually moves faster.

Step by step

1. Register with the labour office

   At the Labour Office Directorate for your permanent or current address, within 7 working days of your insurance ending. In person with an identity document or online; education documents can be brought later.

2. Claim at NOI

   Within 3 months of your job ending. Online with a qualified electronic signature or NOI personal code (service 74 in NOI’s portal), through the secure electronic delivery system, or on paper at the labour office. Attach the document ending your employment and your U1, if you have it.

3. Wait for the decision

   NOI grants the benefit by a formal decision. If it is waiting for data from abroad, this takes longer.

4. Receive the payments

   Benefit is paid monthly, in the month after the one it is due for. If you start work, tell NOI within 7 working days.

Amount and duration in 2026

The daily benefit is 60% of your average daily insured earnings over the last 24 months, but not less than €9.21 or more than €54.78 a day (2026 limits under the State Social Security Budget Act). The monthly amount is the daily rate times the working days in the month. If those 24 months include periods in another EU country, your earnings from your last job and your earnings in Bulgaria and the other countries are taken into account (Art. 54b(8) of the Code).

You get only the minimum rate for 4 months if you resigned or left by mutual agreement, were dismissed for misconduct, or qualify less than 3 years after a previous unemployment benefit. There is no benefit if you are entitled to an old-age pension in Bulgaria or in another country. Unemployment benefit is not taxed.

Looking for work abroad with Bulgarian benefit: U2

If you receive benefit in Bulgaria and want to look for work in another EU country, you can keep it with a portable document U2:

• you must have been registered and available to the labour office for at least 4 weeks;
• you ask NOI for the U2 before you leave, using its U2 application;
• within 7 days of leaving you register with the employment service of the other country;
• the benefit continues for 3 months, exceptionally up to 6, and NOI pays it directly to you;
• you must return to Bulgaria before the period ends, or you lose the rest of your entitlement.

The other way round: if you come to Bulgaria with a U2 from another country, register at the labour office within the U2 deadline and file NOI’s application for certifying the date of registration. The foreign institution pays the benefit. If you start work or go back, the change is reported with a U3.