Bulgaria opens doors to foreign workers under pressure from business and Brussels
The Bulgarian labor market is facing an acute personnel crisis, which is forcing employers to import a record number of seasonal workers from third countries. At the same time, the state administration is forced to urgently digitize and facilitate cumbersome hiring procedures, pressured by the real threat of serious financial sanctions from the European Union. This is clear from a new government project for changes to the Regulations for the Implementation of the Labor Migration and Labor Mobility Act.
Hunger for personnel and a boom in the import of workers
Statistics of the Employment Agency outline a worrying picture of the shortage of labor in our country. Among the sectors with the most acute deficit are construction, agriculture, industry and tourism (hotel and restaurant). Employers in these areas account for about 70% of market demand and plan to hire over 160,000 people.
To fill these gaps, businesses are massively resorting to importing staff for short-term seasonal employment (up to 90 days). In the last 3 years alone, the total number of such registrations has exceeded 75,000. The data shows an avalanche-like growth – in 2025, foreigners hired for up to 90 days will be 19,057, which is almost double the previous year, 2024, when they were 10,403.
The threat of European fines and an “accelerated procedure”
In addition to the needs of business, the urgent legal changes are also dictated by an ultimatum from Brussels. The European Commission has opened a criminal procedure against Bulgaria for incorrect implementation of the seasonal workers directive. If the state does not take measures, it faces the risk of a judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU and the imposition of significant financial sanctions that could affect the country’s fiscal system.
To avoid fines, the state is introducing an “accelerated procedure” for importing workers. Foreigners from third countries who have already worked as seasonal workers in Bulgaria at least once in the last 5 years will receive their employment registration for up to 90 days in a shortened period of time – in just 3 working days.
End of paper bureaucracy and queues
The current system has brought the Employment Agency to a standstill. Due to the huge volume of paper files, the institution is experiencing the inability to process applications on time, which directly affects the interests of employers.
The new changes provide for the complete digitalization of the process. Documents will now be submitted entirely electronically – through the Secure Electronic Submission System, the e-Government Portal or a specialized Production Platform for issuing residence and work permits.
The illegal practice of the administration requiring foreigners to submit paper copies of their personal documents (residence permits), which has so far contradicted the Bulgarian Personal Documents Act, is also being put to an end. In addition, the process is being decentralized – local labor offices in the country will be empowered to process applications for seasonal work themselves, instead of everything piling up at the headquarters in Sofia.
A lifeline for Bessarabian Bulgarians
The reform also resolves another long-standing absurdity – the difficulties in hiring foreigners of Bulgarian origin (for example, Bessarabian Bulgarians) while they are waiting for their permanent residence permit in our country. So far, the lack of coordination between institutions has prevented these people from starting work immediately. For the period 2021-2025, only 890 people with proven Bulgarian origin have managed to register employment in this way.
The Employment Agency will now automatically check their status through the official channels through the RegiX system (connected to the Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), which will unblock the access of our compatriots abroad to the domestic labor market. With these changes, the government hopes to kill two birds with one stone – to quench the thirst of business for labor and to save the budget from the looming European sanctions. The question remains how quickly the administration will be able to adapt to the new digital reality.
Illustrative photo: https://www.pexels.com/search/migrant%20workers/
