Bulgaria ETIAS Travel Authorisation

Q: Bulgaria only joined Schengen in 2025. Is ETIAS needed there?

Yes. Bulgaria's internal air and sea border controls ended on 31 March 2024 and its land controls on 1 January 2025, making it a full Schengen member. ETIAS covers 30 European countries and Bulgaria is one of them. Recent accession is not an exemption; it means Bulgarian airports, ports and external land crossings are now the places where a Schengen-wide authorisation is checked.

Q: I am travelling from Istanbul to Sofia by bus. What changes?

You enter the Schengen area at the Bulgarian border, most likely at Kapitan Andreevo. That is an external EU crossing, so the Directorate-General for Border Police carries out full document checks, and the Entry/Exit System records your facial image and fingerprints. Once ETIAS is running, your authorisation will be checked at the same point, before your 90-day Schengen allowance starts counting.

Q: Which currency do I need for Bulgaria now?

The euro. Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026 and is listed by the EU among the countries using it. The Bulgarian lev circulated alongside the euro only until the end of January 2026. Older guidebooks, blog posts and booking pages still show lev prices, so check which currency is displayed before you commit to a booking made through an older listing.

Q: How long will an ETIAS last, and how long can I stay?

The authorisation will be valid for three years, or until your passport expires if that comes sooner, and allows multiple entries. Your stay is capped at 90 days in any 180-day period, counted across all participating countries together rather than per country. Days on the Bulgarian coast and days in Greece or Romania draw on the same allowance.

Bulgaria is in Schengen and now uses the euro, but ETIAS itself has not started. Pre-order today and we submit your application as soon as the EU opens the system.

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Bulgaria on the EU's South-Eastern Edge

Bulgaria became a full Schengen member in two steps. Controls at its internal air and sea borders ended on 31 March 2024, and the land border controls with Romania and Greece were lifted on 1 January 2025. Bulgaria and Romania were the last countries to join, bringing the Schengen area to 29 countries. Crossing the Danube bridges from Romania, or driving up from Greece, no longer involves a Schengen border post.

What did not change is the frontier on the other side. Bulgaria's borders now form the EU's south-eastern edge, policed by the Directorate-General for Border Police of the Ministry of the Interior, which covers land, sea and river borders. The EU's published list of border crossing points still names Bulgaria's land crossings towards Türkiye at Kapitan Andreevo, Lesovo and Malko Tarnovo, towards Serbia at Kalotina, Bregovo, Vrashka Chuka and Strezimirovtsi, and towards North Macedonia at Gyushevo, Stanke Lisichkovo and Zlatarevo, alongside the Danube points at Vidin, Lom, Svishtov, Ruse, Tutrakan and Silistra, the Black Sea ports at Varna, Burgas, Balchik and Tsarevo, and the airports at Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas and Gorna Oryahovitsa. Those are the places an ETIAS authorisation will be checked.

ETIAS is not running. The European Commission still names the last quarter of 2026, but that is an EU target, not a confirmed date, and the schedule has already moved more than once; the EU's traveller portal no longer gives a quarter and says only that the system is not in operation. The EU has said it will announce the date well before launch. Nobody can hold an ETIAS for Bulgaria today, and a pre-order buys preparation and submission, not an authorisation.

Who Needs ETIAS for Bulgaria?

Who Needs It

Visa-exempt non-EU nationals travelling to Bulgaria for tourism, business, family visits, study or transit
Travellers flying into Sofia, Burgas, Varna or Plovdiv from outside the Schengen area
Travellers arriving overland from Türkiye, Serbia or North Macedonia, which are EU external borders
Passengers arriving at the Black Sea ports or on the Danube from outside the Schengen area
Applicants under 18 and over 70, who are exempt from the application fee but still have to apply

Who Is Exempt

Nationals of EU, EEA and Swiss countries, who travel under free movement rules
Holders of a valid Schengen visa, a Bulgarian long-stay visa or a Bulgarian residence permit
Nationals who require a visa for Bulgaria, who apply for a Schengen visa rather than an ETIAS authorisation
Non-EU family members of EU citizens holding a residence card issued under free movement rules

Checks at a Bulgarian Border Crossing Point

A passport issued within the last ten years

Your passport must have a date of issue less than 10 years before the day you arrive and an expiry date at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave the Schengen area. Overstaying the 90-day limit can result in a ban of up to three years from Schengen countries. The current rules are set out in the UK government's Bulgaria entry requirements guidance.

