Deputy Minister Polendakov: For Third-Country Citizens, the Journey to Bulgaria Begins at the Consular Office
27 May 2026 News
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism are taking joint actions to facilitate the receipt and processing of visa applications.
For third-country citizens, the journey to Bulgaria begins at the consular office. Therefore, it is extremely important that Bulgarian consular offices and bureaus offer a high-quality, fast, and predictable service. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hristo Polendakov, during a meeting today at the MFA with the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Georgi Todorov.
The meeting was held at the initiative of the Ministry of Tourism and aimed to discuss opportunities to overcome challenges related to the access of third-country tourists for Summer 2026 and to take long-term measures. The two ministries will launch a procedure to establish an interinstitutional coordination mechanism to create prerequisites for accelerating procedures to attract tourists and workers from markets outside the European Union. The goal is to form both short-term solutions for the active summer season and long-term measures for better coordination between institutions.
Deputy Minister Polendakov emphasized that consular offices are working under serious pressure due to limited human resources and a growing number of applications.
In his words, the task is clear - to accelerate procedures without compromising security. He also pointed out that it is important for our country to remain a stable, secure, and predictable destination both for tourists and for people coming to work in the sector.
The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Georgi Todorov, proposed that the Ministry of Tourism and the MFA co-chair the working group, with the participation of the State Agency for National Security (SANS), the Ministry of Interior – "Migration" Directorate, the Employment Agency, and the Ministry of Finance. The common goal is to support business, the economy, employment, and Bulgaria's image as a safe and attractive destination. "We are concerned about both tourists and workers for the sector from markets outside the EU. We need to see where the bottlenecks are and how we can overcome them," said Deputy Minister Todorov.
On behalf of the MFA, it was also noted that last year over 180,000 visas were issued by consular offices, and the Bulgarian consular service operates with a limited staffing level. In most of our consular offices, the staff is limited to just one consul and a small number of technical employees, which makes processing difficult during periods of increased interest. The MFA has already taken steps to reinforce the staff of key consular offices, including those in Istanbul, Edirne, Ankara, and Bursa in Turkey, as well as in Cairo, Delhi, Tashkent, and Hanoi, for which funding for these new employees is expected to be approved. The goal is to restore the normal pace of work where the workload is highest. Additionally, the MFA will short-term deploy a total of 53 employees to secure the summer season of 2026 in the consular offices in Madrid, Munich, Berlin, London, Beijing, Riyadh, Athens, Baku, Amman, Ankara, Edirne, Istanbul, Brussels, Delhi, Belgrade, Dubai, Jakarta, Tashkent, Hanoi, Cairo, and Algiers.
For the current summer season, 16 local individuals have already been hired on fixed-term contracts in our consular offices in Minsk, Astana, Moscow, Tashkent, Frankfurt, Valencia, and Tashkent.
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