Applicants
for permanent residence must understand Bulgarian,
Parliament rules
Parliament has
made two moves in the past week strongly affecting
the lives of foreigners in Bulgaria: on the
one hand, giving the go-ahead for constitutional
amendments to allow certain categories of foreigners
to buy land, but on the other hand introducing
knowledge of Bulgarian as a qualification for
permanent residence.
The approval at
second reading of the amendments to the Foreigners
Act regarding conditions of granting permanent
residence introduced the mandatory knowledge
of Bulgarian, and for those seeking permanent
residence on the basis of investment, raising
the minimum stake to $500 000. Until recently,
the minimum investment was $250 000.
The Parliament
decision regulating the procedure for issuing
of permanent residence permits, which introduces
the mandatory requirement of a certificate that
the applicant has a certain level of knowledge
of the Bulgarian language, is certain to cause
concern among many expatriates.
According to the
amendments, among other documents, the applicant
for permanent residence would have to submit
a Bulgarian proficiency certificate.
The language course
programmes, according to the bill, will be designed
and developed by the services for administrative
control of foreigners, the Education and Science
Ministry and government and non-government organisations.
The programmes
will be carried out by the Education and Science
Ministry, which will issue the proficiency certificates.
These regulations
will not apply to foreigners holding Bulgarian
nationality, or if the matter is dealt with
in another manner through an international treaty.
Initially the
introduction of a requirement of mandatory proficiency
in Bulgarian was floated by the Government in
late May last year, and at the time was received
with mixed feelings among foreigners.
Later the idea
was reconsidered by the Government, and the
language certificate remained as a requirement
only for those applying for citizenship.
The issue of mandatory
proficiency in Bulgarian was raised on January
24 at the 19th meeting of the European Union-Bulgaria
Joint Parliamentary Committee in Sofia.
According to another
section of the amendments, the period for registering
with the police or the services for administrative
control of foreigners is to be five days.
The registration
has to be done either by the foreigner or the
person or organisation through which the foreigner
is being accommodated.
Until recently,
the grace period was two days.
If the person
or organisation fails to do so, there will be
stiff fines, of between 100 and 1000 leva for
private entities and 500 and 5000 leva for legal
entities.
Meanwhile, on
January 26 Parliament approved the first reading
of amendments to the constitution connected
to the future EU membership of Bulgaria.
The constitutional
amendments are being discussed in a process
involving three readings and each time have
to be passed by at least three quarters of the
total number of MPs, 180.
By a majority
of 211 votes, MPs supported in principle the
amendments allowing foreigners to buy land in
Bulgaria.
The left-wing
MPs from the Coalition for Bulgaria were the
only ones who opposed the more liberal option
of allowing to non-EU foreigners to buy land
in Bulgaria.
The Deputy Speaker
of Parliament and left-wing MP Lyuben Kornezov
said that the Coalition for Bulgaria supports
the amendments in principle, but between the
first and the second reading will propose an
amendment that would allow the sale of land
to foreigners only from EU countries and on
condition that they use it for agriculture.
Kornezov argued
that it was a matter of sovereignty. He said
that the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Spain
and Hungary also had introduced a set of limitations
applying even to citizens of EU countries.
Kornezov said
that in their current form, the amendments would
allow citizens of countries with which Bulgaria
has agreements on land sales to buy land in
2007 when the amendments would come into effect,
while EU citizens will have the right to buy
land in 2014.
Kamelia Kassabova,
head of the parliamentary committee on constitutional
changes, which drafted the amendments, said
that it was not fair to confuse the public with
complicated legal arguments and that in a future
bill on property all rules and conditions for
land sales to foreigners will be listed.
The leader of
the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union - People's
Union (BAPU-PU), Anastasia Mozer said that it
would be appropriate if all international treaties
allowing foreigners to buy land were approved
by a two-thirds majority in order to avoid political
advantage-taking.
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