Retirement

Steps

1. Ask for your S1 form from the fund that pays your pension, if you do not have a Bulgarian pension.
2. Register your residence with the Ministry of the Interior after 3 months (sheet BG-SEJOUR-TOUS-001), with your proof of resources and health insurance.
3. Have your S1 registered with the competent health insurance body in Bulgaria (the НЗОК or its regional fund РЗОК: to be confirmed on site), then choose a general practitioner (sheet BG-SANTE-TOUS-001).
4. Check your taxation: when you become a Bulgarian tax resident (sheet BG-IMPOTS-TOUS-001), look at what the convention with your country provides for your pension. On the Bulgarian side, the income tax law exempts income from compulsory insurance, in Bulgaria or abroad (art. 13, para. 1, point 6 ЗДДФЛ, in force in 2026): this is the case of a basic pension under a statutory scheme. A voluntary supplementary pension follows other rules (point 7 of the same article): have it checked.
5. If you have worked in Bulgaria, claim your pension from the regional directorate of the National Social Security Institute (НОИ); if you have worked in several EU countries, submit a single claim to the pension body of your country of residence or of the country where you last worked (Your Europe), and find out at least six months before you retire.
6. Each country replies to you, then you receive form P1.

Documents

• Form S1, identity document, proof of resources.
• For a Bulgarian pension: application and documents listed by the НОИ (procedure and documents on its website), proof of insurance record in Bulgaria and abroad.

Costs and timelines

• Age and insurance record 2026 (art. 68 of the Social Security Code): women, 62 years and 6 months and 36 years and 10 months of insurance record; men, 64 years and 9 months and 39 years and 10 months. The age rises gradually to 65 for everyone, the insurance record to 37 years (women) and 40 years (men), according to the Commission's guide.
• Without the required insurance record: pension at 67 with at least 15 years of actual insurance record.
• Early retirement: up to one year before the age if you have the required insurance record, with a permanent reduction of 0.4% per missing month (art. 68a of the Social Security Code; НОИ and Commission guide).
• Calculation (art. 70 and 70a of the Social Security Code, НОИ): reference income (the country's average monthly insured income over the 12 months before award × your individual coefficient) × years of insurance record × 1.35% per year of insurance record without "превръщане" (conversion of the insurance record), 1.2% for the rest of the credited record; detailed rules on the НОИ website.
• 2026 minimum pension: €347.51 per month since 1 July 2026 (€322.37 from January to June), i.e. +7.8%; €295.38 (85%) for retirement at 67 with 15 years of insurance record (€274.02 from January to June). Source: 2026 social security budget law (Държавен вестник No. 68 of 28/07/2026, art. 10) and НОИ. The НОИ plans for pensions granted up to the end of 2025 an indexation of 7.8% on 1 July 2026 ("Swiss rule", art. 100 of the Social Security Code; its page uses the future tense).
• 2026 ceiling: €1,738.40 per month for one or several pensions, excluding supplements (same law, § 4).
• Social old-age pension: at 70, subject to low income and with no other pension (including foreign): €183.81 per month since 1 July 2026 (НОИ, Council of Ministers decree No. 72 of 24/06/2026; €170.51 before according to the Commission guide).
• Second pillar: people born after 31/12/1959 in principle contribute to a universal pension fund, which pays a supplementary pension.

Common pitfalls

• Coming without an S1: the European card only covers temporary stays; otherwise, you must contribute to health insurance yourself (sheet BG-SANTE-TOUS-001).
• Counting on the social pension: it is refused if you receive a pension from another country.
• Neglecting proof of insurance record: keep your statements from each country.

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA, Switzerland: aggregation of periods and S1 under European rules.
• British citizens (Scots included): European rules for people covered by the withdrawal agreement; otherwise, protocol of the EU–UK trade agreement and Bulgarian law.