The Bulgarian consular authorities abroad will cease issuing visas on August 9, and up until August 18, due to the implementation of a new version of the National Visa Information System (NVIS), that will take place throughout those dates.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced in a Press Release that the same is in the process of implementing the national VIS, which is a large-scale project, previously agreed between the Bulgarian and European Union institutions.

It has also noted that throughout this period, aside from visa processing and issuance, applications for Bulgarian passports and identity cards will no longer be admitted either, while the country will also stop issuing visas at its borders too.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria said: “The technological implementation of the activities necessitates a temporary suspension of work with the current system in the period August 9-18 of this year. Therefore, in this period, the consular offices of the Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions will stop accepting applications for visas and for Bulgarian identity documents – passport and identity card.”

However, temporary passports will still be issued to people in extraordinary situations during this period, like force majeure and natural disasters, as well as urgent travel related to the illness or death of a close family member.

Bulgaria has had read-only access to the Visa Information System since July 21, 2021, along with Romania. This means that while both countries have been able to review visa applications and access e-mail services, they could not have entered information on the same.

Once the NVIS implementation period ends on August 18, relevant Bulgarian authorities will gain full access and will be able to use and import data from the system, entered by other Schengen states.