Marriage-based facilitated naturalization (spouse of a Bulgarian citizen, ЗБГ чл.13 т.1)

Маршрут BG-MAR-01 е улеснена натурализация на чужденец, който е съпруг или съпруга на български гражданин, по чл.13, т.1 от Закона за българското гражданство (ЗБГ). Кандидатът придобива българско гражданство по молба, ако (а) има разрешение за постоянно или дългосрочно пребиваване от не по-малко от 3 години преди подаване на молбата и (б) не по-малко от 3 години има и продължава да е в законно сключен брак с български гражданин. Бракът сам по себе си не поражда автоматично гражданство (чл.5). Двете определящи предимства на маршрута са намаленият срок на пребиваване (3 вместо 5 години по чл.12) и запазването на досегашното гражданство (отказът по чл.12(1) т.6 отпада за съпрузи по чл.12(2) т.1). Окончателното придобиване е с указ на Президента (чл.36, чл.98 т.9 Конст.). As of ЗБГ ДВ бр.61/2025.

Eligibility is cumulative. The foreign spouse must satisfy ALL of: (1) чл.13 chapeau — a permanent OR long-term residence permit (разрешение за постоянно или дългосрочно пребиваване) held for not less than 3 years before the application date; (2) чл.13 т.1 — a legally concluded marriage to a Bulgarian citizen subsisting for not less than 3 years and still subsisting at filing; (3) чл.12(1) т.1 — legal age (пълнолетие); (4) чл.12(1) т.3 — no conviction for an intentional offence of a general nature by a Bulgarian court and no pending such proceedings unless rehabilitated; (5) чл.12(1) т.4 — income or occupation to support oneself in Bulgaria; (6) чл.12(1) т.5 — Bulgarian-language proficiency. The чл.12(1) т.6 renunciation requirement is removed for spouses by чл.12(2) т.1. There must also be no чл.19 bar (public-order/morals/health/national-security threat).

The чл.13 chapeau requires a permanent OR long-term residence permit (разрешение за постоянно или дългосрочно пребиваване) held for not less than 3 years before the application — a reduction from the чл.12(1) т.2 standard 5-year permanent-residence baseline. The 'or long-term' (дългосрочно, the EU long-term-resident status) alternative was added by ДВ бр.21/2012, so an EU-LTR holder qualifies as well as a permanent-residence holder. The clock runs from the GRANT of the relevant residence permit, not from first entry. This 3-year residence clock is conceptually independent of the separate 3-year marriage-duration clock; each must reach 3 years, though they may run concurrently. Bucket comparison: 5 years standard чл.12 (NAT); 3 years чл.13 (MAR / born-in-BG / minor-permit) and чл.14 (stateless); status-duration for чл.13а (refugee 3-yr / humanitarian 5-yr).

Documents are governed by Наредба № 1 от 19.02.1999 г. за прилагане на глава пета от ЗБГ. The core set: written молба/заявление by образец (Приложения № 1-3) to the Minister of Justice with the naturalization-grounds form (Приложение № 4 covers чл.12/13/13а/14/16); civil marriage certificate (удостоверение за сключен граждански брак) evidencing a marriage ≥3 years old; birth certificate; Bulgarian and foreign criminal-record certificates; prosecutor's certificate of no pending proceedings; income/employment or tax document; Bulgarian-language proficiency document; medical certificate; declarations; photographs; copy of identity document; name-change document if applicable; and proof of paid state fee. Foreign-language documents must be legalised (1961 Apostille or treaty) and translated by a sworn translator into Bulgarian. The precise чл.4 / Приложение enumeration for the marriage ground should be read from the consolidated Наредба №1 text.

(1) Secure and hold a permanent or long-term residence permit for ≥3 years and a subsisting ≥3-year marriage; (2) assemble the Наредба №1 document set, with foreign documents legalised and translated; (3) file the молба IN PERSON (чл.29 ал.1) at the Ministry of Justice — or via a Bulgarian diplomatic/consular mission if abroad, which gives a mandatory reasoned opinion; (4) attend the mandatory interview (чл.29 ал.3) conducted on a Minister-of-Justice-approved questionnaire, which also assesses Bulgarian-language integration; (5) the file is vetted — written opinions of МВР and ДАНС are obtained (чл.33 ал.3) and the Съвет по гражданството may order a проверка (чл.33 ал.4); (6) the Съвет gives its opinion and the Minister of Justice proposes the decree (чл.35); (7) final grant by указ на Президента (чл.36), in force from the day of issue.

