tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post1181896254635438428..comments2024-03-01T12:24:09.444+02:00Comments on A Letter From The Back Of Beyond - A Bulgarian Blog: Jumping Through HoopsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13120425757145578048noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-18374476943798419302015-12-22T16:33:16.311+02:002015-12-22T16:33:16.311+02:00A bit cheeky advertising my agent of your blog Kri...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. |Tednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-65121256430840260352015-11-14T19:55:42.606+02:002015-11-14T19:55:42.606+02:00I would certainly recommend the company we used, V...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 Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13120425757145578048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-13994678449387470152015-11-14T19:28:49.779+02:002015-11-14T19:28:49.779+02:00Thanks for responding Kris. My aim is to live in a...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. Brow Furrowed https://www.blogger.com/profile/12618392995679205479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-77232654338566734822015-11-14T17:08:57.561+02:002015-11-14T17:08:57.561+02:00Thank you for your kind words Josef. VT is a lovel...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. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13120425757145578048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-52850341104130367102015-11-14T16:31:34.351+02:002015-11-14T16:31:34.351+02:00Love your blog Kris. Very informative and upbeat. ...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. Brow Furrowed https://www.blogger.com/profile/12618392995679205479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-43392304937429716062015-11-09T22:40:11.845+02:002015-11-09T22:40:11.845+02:00You are right, there was a recent appeal case betw...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 nowTednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-63726173218778721842015-11-09T18:13:19.150+02:002015-11-09T18:13:19.150+02:00The trouble with an EHIC card issued from another ...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.<br />Glad that you are settling in Ted Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13120425757145578048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-53063873139575109692015-11-08T19:53:54.438+02:002015-11-08T19:53:54.438+02:00My estate agen t was brilliant, opened my bank acc...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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.Tednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-7543959496565126402015-11-07T13:26:39.186+02:002015-11-07T13:26:39.186+02:00We were given a vague warning about this when we m...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 Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13120425757145578048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-74743815616351087702015-11-07T13:23:10.441+02:002015-11-07T13:23:10.441+02:00There have been numerous problems with the office ...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 Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13120425757145578048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-12069431944402681072015-11-07T10:02:36.749+02:002015-11-07T10:02:36.749+02:00Another example of the bureaucracy. It's law ...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! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03040710545345351488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440648666454011295.post-31208088790224837132015-11-07T09:28:01.272+02:002015-11-07T09:28:01.272+02:00It's odd isn't it! We recently got our res...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! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03040710545345351488noreply@blogger.com