Fake Documents Impede Granting of Bulgarian Citizenship

The Minister without Portfolio for Bulgarians Abroad, Bozhidar Dimitrov, has reiterated many times his goal is to solve the demographic crisis by granting Bulgarian passports to foreign nationals. Photo by BGNES

The Minister without Portfolio for Bulgarians Abroad, Bozhidar Dimitrov, stated Friday that fake birth certificates continue to be a significant problem in granting Bulgarian citizenship to foreigners.

Dimitrov gave as an example the 243 passport applications from Moldova, which have been rejected over fake birth certificates.

The Friday meeting of the Bulgarian Citizenship Council approved 207 passport applications – 107 from Macedonia, 35 from Serbia, 37 from Albania and 28 from Moldova.

Dimitrov said event hough and most of the time, just the last name is enough to show that the individual has Bulgaria origins, the authorities will thoroughly check all applications, warning people not to use fake documents and not to overly trust the so-called "negotiators," who often offer applicants to secure a Bulgarian passport in exchange for cash.

The Minister expressed regrets the Council must still process applications that have been submitted under the old law, which allowed the use of intermediaries or negotiators. Those in Moldova and in the Ukraine have prepared numerous birth certificates preprinted on forged forms and it is very easy for the experts from Bulgaria's National Agency for State Security (DANS) to notice the fake ones, according to Dimitrov.

The Citizenship Council is facing a huge backlog of passport applications and is just now finishing processing those from 2006.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!