Driving licence and car

Steps

1. Keep your European licence: in principle, you do not have to exchange it, but you can only hold one. If you renew or exchange it in Bulgaria, Bulgarian rules apply (period of validity, medical checks). Your Europe cites as cases of compulsory exchange: licence lost, stolen or damaged; road traffic offence in the country of residence; licence valid for life after 2 years of habitual residence, if the country's authorities require it. In Bulgaria, if you have established habitual residence and commit an offence that removes control points, you must submit the replacement application within 7 days of the decision or the fine coming into force (art. 162, para. 7).
2. Take out the compulsory third-party liability insurance (Гражданска отговорност).
3. Pay the environmental tax (продуктова такса) required for passenger cars (M1), vans (N1) and certain two-wheelers at first registration in Bulgaria.
4. Submit the application to the police registration service for your permanent or registered address, within the month following the acquisition (art. 145), and present the car for identification.
5. Technical inspection: if you have a valid inspection from an EU, EEA or Swiss country, no new inspection; otherwise (document missing or expired), it is carried out at the registration point. A technical inspection sticker (not to be confused with the road vignette) is handed to you: it shows the month and year of the first Bulgarian periodic inspection (МВР).
6. Buy the vignette on bgtoll.bg, the official app or the network of official partners, at the official price with no extra fees.

Documents

• Registration application (issued on site).
• Registration certificate parts I and II from the EU, EEA or Swiss country.
• Valid technical inspection document from that country.
• Acquisition documents with the vehicle's identification data, declaration of acquisition.
• Identity document.
• Гражданска отговорност insurance and blank accident report form.
• Old plates, if they were used to bring the car to the registration service.
• Proof of payment of the state registration fee and, if someone else submits the application for you, notarised power of attorney.
• Customs import document if the car comes from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.
• Proof of payment of the environmental tax (categories L2, L4, L5, L5e, M1, N1).

Costs and timelines

• Deadline: one month after acquisition (Road Traffic Act, art. 145, para. 2 and 4).
• Registration fees (state fee, set by art. 25 of the МВР fees tariff No. 4) and environmental tax: amounts to be confirmed (scales not read on 23/10/2026).
• Vignette (vehicles up to 3.5 t) since 01/08/2026: €64.50 per year, €35.90 per quarter, €19.90 per month, €10.00 per week, €6.60 for the weekend, €5.30 per day; compensatory fee of €46.50 ("compensatory fee" according to BG TOLL) if the vignette is missing. Purchase possible up to 30 days before the start of validity.

Common pitfalls

• Exceeding the month for registration.
• An expired technical inspection: you will have to go through the inspection at the registration point.
• An error in plate, country of registration or category when buying the vignette: responsibility lies with the buyer, and the fee is then considered unpaid; check before paying. A correction of at most three characters remains possible on request to the national tolling administration (BG TOLL).

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA and Swiss licences: valid with no limit on length of stay.
• British licences (Scots included) and other licences from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland: a foreigner who resides in Bulgaria on a lasting basis (art. 162, para. 2) can drive with such a licence only up to one year after the date of issue of their residence document; after that, they must exchange it for a Bulgarian licence. The exchange is done without a test if the country that issued it is a party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and if the licence complies with its annex 6; otherwise, the test must be taken (art. 162, para. 4 and 5). Have your licence checked at the police licensing service (КАТ) before the end of this year.
• Car coming from a country outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland: customs import document, proof of the EU type-approval valid on the date of manufacture (or, failing that, individual approval certificate), identification, technical inspection and equipment of the car at the registration point (МВР).