Friday 6 November 2015

Jumping Through Hoops

As much as I love living here in Bulgaria, there are certain things which still frustrate the hell out of me. One such thing is the bureaucracy. Don't get me wrong, everyone has to deal with it, and it makes no difference if you are Bulgarian, a Foreigner or even a Martian, although sometimes the depths and levels do seem to vary. It is something that we have had to get used to over the years. As a foreigner, irrespective of the fact that we came under the EU umbrella, we had to form a company to buy a property. We could have brought an apartment which would have got round that, but the company was needed to buy the plot of land that the house actually sits on. Now we have the company, each year we have to submit tax returns, even on a non trading company. At least now there is no such requirement, and existing companies can now be dissolved. The problem being that everyone seems to have a different interpretation about this, and guidelines are very sketchy to say the least. Maybe I am a bit old fashioned, but if it is a legal requirement then we will do our best to comply.

Just recently we have been facing our own confrontation with officialdom, and no matter how well prepared you think you are, something will have changed. For those familiar with these blogs, you know where I have been. Once again it is time to get our long term residency sorted out. So we have been making trips backwards and forwards to the Immigration Section of the dreaded KAT Office in VT. I thought that I was doing so well by trying to pre-empt things. The company formation document had been photo copied twice, the same with the property deeds. Our passports had been photo copied, as had our private health insurance cards and policies. I even had my pension document copied and translated into Bulgarian. As far as we could remember the only things left to do were a couple of documents from a notary, two saying that neither of us would claim any form of social security payment from the Bulgarian state, and one saying that I would financially support my wife. Armed with all of these bits of paperwork, separated into two piles, we thought that we were fully prepared to face the rigours of Mrs Grumpy Bum, and her sunny disposition.

I have often thought that Mrs Grumpy Bum is much of the trouble in the Immigration Office, as she has always been awkward and unhelpful. Even when she was doing her job, you always got the feeling that she thought she was doing you a favour. That is by the by, because when we went to the little window, Mrs GB wasn't there, instead it was a very pleasant young lady who actually smiled when handing over the renewal forms. These were duly filled out, and together with our document packs, which we had prepared earlier, and expired residency cards, were all handed back through her little window. In return we got another couple of bits of paper so that we could go and pay the fees for the new cards. So far so good, the receipts for the fees were then taken back to the little window so that they could also go with each relevant pack. The helpful lady was off for her lunch, so we were told to come back in two hours. It all seemed relatively painless, and even the notary documentation had worked out cheaper than previous times, could this be a relatively frustration free trip?

Of course not, that would make things far too easy. To confuse matters even more, my documentation was fine, but the problem was with Net's. Has she got a pension? No. Has she got a Bulgarian bank account? No. Well how does she live here? I said that I financially support her, and one of the documents from the Notary declared that. Ah!!!!! That was the old system, it changed recently. So why didn't the Notary inform us that the requirements had changed? Then we asked if it was possible to see a Supervisor. She came down and tried to explain that while everything would have been fine before the change, now it wasn't. So what to we need to do to resolve this? Can she open a bank account and stick 1000 Leva in today? The 1000 Leva can go in and once the document from the bank is complete it can come back out again. It all seemed a bit farcical, all the more so when we know full well that there are those who have never even bothered registering in the first place. While all of this was going on I was handed a piece of paper with a date on, but no explanation. The other option was for half an hour every 90 days Net would cross over into Romania, and then come back. We said that we would sort something out, but it wouldn't be that day. Some things are certainly sent to try us.

The piece of paper with the date on was when my new residency card would be ready for collection. The next day, while we were at home, we had a phone call from the Supervisor. Between them they had looked through all of the rules and regulations, and because we were applying for a renewal, not an initial issue,Net's documents were OK. However with my declaration that I would financially support her, they now needed a translated copy of our wedding certificate. We have previously tried to get this done, but because a lot is hand written, we always got the 'no-can-do'. So I deciphered it all, and printed the copy out so that the official translators could do their bit. Finally that bridge was crossed, so when I went in to collect my new shiny residency card we could hand in Net's paperwork.

