Lawful Residence Anywhere in the Union Is Enough, and the Account Is Now Denominated in Euro
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Venezuela on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
154 exceptions recorded across 56 countries · none match Venezuela to Bulgaria · Opening a bank account
Article 119(2) of the Zakon za platezhnite uslugi i platezhnite sistemi gives the right to open and use a basic payment account to consumers lawfully resident in the European Union - expressly including those with no permanent address, people seeking international protection, and people who have no residence permit but cannot be expelled for legal or factual reasons. The duty is on every bank licensed in Bulgaria and on every branch operating here that offers payment services to consumers, under article 119(1). Article 118(1), as amended with effect from 1 January 2026, lists what the account must do - opening, use and closing; deposits; cash withdrawals at a counter or an ATM inside or outside banking hours; direct debits; card payments including online; and credit transfers, standing orders included - and says those services are provided in euro on the territory of the country. A bank must decide within ten days of receiving all the documents, must refuse where opening the account would breach anti-money-laundering law, and may refuse where the applicant already holds a basic account or more than one account giving the same services. Article 120(1) says the services must be free or on reasonable fees, whatever the number of transactions.
At a glance
- Who has the right
- Consumers lawfully resident in the European Union, including those without a permanent address
Article 119(2) of the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act.
- Which banks must offer it
- Every bank licensed in Bulgaria and every branch operating here that serves consumers
Article 119(1).
- Decision time
- No later than 10 days after all the necessary documents are received
Article 119(3).
- Currency of the account
- Euro
Article 118(1), as amended by ДВ бр. 64 от 2025 г. with effect from 1 January 2026.
- Fees
- Free or reasonable, whatever the number of transactions
Article 120(1), with article 120(5) tying reasonableness to income levels in Bulgaria.
- When a bank must refuse
- Where opening the account would breach the anti-money-laundering rules
Article 119(4). Article 119(5) adds discretionary grounds, and article 119(6) requires written reasons at no charge.
Requirements
- Lawful residence in the European Union, which Bulgarian residence satisfies
- Identification under the anti-money-laundering rules, which a bank must apply
- No existing basic payment account, which is a ground for refusal
Country-level policy
Bulgaria's currency is the euro. Article 4 of the Zakon za vavezhdane na evroto v Republika Balgariya says so in terms, and the Payment Services Act was amended with effect from 1 January 2026 so that a basic payment account provides its services in euro. None of that redenominated the statutes. The Aliens Act still asks for 600,000 leva of real estate, 250,000 leva in a disadvantaged region, 500,000 leva with ten jobs, 2,000,000 leva in listed securities and 6,000,000 leva in an unlisted company, because the Euro Introduction Act did not go through the statute book changing numbers. It did something else: article 11(1) says the introduction of the euro does not affect the operation of existing legal instruments that refer to the lev, and article 11(2) says amounts stated in leva in existing legal instruments are treated as amounts in euro at the official rate, with the conversion rule in article 12 and the rounding rule in article 13. So the lev figures in the Aliens Act are live law and are read as euro, and a reader converting them is doing what the statute tells them to do rather than correcting an oversight. Where an amendment does touch such a provision it is expected to carry the euro figure across: paragraph 5(2) of the transitional provisions requires that, for sums that came into Bulgarian law from a Union act which stated a euro amount.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Venezuela
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«(1) (Изм. – ДВ, бр. 64 от 2025 г., в сила от 1 януари 2026 г.) Платежната сметка за основни операции е платежна сметка, чрез която се предоставят следните услуги в евро на територията на страната: 1. откриване, използване и закриване на платежна сметка; 2. внасяне на средства по платежна сметка; 3. теглене на пари в брой от платежната сметка от гише или терминално устройство ATM през работното време на банката или извън него; 4. изпълнение на следните платежни операции: а) директни дебити; б) платежни операции, извършвани чрез платежна карта, включително плащания чрез интернет;»The services the account must provide, and the amendment that made them euro services from 1 January 2026.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The central bank, which supervises payment service providers and publishes the Закон за платежните услуги и платежните системи in its own print under /bnbweb/groups/public/documents/bnb_law/. The copy read here is consolidated to ДВ бр. 71 от 2026 г. and carries the amendment that redenominated the basic payment account into euro from 1 January 2026, with the date printed in the article itself.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It is authoritative about payment services and about the ordinances it issues, and about nothing else. The anti-money-laundering obligations that decide what a bank asks a foreigner for are in a different Act, supervised by a different body, and were not read. The PDF's cross-reference table is broken, so a local extraction fails and the file can only be read through the extraction service.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Всички банки, лицензирани в Република България, и клонове на банки, осъществяващи дейност на територията на страната, които предоставят платежни услуги на потребители, предлагат платежни сметки за основни операции по смисъла на чл. 118.»Our translation - not official
All banks licensed in the Republic of Bulgaria, and branches of banks operating on the territory of the country, which provide payment services to consumers, shall offer basic payment accounts within the meaning of article 118.
