The Passport Went in 2022 and the Permit Stayed: Six Investment Routes, Two of Them Straight to Permanent Residence
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Guatemala 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 Guatemala to Bulgaria · Residency through investment
Bulgaria closed citizenship by investment in 2022 - articles 12a and 14a of the Citizenship Act were repealed by ДВ бр. 26 от 2022 г. and the transitional provision terminated every unfinished case - but it did not close residence by investment, and the Aliens Act still carries six separate thresholds. Two give only the ordinary one-year permit: 600,000 leva into Bulgarian real estate under article 24(1)(19), or 250,000 leva into the capital of a Bulgarian company in an economically disadvantaged region, with new fixed assets of the same amount and at least five jobs for Bulgarian nationals, under article 24(1)(20). Four give permanent residence outright, with no qualifying period at all: 2,000,000 leva in listed shares or bonds and three other forms under article 25(1)(6); 2,000,000 leva into a certified priority investment project under article 25(1)(7); 6,000,000 leva into an unlisted company under article 25(1)(8); and 500,000 leva into a company's capital with 500,000 leva of new assets and at least ten jobs under article 25(1)(16). Holding the one-year permit under article 24(1)(19) or (20) and keeping the investment for five years is itself a permanent-residence ground under article 25(1)(17). Article 25(11) requires the investments under points 6, 8 and 16 to be kept above the statutory minimum for five years from the grant, and article 25(12) forbids using the resulting assets as security for credit during that time.
At a glance
- Citizenship by investment
- Abolished: articles 12a and 14a of the Citizenship Act were repealed by ДВ бр. 26 от 2022 г.
Paragraph 7 of the transitional provisions to that act terminated proceedings under the repealed articles that had not been concluded.
- Real estate, one-year permit
- 600,000 leva per foreigner
Article 24(1)(19) of the Aliens Act; if the purchase was financed, the unpaid part of the loan may not exceed 25 per cent.
- Disadvantaged region, one-year permit
- 250,000 leva, plus 250,000 leva of new assets and 5 jobs
Article 24(1)(20) of the Aliens Act.
- Listed securities, permanent residence
- 2,000,000 leva
Article 25(1)(6)(a) of the Aliens Act. The same point also covers concession rights of at least 1,000,000 leva and units in collective investment schemes and alternative investment funds of at least 1,000,000 leva.
- Company capital with jobs, permanent residence
- 500,000 leva, plus 500,000 leva of new assets and 10 jobs
Article 25(1)(16) of the Aliens Act.
- How long the investment must be kept
- 5 years from the grant of permanent residence
Article 25(11) of the Aliens Act, for the routes in points 6, 8 and 16.
- Qualifying residence before permanent residence on these grounds
- None in article 25(1) of the Aliens Act, which lists the investment grounds without any period of prior residence
The five-year period in article 25(1)(5) is a separate ground for people who have simply lived here.
Requirements
- One of the six investment thresholds in articles 24(1)(19)-(20) and 25(1)(6), (7), (8) and (16) of the Aliens Act
- For points 6, 8 and 16, the investment held above the statutory minimum for five years
- Verification by the Bulgarian Investment Agency or the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, depending on the route
- A criminal record certificate from the state of nationality or habitual residence
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 Guatemala
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
«Чл. 12а. (Отм. - ДВ, бр. 26 от 2022 г.)»Our translation - not official
Article 12a. (Repealed - ДВ, бр. 26 от 2022 г.)
The naturalisation-for-investment article, as the consolidated text now prints it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The justice ministry, which runs the Citizenship Council and every naturalisation, release and restoration file, and which hosts a consolidated statute service at /home/normdoc/<id>. That service answered with a clean consolidated Закон за българското гражданство current to ДВ бр. 55 от 16 юни 2026 г., and it uses the same document identifiers as the commercial site lex.bg.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: A curated subset, not a statute book: it carries the acts the ministry works with and answers HTTP 500 for everything else, including the Aliens Act and the Asylum Act. The site also serves an incomplete certificate chain, so a plain client rejects it. It is not an official consolidation and must not be cited for any instrument the Ministry of Justice does not administer.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«Неприключените до влизането в сила на този закон производства по отменените чл. 12а и 14а се прекратяват.»Our translation - not official
Proceedings under the repealed articles 12a and 14a that have not been concluded by the entry into force of this Act shall be terminated.