So this week it was another trip into VT, so Net's paperwork could be submitted and my card picked up. They tried to get us to pay for Net's card again, until it was pointed out we did it last week and the receipt was in her file. How odd, there it was. My card was handed over, it wasn't the photo card style one which I had surrendered, it was this useless white thing. It looks as though a child has made this at school using a John Bull printing kit. It is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. There is no photo on it, no personal Identity number, and you are meant to carry your passport at all times. You can't open a bank account with it, register a vehicle with it, it is a complete and utter waste of time. Not only that but it costs 11 Lev a time.

The photo ID Long Term Residency Card is completely different. Not only can a bank see that you are who you say you are, but it has that all important personal number which officialdom likes along with other useful information. Which means that you don't need to carry your Passport round, and worry about losing it. To get mine done, so that it will be ready to pick up at the same time as Net's card next week, that has cost another 40 Leva. I did have to pose for a new photo, and I was caught pulling faces at the camera. Oh well, at least it gave the woman taking the photo a laugh. Once upon a time people didn't need the useless white card, but went straight for the photo style one. Sometimes progress is not always in a forward direction. So next week we will be making a 3rd trip there. Hopefully we will even be able to register the car as it is in Net's name. If a vehicle is in an individual's name the registration expires when their Residency Card does, but if the vehicle is in the company name there is no expiry date. After having been here for more than 7 years now, under EU legislation (or my understanding of it) I should have been issued a 10 year Residency Card. As is often the case, each region will interpret the rules and regulations differently. So it has gone on when my Passport is due to expire as that is earlier. So it has been a lot of faffing about for a Residency Card valid for only 30 months, and even more faffing about for a useless piece of white card knocked up in an after school club.

You have to keep smiling though, or else you would be sat in the corner staring off into space. The good news is that the pros far outweigh the cons with regards living out here. One thing we have noticed is that they are not really interested in a person's private health insurance policy, all they want to see is a valid European Health Insurance Card. Which isn't valid if you live here on a permanent basis. So how many hoops would you like to attempt to jump through today? Sometimes I feel just like a performing Seal.          


12 comments:

  1. It's odd isn't it! We recently got our residency cards and ID cards in gabrovo. Neither of us have pensions, my partner is self employed and will be supporting us both. She isn't on the house deeds and yet, we had no problem getting either cards. Just a signed statement from the notary to say niether of us would be claiming anything and bobs your uncle. Less than a month ago!

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    1. There have been numerous problems with the office in VT, and even the Embassy in Sofia are aware. Things seem to be slightly better, but they do like to see how many hoops they can get people to jump through. Third visit next week and I should be all sorted, but still more bits to do for Net though. So the battle continues

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  2. Another example of the bureaucracy. It's law that any artwork which is to be posted out of the country requires a permit, signed from a history museum. And if it is to posted outside the EU, a visit to customs where you get another document and have a photograph of the painting taken. All to make sure the artwork isn't national treasure. You can imagine my worry at hearing this as sometimes we have 3 paintings a week to send and we're supposed to do this for every painting. DHL won't post without the relevant permits. I didn't fancy 3 trips a week to the history museum in VT. Thankfully Bulgaria post seems completely oblivious to the law and post without question and all have arrived at there destination! We've even had bulgarian artists ask us how we post them!