An ETIAS authorisation, once the system opens

ETIAS is an authorisation, not a visa, for people who are already visa-exempt. It will be tied to the passport you apply with, valid for three years or until that passport expires, whichever comes first, with multiple entries. It does not guarantee entry: the Bulgarian border officer decides. The single official EU information portal is travel-europe.europa.eu/etias, and copycat sites are a known problem.

Entry/Exit System registration

The EU's Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026 at every external crossing point, replacing passport stamps with a digital record of your facial image, fingerprints and travel document data. In Bulgaria that means the airports, the sea and Danube ports, and the Türkiye, Serbia and North Macedonia land crossings. The Commission has published who is exempt from EES.

Bulgaria now uses the euro

Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026 and appears on the EU's list of countries using the euro. The Bulgarian lev was accepted alongside it only until the end of January 2026. Guides, booking sites and blog posts written before 2026 still quote lev prices, so check the currency shown before you book anything for a Bulgarian trip.

Declarations at the external crossings

At Kapitan Andreevo, Kalotina, Gyushevo and the other external points, full EU customs rules apply, including declaration requirements for cash at or above the EU threshold and for goods brought in from outside the Union. Kapitan Andreevo, opposite Kapıkule near Svilengrad, is the principal road crossing towards Türkiye. The official list of crossing points is published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Things That Catch Visitors Out in Bulgaria

Bulgaria changed two significant things in as many years, and both affect how a short visit works.

The euro replaced the lev. Bulgaria joined the euro area on 1 January 2026, and the lev was only accepted alongside the euro until the end of that January. Anything written before 2026, including a lot of accommodation listings and price guides, still refers to lev.
Cyrillic comes first. Bulgarian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Motorway signs and main station boards usually carry a Latin transliteration, but menus, local timetables and small-town signage often do not.
Your address gets registered for you. Hotels and licensed accommodation register guests with the authorities automatically. If you stay in a private home instead, the responsibility for notifying the authorities falls on your host rather than on you.
The coast is a season, and so are its airports. Burgas and Varna serve the Black Sea resorts and run far heavier international schedules in summer than in winter, while Sofia carries the year-round traffic and most connections to the mountains.
Arriving overland means arriving in Schengen. Kapitan Andreevo from Türkiye, Kalotina from Serbia and Gyushevo from North Macedonia are external EU crossings with full checks. Coming from Romania or Greece, there is no routine border post at all.
The Danube ports still count. Vidin, Ruse, Svishtov and Silistra remain designated crossing points, which matters for river cruises that have come downstream past Serbia.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I buy a Bulgarian ETIAS today?

No. ETIAS is not in operation and the EU is not accepting applications from anyone. The last quarter of 2026 is the target the European Commission has named, but it is not a confirmed start date, and the schedule has already moved more than once. The EU's own traveller portal no longer gives a quarter and says only that the system is not in operation. No valid ETIAS for Bulgaria exists at present.

Bulgaria only joined Schengen in 2025. Is ETIAS needed there?

Which Bulgarian borders are EU external borders?

The land crossings with Türkiye, Serbia and North Macedonia, the Black Sea ports at Varna, Burgas, Balchik and Tsarevo, and the Danube crossing points including Vidin, Ruse and Silistra. Kapitan Andreevo, opposite Kapıkule, is the main road crossing towards Türkiye. Bulgaria's borders with Romania and Greece are internal Schengen borders now, so there is no routine passport post when you cross them.

I am travelling from Istanbul to Sofia by bus. What changes?

Which currency do I need for Bulgaria now?

How long will an ETIAS last, and how long can I stay?

What is the difference between ETIAS and EES here?

EES is the system at the border. Since 10 April 2026 it has been fully operational, registering a facial image, fingerprints and travel document details instead of stamping passports. In Bulgaria it runs at the airports, the Black Sea and Danube ports, and the land crossings with Türkiye, Serbia and North Macedonia. ETIAS is the separate advance authorisation you apply for online before you travel, and you will need both.

What happens to my pre-order if ETIAS is delayed again?

It stays valid and it does not run out. We set no deadline of our own: your prepared application waits until the EU starts accepting them, we file it at that point, and you get the outcome by email. Only the ETIAS authorities decide applications, so we cannot promise approval, and we are a private service, not the EU or a government body. If we cannot file or deliver an outcome, you get your money back in full.

Ready for Bulgaria Before the System Opens

Applications have not opened in the EU yet; pre-order and we will hold your Bulgaria ETIAS application ready to submit on the first day it can be filed.

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Bulgaria visa requirements by nationality

Sources & References

Information last reviewed: Aug 30, 2026