Professionals are everywhere in price, and higher education received at home in a new country can also come in handy. To use a diploma from a foreign university in Bulgaria, you must go through the nostrification procedure. It consists in checking and recognizing a document on higher education.
Why do you need a diploma?
Such a question is unlikely to arise for those who plan to work in Bulgaria in their specialty. The rest often believe that their diploma will not be useful in Bulgaria, especially when it comes to an unclaimed profession. However, this is not the case.
Firstly, often a potential employer is interested in the very fact of having a higher education, the specialty no longer matters. Secondly, the diploma will be useful for those who plan to continue their studies and improve their skills. Finally, this document can be used in place of a legalized school certificate when obtaining or replacing a driver's license in Bulgaria.
Translation
The cost and timing of such work vary and depend on the specific office.
In 2017, the Ministerial Council of Bulgaria adopted amendments to the Regulation on State Requirements for the Recognition of Higher Education in the Bachelor's and Master's Degrees and in the Doctoral Degree obtained outside Bulgaria, in foreign universities and research organizations. (Naredba za dúrzhavnite iziskvaniya za priznane na pridodoto vishe obrazovanie i zav'rsheni periodi na ucheniya v chuzhdestrni visshi uchili uchili).
Since 2017, neither apostille nor legalization is required for diplomas issued in the countries that are parties to the Lisbon Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region. Now a regular translation is enough, so you need to pay less to the translator than before.
These requirements apply to diplomas obtained in universities of the EU countries and for Australia, Azerbaijan, Albania, Andorra, Armenia, rep. Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, New Zealand, Norway, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, San Marino, Holy See, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Montenegro, Switzerland.
NACID
Diplomas are recognized by NACID, the National Centre for Information and Documentation. This institution is located in Sofia, so residents of the capital can come there in person, while others can use the services of intermediaries or send documents by mail.
Ordinary copies of the translated diploma, personal card, passport and certificate of change of surname, if any, must be submitted to the NAZID. You don't need to pay anything.
NACID checks the authenticity of documents, compares the diploma data with state requirements in Bulgaria, sends a request to the university that issued the document and receives confirmation. After that, a decision is made on the recognition of higher education (or refusal to recognize) and a certificate of the established form is issued. This is an official document valid only on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Attention! For representatives "regulated" (doctors, lawyers, engineers and others) professions, such a certificate is not enough to start working. In this case, a special recognition procedure is provided. You will need to additionally undergo training and pass a number of exams in order to obtain the right to work in your specialty in Bulgaria.