About this source
The central bank, which supervises payment service providers and publishes the Закон за платежните услуги и платежните системи in its own print under /bnbweb/groups/public/documents/bnb_law/. The copy read here is consolidated to ДВ бр. 71 от 2026 г. and carries the amendment that redenominated the basic payment account into euro from 1 January 2026, with the date printed in the article itself.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It is authoritative about payment services and about the ordinances it issues, and about nothing else. The anti-money-laundering obligations that decide what a bank asks a foreigner for are in a different Act, supervised by a different body, and were not read. The PDF's cross-reference table is broken, so a local extraction fails and the file can only be read through the extraction service.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Потребители, пребиваващи законно в Европейския съюз, включително такива без постоянен адрес, търсещи международна закрила лица и потребители, на които не е предоставено разрешение за пребиваване, но които не е възможно да се експулсират по правни или фактически причини, имат право да открият и да използват платежна сметка за основни операции.»Our translation - not official
Consumers lawfully resident in the European Union, including those without a permanent address, persons seeking international protection and consumers who have not been granted a residence permit but whose expulsion is impossible for legal or factual reasons, have the right to open and use a basic payment account.
The right does not turn on Bulgarian residence, and not on having an address at all.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The central bank, which supervises payment service providers and publishes the Закон за платежните услуги и платежните системи in its own print under /bnbweb/groups/public/documents/bnb_law/. The copy read here is consolidated to ДВ бр. 71 от 2026 г. and carries the amendment that redenominated the basic payment account into euro from 1 January 2026, with the date printed in the article itself.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It is authoritative about payment services and about the ordinances it issues, and about nothing else. The anti-money-laundering obligations that decide what a bank asks a foreigner for are in a different Act, supervised by a different body, and were not read. The PDF's cross-reference table is broken, so a local extraction fails and the file can only be read through the extraction service.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Банките, които са получили заявление за откриване на платежна сметка за основни операции, трябва да открият платежната сметка за основни операции или да дадат отказ за откриване на такава сметка не по-късно от 10 дни след получаването на всички необходими документи.»Our translation - not official
Banks that have received an application to open a basic payment account must open the basic payment account or refuse to open such an account no later than 10 days after receiving all the necessary documents.
About this source
The central bank, which supervises payment service providers and publishes the Закон за платежните услуги и платежните системи in its own print under /bnbweb/groups/public/documents/bnb_law/. The copy read here is consolidated to ДВ бр. 71 от 2026 г. and carries the amendment that redenominated the basic payment account into euro from 1 January 2026, with the date printed in the article itself.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It is authoritative about payment services and about the ordinances it issues, and about nothing else. The anti-money-laundering obligations that decide what a bank asks a foreigner for are in a different Act, supervised by a different body, and were not read. The PDF's cross-reference table is broken, so a local extraction fails and the file can only be read through the extraction service.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Банките предоставят на потребителите услугите, посочени в чл. 118, ал. 1, безплатно или срещу приемливи такси независимо от броя платежни операции, извършени по сметката.»Our translation - not official
Banks shall provide consumers with the services referred to in article 118(1) free of charge or against reasonable fees, regardless of the number of payment transactions carried out on the account.
About this source
The central bank, which supervises payment service providers and publishes the Закон за платежните услуги и платежните системи in its own print under /bnbweb/groups/public/documents/bnb_law/. The copy read here is consolidated to ДВ бр. 71 от 2026 г. and carries the amendment that redenominated the basic payment account into euro from 1 January 2026, with the date printed in the article itself.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It is authoritative about payment services and about the ordinances it issues, and about nothing else. The anti-money-laundering obligations that decide what a bank asks a foreigner for are in a different Act, supervised by a different body, and were not read. The PDF's cross-reference table is broken, so a local extraction fails and the file can only be read through the extraction service.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
This is the right to a basic payment account, which is a floor. What a bank asks for before opening an ordinary current account is the bank's own policy and no bank's terms were read.
The identification a bank must carry out is governed by the Measures Against Money Laundering Act, which was not read here; article 119(4) only says that the account must be refused where opening it would breach those rules.
- administersЗакон за платежните услуги и платежните системи, consolidated text to ДВ бр. 71 от 2026 г.
Българска народна банка
About this source
The central bank, which supervises payment service providers and publishes the Закон за платежните услуги и платежните системи in its own print under /bnbweb/groups/public/documents/bnb_law/. The copy read here is consolidated to ДВ бр. 71 от 2026 г. and carries the amendment that redenominated the basic payment account into euro from 1 January 2026, with the date printed in the article itself.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It is authoritative about payment services and about the ordinances it issues, and about nothing else. The anti-money-laundering obligations that decide what a bank asks a foreigner for are in a different Act, supervised by a different body, and were not read. The PDF's cross-reference table is broken, so a local extraction fails and the file can only be read through the extraction service.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- reportsЗакон за въвеждане на еврото в Република България
Районен съд - Елхово
About this source
A Bulgarian district court that hosts, under its own uploads, an АПИС print of the Закон за въвеждане на еврото в Република България consolidated to ДВ бр. 115 от 30 декември 2025 г. It is used here for one thing: the Euro Introduction Act, which no ministry we could reach publishes, and which explains why every threshold in the Aliens Act is still written in leva.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: **A court is not the publisher of this Act and has no authority over it.** This is a convenience copy generated by a commercial legal-information system, with the vendor's banner injected into the running text between articles. It may be cited only for the text of the Euro Introduction Act as that vendor printed it, never as an official text, and it should be replaced the moment a ministry copy is reachable. The court's own judicial work has nothing to do with any of this.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source