EGN (Bulgarian unified civil number) and LNCh

Under the Civil Registration Act, the EGN is the administrative identifier for everyone in Bulgaria's population register. It is unique and identifies one person without doubt. GRAO, the Civil Registration and Administrative Services directorate of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, keeps the register of unified civil numbers.

GRAO explains the structure: 10 digits, the first six showing the date of birth (year, month, day), the next three a sequence number whose last digit shows sex (even for men, odd for women), and a final check digit. For people born from 2000 onwards, 40 is added to the month, so a January 2001 birth shows 41.

• EGN. The population register covers all Bulgarian citizens and foreigners granted long-term (дългосрочно) or permanent residence, or refugee or humanitarian status, or asylum.
• LNCh. The Bulgarian Identity Documents Act says the personal number of a foreigner identifies foreigners with continued (продължително), long-term and permanent residence in Bulgaria. Personal documents carry the unified civil number in one of these forms.

In practice, a nurse or doctor from outside the EU who arrives on a single permit or EU Blue Card is in the continued-residence category, so the number on their residence permit is an LNCh rather than an EGN. People often still call it an EGN, and forms ask for "EGN/LNCh".

1. Get your work permit approved. Your employer applies to the Employment Agency for a single permit or Blue Card.
2. Enter on a type D visa. You apply at a Bulgarian embassy or consulate after approval.
3. Collect your residence permit. The Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior issues the residence permit document, which contains your personal data and number.
4. Move to an EGN later. If you are later granted long-term or permanent residence, you are entered in the population register, which uses the EGN.

Before you have a number, the National Revenue Agency (NRA) can issue its own service number for tax and health insurance contributions.

The NRA identifies people paying health insurance contributions by EGN, LNCh or an NRA service number. Expect to quote your number on your employment contract and payroll, for health insurance, at the bank and on Bulgarian official certificates. NACID, for example, enters the civil number on its certificates of recognised higher education.

The number does not replace your passport or residence permit as proof of your right to live and work in Bulgaria. It is simply the key that links your records across public bodies, so keep it consistent on every form and tell your employer straight away if your residence status, and therefore your number, changes.

• Mixing up EGN and LNCh. If a form asks for an EGN and you hold a residence permit for continued residence, give your LNCh; the law treats both as the civil number on your documents.
• Checking the number. GRAO publishes how the tenth digit is calculated from the first nine, so a typing error on a contract or payroll form can usually be spotted before it causes problems.
• Timing. Your number comes with the permit, so plan the Ministry of Health exam route and your permit together, as our Bulgaria country guide explains.