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    1. We were given a vague warning about this when we moved over. Any paintings being transported across would need documentation. We were advised to call any paintings, pictures as that seemed to get round the requirements. That was 7 years ago, so the definitions might well have changed, but maybe worth trying that with DHL

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  3. My estate agen t was brilliant, opened my bank account within five days of being there all I had to do was sign here, ok in triplicate, Went back for my second trip to BG, day one she took me to notary then bank for verified statement then KAT office, 20 min later card all applied for and paid, collect a week later.
    Now the VT office have gone against the EU directive, the card is supposed to be issued immediately also it is supposed to be valid for five years. Mine was for three years given the reason that my EHIC card runs out then. The reason that is wrong is, say a person is there working and their insurance only runs for one year, they will issue card for one year. Employer might not be happy to offer long term employment if you only have a few months permit.
    Got my card as self-sufficient, all it needed was EHIC card, notary cert of ownership of house, £2000 in BG bank as proof of financial cover, sorted.
    I do like your info that you can pay for a photo version, might get a new 5 year EHIC and try to apply for one of those cards.

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    1. The trouble with an EHIC card issued from another country is that they will only supposedly cover you for your first 6 months if you take up residency in a different EU country. If you live in Bulgaria permanently the UK will not issue you a new EHIC card, so for the Immigration Office to use that as proof of Health Care it is totally wrong. Ideally we should all pay into the Bulgarian Health scheme, but that is once again open to interpretation. We got fed up going round and round in circles that we took the alternate route of getting private medical insurance.
      Glad that you are settling in Ted

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  4. You are right, there was a recent appeal case between uk.gov and the EU. The UK won in that the EHIC card does not have to be acceptible evidence of insurance. I wanted the residence card because its needed if I want to buy a car in BG. I'm only going to use my house for holidays so back and forth to UK anyway and for now at least I need to keep my home in UK. What I was trying to say that you can jump through the hoops and cheat a bit. You have been there over 5 years so you could apply for dual citizenship now

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  5. Love your blog Kris. Very informative and upbeat. I'm looking to buy in the VT area and am coming over for a quick trip soon to get a feel for the place. I've read that's it's no longer necessary to register a company now to buy property with land. I'm hoping that it's a straight forward procedure involving the estate agent, notary and seller.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words Josef. VT is a lovely area, but as anywhere in the world some places are better than others. A good estate agent will steer you in the right direction without giving you the hard sell, take their advice but also look at the practicalities of things. Will you want the quiet rural life, a town for convenience or a city with a nightlife? As far as I am aware company formations are no longer necessary. Whatever your decision I hope that you will be as happy and content here as we have been for the last 7 years. If I can be of any help please ask any questions you might think of.

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  6. Thanks for responding Kris. My aim is to live in a area away from the city, but not too far that I can't get supplies easily--also I'm on my own, so would like to go a watch bands, etc. I'm thinking a large village, small town, where I can learn from the locals and hopefully integrate as best I can. That said I'd like to be able to meet up with expats from time to time for chats and encouragement. What would be of help is if you could recommend any estate agents in the VT region that have an English speaker and are of good character, so to speak. I'll be sort of leaning on them heavily through the whole process, so any hints or recommendations would be gratefully received.

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  7. I would certainly recommend the company we used, VTBulgaria, they have their own website which is easy to navigate. Highly professional, knowledgeable, trustworthy and good solid advice. The final decision was left up to my wife and myself, but we did heed their advice about places to avoid. Financially to the South of VT property is more expensive than the North. We are in the middle of nowhere (hence the blog's name) and occasionally we do get cut off for a few days in winter. If you are thinking about a village also consider a 4x4, due to the road and weather conditions. For 7 or 8 months of the year there are car boot sales at the camp site in Dragizhevo, and it is like a magnet for ExPats, so you will have no worries there. Hope that this helps

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  8. A bit cheeky advertising my agent of your blog Kris,sorry, but I dealt with Marianna at homesdirect. Shes been brilliant, speaks good English and held my hand through the whole process, driving me around to view a dozen places, helping open bank account and deal with notary, solicitor, and I gave her power of attourny to complete the deal while I was back in UK, took less than 2 weeks to have the deeds in my hand. She then did everything dealing with my longterm residence card, cost me 75 lev but would have been impossible to do myself. As your blog clearly shows you get pushed from pillar to post with the paper trail.

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