The abolishing act in its own words: not only closed to new applicants, but terminated for those already in it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The justice ministry, which runs the Citizenship Council and every naturalisation, release and restoration file, and which hosts a consolidated statute service at /home/normdoc/<id>. That service answered with a clean consolidated Закон за българското гражданство current to ДВ бр. 55 от 16 юни 2026 г., and it uses the same document identifiers as the commercial site lex.bg.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: A curated subset, not a statute book: it carries the acts the ministry works with and answers HTTP 500 for everything else, including the Aliens Act and the Asylum Act. The site also serves an incomplete certificate chain, so a plain client rejects it. It is not an official consolidation and must not be cited for any instrument the Ministry of Justice does not administer.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«са вложили сума не по-малка от 600 000 лв. - за всеки чужденец, за придобиване на право на собственост върху недвижими имоти на територията на Република България или чужденецът е собственик на повече от 50 на сто от капитала на българско търговско дружество, вложил е същата сума в капитала на дружеството и в резултат на това дружеството е придобило правото на собственост върху недвижими имоти в страната на тази стойност; към датата на подаване на заявлението за разрешение за продължително пребиваване чужденецът или юридическото лице трябва да е изплатило напълно сумата, която да е постъпила по сметка в българска лицензирана кредитна институция, а ако имотите са придобити със заемни средства, непогасената част от заема не трябва да надвишава 25 на сто;»The real-estate route, which gives a one-year permit and not permanent residence.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Bulgaria's foreign ministry, which issues visas and publishes consolidated prints of the statutes it applies. Its copy at /upload/148163/ is the consolidated Закон за чужденците в Република България with the June 2025 Schengen amendment incorporated, extracted cleanly by pdftotext, and it is the text almost every Bulgarian residence record here quotes.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Not an official text. Bulgaria has no official consolidation and this is a ministry's own working print, whose currency can only be judged from the amendment list in its header - which at /upload/148163/ runs to ДВ бр. 52 от 2025 г. and is already one amendment behind the Ministry of the Interior's copy. The ministry also keeps an older print at /upload/138160/, consolidated only to ДВ бр. 79 от 2024 г.; the two sit on the same site with nothing to say which is current. It must not be cited for anything the foreign ministry does not administer.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«са извършили инвестиция в икономически необлагодетелствани региони по смисъла на Закона за насърчаване на инвестициите чрез внасяне в капитала на българско търговско дружество на не по-малко от 250 000 лв., като чужденецът е съдружник или акционер с поименни акции и притежава не по-малко от 50 на сто от капитала на дружеството и в резултат на вложението са придобити нови дълготрайни материални и нематериални активи на стойност не по-малко от 250 000 лв. и са разкрити най-малко 5 работни места за български граждани, поддържани за срока на пребиваването, удостоверено от Министерството на иновациите и растежа;»The disadvantaged-region route, also a one-year permit.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Bulgaria's foreign ministry, which issues visas and publishes consolidated prints of the statutes it applies. Its copy at /upload/148163/ is the consolidated Закон за чужденците в Република България with the June 2025 Schengen amendment incorporated, extracted cleanly by pdftotext, and it is the text almost every Bulgarian residence record here quotes.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Not an official text. Bulgaria has no official consolidation and this is a ministry's own working print, whose currency can only be judged from the amendment list in its header - which at /upload/148163/ runs to ДВ бр. 52 от 2025 г. and is already one amendment behind the Ministry of the Interior's copy. The ministry also keeps an older print at /upload/138160/, consolidated only to ДВ бр. 79 от 2024 г.; the two sit on the same site with nothing to say which is current. It must not be cited for anything the foreign ministry does not administer.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«извършили инвестиция или увеличили инвестицията си чрез придобиване на: а) акции или облигации на български търговски дружества, търгувани на регулиран пазар или многостранна система за търговия в Република България, на пазарна стойност не по-малка от 2 000 000 лв.;»The first limb of the securities route. Points (b) to (d) of the same provision cover concession rights and fund units.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Bulgaria's foreign ministry, which issues visas and publishes consolidated prints of the statutes it applies. Its copy at /upload/148163/ is the consolidated Закон за чужденците в Република България with the June 2025 Schengen amendment incorporated, extracted cleanly by pdftotext, and it is the text almost every Bulgarian residence record here quotes.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Not an official text. Bulgaria has no official consolidation and this is a ministry's own working print, whose currency can only be judged from the amendment list in its header - which at /upload/148163/ runs to ДВ бр. 52 от 2025 г. and is already one amendment behind the Ministry of the Interior's copy. The ministry also keeps an older print at /upload/138160/, consolidated only to ДВ бр. 79 от 2024 г.; the two sit on the same site with nothing to say which is current. It must not be cited for anything the foreign ministry does not administer.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«извършили инвестиция в страната чрез внасяне в капитала на българско търговско дружество на не по-малко от 500 000 лв., като чужденецът е съдружник или акционер с поименни акции и притежава не по-малко от 50 на сто от капитала на дружеството и в резултат на вложението са придобити нови дълготрайни материални и нематериални активи на стойност не по-малко от 500 000 лв. и са разкрити най-малко 10 работни места за български граждани, поддържани за срока на пребиваването, удостоверено от Министерството на иновациите и растежа;»Permanent residence outright on half a million leva and ten jobs.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Bulgaria's foreign ministry, which issues visas and publishes consolidated prints of the statutes it applies. Its copy at /upload/148163/ is the consolidated Закон за чужденците в Република България with the June 2025 Schengen amendment incorporated, extracted cleanly by pdftotext, and it is the text almost every Bulgarian residence record here quotes.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Not an official text. Bulgaria has no official consolidation and this is a ministry's own working print, whose currency can only be judged from the amendment list in its header - which at /upload/148163/ runs to ДВ бр. 52 от 2025 г. and is already one amendment behind the Ministry of the Interior's copy. The ministry also keeps an older print at /upload/138160/, consolidated only to ДВ бр. 79 от 2024 г.; the two sit on the same site with nothing to say which is current. It must not be cited for anything the foreign ministry does not administer.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«получили разрешение за продължително пребиваване по чл. 24, ал. 1, т. 19 и 20 и поддържали вложението в продължение на 5 години.»Our translation - not official
have received a continuing-residence permit under article 24(1)(19) and (20) and have maintained the investment for 5 years.
