ADMISSION OF FOREIGN NATIONALS

Art. 24. (1) Foreign nationals who possess a certificate of completed secondary education ensuring their access to studies in the higher education institutions of the country in which the secondary education was acquired, or a document of completed higher education or a degree of higher education, may apply to the higher education institutions of the Republic of Bulgaria

(2) Foreign nationals may apply to the higher education institutions of the Republic of Bulgaria:

• in implementation of intergovernmental agreements on educational, scientific and cultural exchange;
• according to the acts of the Council of Ministers;
• under the conditions of art. 95, para. 8 and 10 of the Higher Education Actproviding;

under the conditions of art. 95, para. 8 and 10 of the Higher Education Actproviding;

• are citizens of Member States of the European Union and the European Economic Area;
• have the status of permanent residents on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria;
• have refugee status;
• are of Bulgarian nationality, certified in accordance with Decree of the Council of Ministers No. 103 of 1993 for carrying out educational activities among Bulgarian nationals living abroad.

(4) The applicants as referred to in para. 3 shall be admitted within the number of students annually approved by the Council of Ministers.

(5) The foreign nationals as referred to in para. 2, item 2 shall apply under the conditions and in accordance with the procedure specified in the relevant act of the Council of Ministers.

Art. 25. (1) Foreign nationals shall submit the following documents:

• a form or application containing brief biographical data, as well the higher schools and specialties which they wish to study;
• a copy of a document of completed secondary education and a supplement containing the grades or a corresponding certificate of recognition of secondary education acquired in a foreign country school;
• a document issued by a competent authority, which certifies the applicant's right to continue their studies in higher education institutions of the country in which secondary education was acquired;
• an academic transcript of records concerning students applying for a partial period of study;
• a copy of the document for completed higher education with a degree corresponding to the Bachelor's or Master's degree concerning applicants for master's degree studies;
• document of competency in the Bulgarian language, issued by a higher education institution in the Republic of Bulgaria concerning applicants who will be taught in Bulgarian language and will not undergo language and specialized training;
• a copy of the citizenship documents concerning applicants with dual citizenship, one of which is Bulgarian;
• two photographs.

(2) The documents under para.1, item 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 shall be legalised, translated and certified in accordance with the provisions of the international agreements of the Republic of Bulgaria with the country in which they were issued, and in the case of their absence, the general procedure for legalisation, translation and certification of documents and other papers shall be applied

Art. 26. (1) Applicants under Art. 24, para. 2, item 1 shall submit the documents under Art. 25 to the Ministry of Education and Science through the relevant competent institutions in the country they are applying from.

(2) Applicants shall be admitted under the conditions and according to the procedure defined in the intergovernmental agreements, after coordination with the relevant higher education institutions.

Art. 27. (1) Applicants under Art. 24, para. 2, item 2 submit their documents to the Ministry of Education and Science and are accepted under the conditions and according to the procedure defined in the relevant act of the Council of Ministers.

(2) Applicants are accepted under the conditions and according to the procedure defined in the intergovernmental agreements, after coordination with the relevant higher education institutions.

Art. 28. (1) Applicants under Art. 24, para. 2, item 3 for training to acquire a bachelor's or master's degree after completing the secondary education as well a master's degree after completing a bachelor's degree, submit their documents to the university of their choice by September 1, 2024 for the first semester and by January 5, 2024 for the second semester.

(2) The minimum average grade of these subjects from the certificate of completed secondary education which are grade-determining for the specialty the person is applying for, cannot be lower than 62 per cent of the maximum value according to the grading system of the country where secondary education was acquired.

(3) Decision approving the applicants under para. 1 is taken by the relevant higher education institution within a period specified in the regulations of the higher education institution.

Art. 29. (1) The higher education institutions send to the Ministry of Education and Science the documents of the applicants approved under the conditions of Art. 95, para. 8 of the Higher Education Act, with a view to implementing the long-stay visa issuing procedures i.e. Type D visa, according to the Ordinance on the conditions and procedures for issuing visas, and determining the visa regime, adopted by Decree No. 198 of the Council of Ministers of 2011, no later than October 1 for the first semester and no later than February 1 for the second semester in the year of application.

(2) When sending the documents under para. 1, higher education institutions shall indicate:

• the applicant's personal data - the name on the passport in Latin, date of birth, place of birth, citizenship;
• the name of the specialty, degree, form and term of study according to an approved curriculum, as well as information on the the average grade-determining subjects and entrance exams for the respective specialty
• information on the language and specialised training i.e. the degree of competency in Bulgarian, name of the department in which the training will take place, duration of training;
• a semester tuition fee as well a fee for the language and specialised training;
• the number of the bank account into which the tuition fee or the language and specialised training fee is to be paid.

(3) The higher education institutions shall send not only the documents under para 1, but also a certified extract or a copy of the decision on the recognition of the higher education acquired at foreign higher education institutions concerning applicants for master's degree training.

(4) The Ministry of Education and Science shall issue a Certificate of Acceptance of the applicants to study in the Republic of Bulgaria and shall notify in writing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior thereof.

(5) Applicants under the conditions of Article 95, para 8 of the Higher Education Act shall pay the tuition fees after having obtained a Type D visa and having arrived in the Republic of Bulgaria.