Retire in Varna, Bulgaria: residence, health cover, tax and budget

Retiring in Varna is realistic on a modest pension, but the paperwork depends on your passport. EU, EEA and Swiss pensioners simply register their residence and bring health cover from home on an S1 form. Non-EU pensioners (UK, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and others) apply for a long-stay type D visa as a pensioner, then for a residence permit renewed every year.

I’m an EU citizen: what do I need?

After three months you register with the Migration Directorate and get a certificate with your foreigner’s personal number (LNCh) — see EU citizens: registering your residence. If you receive a state pension from another EU country, ask that country’s health insurer for an S1 and register it with the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF); you are then treated like an insured Bulgarian.

I’m not from the EU: how does the pensioner visa work?

The Foreigners Act (Art. 24(1)(10)) lets people who have a right to a pension under Bulgarian, home-country or another state’s law, and enough money to live on, get a continuous residence permit. The steps:

1. Type D visa at the Bulgarian consulate in your country of permanent residence, with a personal interview. The visa gives up to 180 days’ stay.
2. Documents (MFA checklist): an official document proving your pension, a Bulgarian bank statement showing the account where the pension will arrive, a police certificate, health insurance (the Dubai consulate asks for at least €30,000 cover) and proof of accommodation.
3. Money test: at least the Bulgarian minimum monthly wage or minimum pension for the period of stay. Older blog figures are often quoted in leva and out of date, so ask the consulate for today’s euro amount.
4. Residence permit at the Migration Directorate in Varna, for up to one year, then renewed each year while you still qualify.

The address trap: for a rental, the MFA asks for a notarised declaration from the owner agreeing that you register at the flat. Many landlords refuse, so ask before you sign — see finding a flat in Varna and address registration basics.

Will Bulgaria tax my pension?

You become a Bulgarian tax resident with a permanent address, more than 183 days a year in the country, or your centre of vital interests here. Bulgaria’s Income Tax Act then exempts income from compulsory insurance in Bulgaria or abroad, i.e. state pensions; other income is taxed at a flat 10%. Whether your home country still taxes the pension is set by the tax treaty. For Germans: the protocol to the 2010 treaty came into force on 13 December 2023 (BGBl. 2024 II Nr. 139) and switched Bulgaria to the credit method from 2024; the Finanzamt Neubrandenburg handles people abroad who receive only German pensions. Ask a tax adviser in both countries.

How does healthcare work?

• S1 holders: NHIF cover on the same basis as Bulgarians.
• Non-EU on a first permit: private insurance, as the visa requires.
• NHIF self-payers: €24.81 a month from 1 August 2026 (BNT). The Health Insurance Act makes foreigners with long-term (five-year) or permanent residence compulsorily insured, not holders of the first one-year permit — ask the NHIF in Varna when that applies to you.

What does a month cost?

Numbeo (24 October 2026) puts a single person at about €713 a month before rent, plus about €419 for a one-bedroom flat outside the centre or €565 in it — roughly €1,130–1,280. Add health cover and heating. More in cost of living in Varna.

What is winter really like?

Mild but grey: January averages 6.6 °C by day, −0.5 °C at night. Ask about heating before renting, and build a routine early — meeting people and volunteering help.

How to plan

Visit in winter first, open a Bulgarian bank account and find a landlord who accepts registration before applying. Diary your renewal date.