How the two one-year routes become permanent residence.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Bulgaria's foreign ministry, which issues visas and publishes consolidated prints of the statutes it applies. Its copy at /upload/148163/ is the consolidated Закон за чужденците в Република България with the June 2025 Schengen amendment incorporated, extracted cleanly by pdftotext, and it is the text almost every Bulgarian residence record here quotes.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Not an official text. Bulgaria has no official consolidation and this is a ministry's own working print, whose currency can only be judged from the amendment list in its header - which at /upload/148163/ runs to ДВ бр. 52 от 2025 г. and is already one amendment behind the Ministry of the Interior's copy. The ministry also keeps an older print at /upload/138160/, consolidated only to ДВ бр. 79 от 2024 г.; the two sit on the same site with nothing to say which is current. It must not be cited for anything the foreign ministry does not administer.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Инвестициите по ал. 1, т. 6, 8 и 16 трябва да бъдат поддържани над изискуемия в закона минимален размер за срок от 5 години от датата на предоставяне на право на постоянно пребиваване.»Our translation - not official
The investments under paragraph 1, points 6, 8 and 16 must be maintained above the minimum amount required by law for a period of 5 years from the date on which the right of permanent residence is granted.
The holding period, and it runs from the grant rather than from the investment.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Bulgaria's foreign ministry, which issues visas and publishes consolidated prints of the statutes it applies. Its copy at /upload/148163/ is the consolidated Закон за чужденците в Република България with the June 2025 Schengen amendment incorporated, extracted cleanly by pdftotext, and it is the text almost every Bulgarian residence record here quotes.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Not an official text. Bulgaria has no official consolidation and this is a ministry's own working print, whose currency can only be judged from the amendment list in its header - which at /upload/148163/ runs to ДВ бр. 52 от 2025 г. and is already one amendment behind the Ministry of the Interior's copy. The ministry also keeps an older print at /upload/138160/, consolidated only to ДВ бр. 79 от 2024 г.; the two sit on the same site with nothing to say which is current. It must not be cited for anything the foreign ministry does not administer.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Every threshold in the Aliens Act is still written in leva, and Bulgaria's currency has been the euro since the Euro Introduction Act took effect. The Act has not been redenominated: see the country policy on what that means for a reader doing arithmetic.
A repealed article is not a closed door for everyone. Paragraph 14 of the transitional provisions to ДВ бр. 21 от 2021 г. preserved a naturalisation route for people who already held permanent residence under article 25(1)(6) or (7) of the Aliens Act and kept the investment for five years; that provision was read, and whether it survives the 2022 repeal in practice was not established here.
The Ministry of Innovation and Growth is named in the text read here; the Ministry of the Interior's later print of the same Act names the Ministry of Economy, Investment and Industry, following ДВ бр. 55 от 2026 г.
- administersЗакон за чужденците в Република България, consolidated text to ДВ бр. 52 от 2025 г.
Министерство на външните работи
About this source
Bulgaria's foreign ministry, which issues visas and publishes consolidated prints of the statutes it applies. Its copy at /upload/148163/ is the consolidated Закон за чужденците в Република България with the June 2025 Schengen amendment incorporated, extracted cleanly by pdftotext, and it is the text almost every Bulgarian residence record here quotes.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Not an official text. Bulgaria has no official consolidation and this is a ministry's own working print, whose currency can only be judged from the amendment list in its header - which at /upload/148163/ runs to ДВ бр. 52 от 2025 г. and is already one amendment behind the Ministry of the Interior's copy. The ministry also keeps an older print at /upload/138160/, consolidated only to ДВ бр. 79 от 2024 г.; the two sit on the same site with nothing to say which is current. It must not be cited for anything the foreign ministry does not administer.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- administersЗакон за българското гражданство, consolidated text to ДВ бр. 55 от 16 юни 2026 г.
Министерство на правосъдието
About this source
The justice ministry, which runs the Citizenship Council and every naturalisation, release and restoration file, and which hosts a consolidated statute service at /home/normdoc/<id>. That service answered with a clean consolidated Закон за българското гражданство current to ДВ бр. 55 от 16 юни 2026 г., and it uses the same document identifiers as the commercial site lex.bg.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: A curated subset, not a statute book: it carries the acts the ministry works with and answers HTTP 500 for everything else, including the Aliens Act and the Asylum Act. The site also serves an incomplete certificate chain, so a plain client rejects it. It is not an official consolidation and must not be cited for any instrument the Ministry of Justice does not administer.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source