Cabinet approves nearly doubling of individual card prices, unlimited cards being phased out

At today’s meeting, the Cabinet approved an almost doubling of the price of issuing ID cards – from 18 to 30 Bulgarian levs, as is clear from the record of the decision. Previously issued indefinite documents to senior citizens are no longer valid. The proposal for these changes was made by the Ministry of the Interior in April.

The Council of Ministers adopted a decree amending and supplementing Tariff No. 4 on fees collected within the system of the Ministry of the Interior in accordance with the Law on State Fees, adopted by Cabinet Decree No. 53 of February 26, 1998, they announced.

The Cabinet explained that, in accordance with the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on increasing the security of identity cards and residence documents issued to federal citizens and their family members. More specifically – It is expected that the ID card will have an electronic data carrier containing biometric datawhile residence permits issued by the Ministry of the Interior will be uniformly designed in accordance with European regulations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that aligning the new generation of Bulgarian personal documents with the norms generally applicable to machine-readable travel documents and ensuring global interoperability will facilitate the free movement of people. The introduction of uniform minimum security standards related to the forms of documents operating in the EU will help other Member States to verify and control their authenticity, making their use faster, easier and safer, even claimed.

In order to determine the amount of state fees, the Ministry of the Interior has established a method for calculating the amount of fees for issuing personal documents in Bulgaria. On this basis, the following general service fees for personal documents in Bulgaria have been determined, namely:

• ID card – 30 Bulgarian levs;
• Residence card – 40 Bulgarian levs;
• Residence permit – 40 Bulgarian levs

It is proposed to keep the fee of 18 BGN for the ordinary service of the new ID card until the end of 2024 and to issue ID documents at the new fee amount from January 1, 2025.

Due to the adoption of the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 The possibility of issuing permanent ID cards will no longer exist. Residents aged between 18 and 70 are issued ID cards with a validity period of 10 years, and residents aged over 70 are issued ID cards with a validity period of 30 years.

In order to maintain the established social policy practices, the preferential fee for issuing ID cards to targeted groups of citizens is maintained, using the existing ratio between the ordinary service fee and the service fee. Preferential service fee:

1. For people aged 14 to 16 applying for ID cards for the first time, the three types of services, ordinary, fast and express, will retain the free issuance discount;

2. The fee for issuing the next ID card to persons aged 14 to 16 years and the reduced fee for each ID card to persons aged 16 to 18 years is 21 BGN;

3. For senior citizens aged 70 or above who apply for ID cards, the three types of services, ordinary, fast and express, will be issued free of charge;

4. Issuance of identity card for persons aged 18 to 58 years, fee is 30 levs;

5. The preferential fee of 3 leva for issuing identity cards to persons with permanent reduction of working capacity or with type and degree of disability of 50% and above shall be retained;

6. The reduced fee for issuing an identity card to a person who is unable to obtain biometric data due to temporary physical incapacity (plastering, burns, etc.) is foreseen to be 3 BGN.

The fee for a residence card for family members of EU citizens, family members of citizens of EEA countries, Swiss Confederation citizens who are not EU, EEA or Swiss Confederation citizens is the normal fee of 30 levs. In order to expedite the issuance of the specified document, the fee is doubled if the service is requested within 3 working days.

The fee for issuing a residence permit to a foreigner is 40 leva.

In addition, in art. 21 of Tariff Schedule No. 4, it is stipulated that, despite the fact that, after the changes in the Law on Road Traffic, the possibility for the holder to receive an inspection ticket when issuing a motor vehicle driver’s license has been reduced, the issuance of an inspection ticket is subject to a fee. Cancelled. As a result, the provisions of paragraphs 7. 3, 4 and 7. The Office of “Grafchev” also decided that, starting from Art. 21 of Tariff Schedule No. 4, the state fee for issuing a control coupon will be canceled.