Statutory clock: under чл.35 ал.1 т.1 the Minister of Justice must make the decree proposal within 12 months (дванадесет месеца) of the ordinary-naturalization application — the marriage route runs on the 12-month track (the shorter 9-month track applies to чл.15 Bulgarian-origin applicants, not to spouses). A проверка ordered under чл.33 ал.4 (typically 3 months, or 1 month under чл.16) can extend the process. The Presidential decree is in force from the day of issue (чл.36). Practitioner-reported real-world duration is approximately 1 to 1.5 years end-to-end, which is non-statutory and indicative. The ≥3-year residence and ≥3-year marriage pre-conditions are eligibility thresholds that must already be met BEFORE filing — they are not part of the processing time.

The state fee for the naturalization молба is set by Тарифа № 1 към Закона за държавните такси, раздел Г ('Такси, събирани от Министерството на правосъдието'), приета с ПМС № 167/1992 and amended through ДВ бр.52/2025 (ПМС № 104/2025). Post-01.07.2025 the раздел-Г line for the naturalization/restoration молба (т.55) is split: (а) 300 BGN (BG-parent / BG-origin), (б) 100 BGN, (в) 1000 BGN (general naturalization молба). The marriage route is NOT a Bulgarian-origin or Bulgarian-parent ground, so the spouse's чл.13 молба falls under the GENERAL band т.55 (в) = 1000 BGN ≈ 511,29 €, NOT the reduced (а)/(б) sub-lines. A single T3 practitioner source reports the marriage-route fee as ~100 BGN, but that figure conflicts with the general-band reading and is carried as; the exact tariff-item↔marriage-route pairing is not primary-confirmed (раздел-Г verbatim labels not lifted — PDF non-renderable). EUR equivalents at the irrevocable rate 1.95583 BGN/EUR: 100 BGN ≈ 51,13 €; 1000 BGN ≈ 511,29 €. Euro adoption applies from 01.01.2026. Excludes language-exam, translation, legalisation and document-procurement costs.

Verbatim anchor (чл.13 т.1): "не по-малко от 3 години има и продължава да е в законно сключен брак с български гражданин" — the marriage must have been concluded ≥3 years before AND must still subsist at the date of application (the present-continuous 'има и продължава да е'). The чл.13 chapeau ('Изм. и доп. - ДВ, бр.41 от 2001 г., доп. - ДВ, бр.21 от 2012 г., изм. - ДВ, бр.108 от 2013 г.') requires чл.12 ал.1 т.1,3,4,5,6 PLUS a permanent/long-term residence permit obtained ≥3 years before the application. The renunciation carve-out is чл.12(2) т.1 (нова - ДВ, бр.108 от 2013 г.): "Не се изисква освобождаване от досегашното им гражданство за: 1. лица - съпрузи на български граждани". Former чл.13 т.2 and т.5 were repealed (отм. ДВ бр.41/2001).

Intake and case-handling: Министерство на правосъдието (Ministry of Justice), Дирекция 'Българско гражданство'. Vetting opinions: Министерство на вътрешните работи (МВР) and Държавна агенция 'Национална сигурност' (ДАНС), whose written opinions are required before the Съвет по гражданството (Council on Citizenship) opines (чл.33 ал.3). Proposal: the Minister of Justice (чл.35). Final grant: Президентът на Републиката by указ (Presidential decree, чл.36; constitutional power чл.98 т.9 — the President 'дава и възстановява' citizenship). Applicants abroad file via a Bulgarian diplomatic/consular mission (дипломатическо или консулско представителство), which transmits the file with a mandatory reasoned opinion. There is no court in the ordinary granting path; the decision architecture is administrative-then-decree.

A naturalization obtained through the marriage route can be REVOKED under чл.22 ЗБГ if the person used data or facts judicially established as false (чл.22 ал.1 т.1) or concealed data or facts that, had they been known, would have grounded refusal (чл.22 ал.1 т.2) — the principal exposure for a sham-marriage grant. Revocation is generally permitted only within 10 years of acquisition (чл.22 ал.2) and only where it does not render the person stateless; the 10-year cap does not apply where the false/concealed data relate to terrorism (per ДВ бр.103/2016 + 21/2021, currency to ДВ бр.61/2025). чл.23 limits spillover: revocation of one spouse's naturalization does not reach the other spouse or children unless they acquired citizenship on the same false data. Voluntary loss is by release (освобождаване, чл.20) on application; the President exercises grant/restore/release/deprive powers (Const. чл.98 т.9).