Work in Bulgaria as a foreign doctor, nurse or AHP (2026)

• MoH BulgariaMinistry of Health of Bulgaria (Министерство на здравеопазването)

  Admission of non-EU medical graduates to the Article 186 exam; recognition of EU qualifications and specialties

  Read the registration guide

1. 1

   1. Confirm your profession is regulated and which procedure applies

   Check that your profession is on the Ministry of Health's list of regulated medical professions. If your qualification is from a third country and you are not an EU citizen, you use the exam route under Article 186(3)(3) of the Health Act. If your qualification is from an EU member state, you apply for recognition under the Recognition of Professional Qualifications Act instead.
2. 2

   2. Learn Bulgarian and pass the medical language exam

   The Ministry of Health requires a certificate of Bulgarian language and professional terminology issued under Ordinance No. 15 of 2005. The Institute of Education runs the exam in Sofia and publishes a self-study programme and sample tests. Documents go in by hand, post or courier, not by email, and must arrive by the deadline announced for each session; late files roll over to the next date.
3. 3

   3. Gather, legalise and translate your documents

   You need a copy of your diploma and its supplements, your academic transcript or curriculum showing course length, subjects, hours and clinical training, a disciplinary record or good standing document from where you practised, a criminal record certificate, and a medical certificate of physical and mental health. Everything except your identity document must carry an apostille or consular legalisation and come with a Bulgarian translation, itself certified in one of the ways the Ministry sets out.
4. 4

   4. Watch the three-month rule

   The good standing document, the criminal record certificate and the medical certificate must each be issued no more than three months before you apply. Order them last, once your language certificate and diploma papers are ready, so they do not expire while you wait.
5. 5

   5. Apply to the Ministry of Health for admission to the exam

   File the application form for admission to the exam under Article 186(3)(3)(a), in person, through a representative or by post to the Ministry's administrative service centre at 5 Sveta Nedelya Square, Sofia. Email and fax are not accepted. You must give a contact address in Bulgaria, or a contact person with a Bulgarian address, otherwise notices are published on the Ministry's website.
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   6. Respond to any request for missing documents

   If your file is incomplete, the commission writes to you and gives you two months to supply what is missing, and the decision clock stops. If you do not send the documents in that time, the procedure ends and you must start again. The commission can also ask the authorities in your country to confirm that your documents are genuine.
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   7. Receive the Minister's order

   The Minister decides within two months of a complete file. A positive decision is an order admitting you to the exam at a university you choose. A refusal comes as a reasoned written order, which you can challenge under the Administrative Procedure Code.
8. 8

   8. Sit the exam at a Bulgarian university

   Universities hold the exam twice a year, and it covers the state examinations set in the unified state requirements for your profession. You must sit it within one year of the order, or apply again. The fee is set by each university's own rules, so ask the university you pick before you register.
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   9. Get your certificate and register with your professional organisation

   Your result is recorded as passed or failed. If you pass, the rector issues a certificate with a number from the Ministry's register. You then join the register of your professional organisation, the regional college of the BLS for doctors or BAPZG for nurses and midwives, and confirm its documents and fees with them.
10. 10

    10. Arrange your work and residence permit

    Your employer applies to the Employment Agency for approval of a single permit or an EU Blue Card. After approval you apply for a type D visa at a Bulgarian embassy, then collect the permit from the Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior after you arrive.

• English is not the working language of Bulgarian healthcare, and no English test is required for registration. The language you must prove is Bulgarian, together with professional terminology in Bulgarian.
• The legal basis is Ordinance No. 15 of 13 December 2005 on establishing knowledge of Bulgarian and professional terminology by foreigners practising a medical profession. Neither the Ministry of Health nor the exam centre states a CEFR level; the exam is profession-specific.
• Since 19 November 2024 the exam is organised by the Institute of Education (formerly the Centre for Assessment in Pre-school and School Education), 125 Tsarigradsko Shose Boulevard, Block 5, Sofia. It publishes a self-study programme and sample tests with answer keys for medicine, dental medicine and pharmacy.
• To register you send the application form, a copy of your Bulgarian identity document or international passport, and a notarised copy of your medical diploma and its grades supplement, with all foreign-language documents legalised. Applications by email are not accepted.
• Successful candidates collect their certificate in person or by courier at their own cost. If you are refused a certificate, you can resit no earlier than four months after the previous exam.
• The Ordinance does not apply to EU citizens who qualified in Bulgaria. For other EU citizens, the Health Act says the Ministry of Health and universities provide conditions to learn Bulgarian and terminology where needed.

• Single permit for employment

  Your employer applies to the Employment Agency's local office. The EU Immigration Portal says a labour market test applies: the employer must show it searched for 15 days and found no suitable Bulgarian, EEA, Swiss or long-term resident candidate. The single permit is valid for up to one year, renewable up to three years, and is tied to one employer and position.

• EU Blue Card

  For highly qualified employment you need a higher education qualification from at least three years of study and a contract salary, according to the EU Immigration Portal, of at least 1.5 times the average salary in Bulgaria over the previous 12 months. The Blue Card is valid for the contract plus three months, up to four years, and in the first two years you can only change employer with the Employment Agency's written permission.

• Type D visa and arrival

  Once the Employment Agency approves the permit, you apply for a long-stay type D visa at the Bulgarian embassy or consulate in your country. After arriving you collect the permit from the Migration Directorate and must notify your address within five days.

• Professional qualification and the permit

  Your documents on education, specialty and qualifications for the permit must be legalised and translated into Bulgarian in the same way the Ministry of Health requires. Plan the Ministry of Health exam and the permit together: your employer needs to know when you will hold the right to practise.

• Family members

  Blue Card holders can bring a spouse, unmarried children under 18 and the spouse's children at any time while the card is valid, according to the EU Immigration Portal.

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens

  You do not need a work permit. Your qualification is recognised under the Recognition of Professional Qualifications Act, through the Ministry of Health service for regulated medical professions, and for doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists and pharmacists on the EU list this follows Directive 2005/36/EC.

Bulgaria has no national pay table for doctors or nurses that we could confirm from an official source for 2026. Salaries are set by each employer within the framework of the sector's collective labour agreement, and the most recent agreement on the Ministry of Health website is from April 2022. The figures below are the official reference points we could confirm.

• Healthcare collective labour agreement

  Latest published: 12 April 2022

  Ministry of Health, collective labour agreement page.

• EU Blue Card salary floor

  1.5 times the national average salary

  EU Immigration Portal, based on the last 12 months of data.

• BAPZG membership (nurses, midwives)

  €6.20 a month minimum in 2026

  1% of the national minimum wage.

• BLS membership (doctors)

  €12.40 a month minimum in 2026

  2% of the national minimum wage, as BAPZG reports it.

• Hospital and clinic pay: Set by the employerAsk for the gross monthly salary in writing before your permit application.