BULGARIA APPROVES NEW VISA LAW FOR RUSSIAN BUYERS

The Bulgarian deputy foreign affairs minister, Milen Keremedchiev, has thrashed out a deal with representatives from the Russian Tourism agency last week, which automatically provides Russian’s who buy property in the country with a three-year Bulgarian visa - allowing them to stay in the country for 180-days per year.

Starting as of August 1st, with a reciprocal visa application centre opening in Moscow by the end of the year, property owners, their spouse and direct heirs, which must be under 21 years old, will be eligible initially for a one-year visa, followed by the three-year option after exhausting their first visa.

Many in the Bulgarian international homes industry have complained that waiting times for Russian property buyers wishing to use their new holiday home have been excessive, and could start to put the country’s most important buyer market off from investing in the future.

“I believe that around 90% of the market at the moment we are selling to are Russian and this really will help our industry,” said Gabby Ikonomova, from Real Dreamhouse Agents. “It is not a normal situation when a person makes a substantial investment into a country and is not allowed to spend time there. I also think that this should be rolled out here for other buyer markets to ensure the property sector’s sustainability,” she added.

On the 18th of July, the Bulgarian embassy issued its 100,000th visa of 2008 to Russian buyers, a month sooner than in 2007, with an increase of 30%. In the first seven months of 2008, the Bulgarian embassies in the Russian cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novorossiysk and Yekaterinburg, issued around 145,000 visas for Russians wishing to travel to Bulgaria.

GALLERY