Bulgarian citizens abroad can now submit applications for Bulgarian personal documents via the Internet without an electronic signature
17 February 2021 News
Bulgarian citizens abroad can submit applications for Bulgarian personal documents without an electronic signature (QES) through the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This became possible thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on whose initiative legal changes were adopted, as well as providing the technical possibility for the better functioning of the automated information system for electronic services of the ministry.
"When I became foreign minister, I found that citizens pay for the services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through state tax stamps or in cash. Today we have already introduced POS terminals, but the COVID epidemic made it almost impossible and quite complicated to visit the Bulgarian consulate twice. We now offer Bulgarian citizens who have already provided biometric data before obtaining a previous document, to apply for a new one online and pay for the service through a virtual POS terminal, which will allow them to physically visit our front office only upon receipt of the ready document", the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ekaterina Zaharieva said.
The system is available at: https://e-usluga_bds.mfa.bgand at the home page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The requirements that must be met by our compatriots applying for renewal of personal documents, both with electronic signature and without it, are as follows:
- To have a Bulgarian passport or ID card, which they have received at a personally submitted application up to 59 months before the request for replacement. This ensures that the citizen has already submitted the necessary biometric data required for the new document;
- Not to have a change of name, unique civil number, gender, citizenship, permanent address or significant and lasting changes in the image of the person.
- Payment is made with a bank card, which has functionality for payment via the Internet.
Also, only when submitting an application without an electronic signature, the document that must be renewed may not have expired, and a copy of the valid Bulgarian personal document must be attached to the application.
Please note that at this time, given the requirements of Art. 160, para 1 and para 2 of the Road Traffic Act, this new possibility for submitting applications for Bulgarian personal documents without using a qualified electronic signature cannot be used for issuing a duplicate of a valid driver's license.
Also, it should be borne in mind that when the application for the issuance of a Bulgarian identity document is submitted electronically, the receipt of the ready document is possible only in person at the relevant consular office specified in the online form, and service is only rendered after recipient’s identity is unambiguously identified and the document whose replacement is requested is returned.
In case of an application submitted electronically, it is not allowed to receive the ready identity document through a licensed provider of postal or courier service by the order of Art. 17, para 7 of Law on Bulgarian Personal Documents (LBPD) or through an authorized person, because it has to be verified that the recipient of the document is the same as the online applicant.
Payments are made on the Internet through a virtual POS terminal.
Until the introduction of the new option, Bulgarian citizens over the age of 18 living outside Bulgaria could renew their passports and ID cards, and citizens residing outside the EU could renew their driver's license, by submitting an application in electronic format only using a qualified electronic signature.