This update relates to the latest amendments of the Citizenship Law of March 2021
The problem
Imagine the following scenario. You have decided that EU citizenship is what you need. And as the Bulgarian CIP is the only feasible option from 2021, your choice is obvious. So you have red all the information, you have gathered the available required investment capital and you have decided to go for it. So far so good. You have even found an agent that you believe is good enough to entrust him your future. But life isn’t fair. And one day you hear from your agent that your application has been declined for reasons of national security. So now what?
Bulgaria – the only country to offer EU citizenship by investment from 2021
Did you know that after the demise of the Cypriot CIP and the scandals with the program of Malta, Bulgaria remains de-facto the only EU country to offer fully working Citizenship by Investment Program
You have done it all wrong!
First and most importantly, if you have found yourself in such situation, it means one thing only – you have done it all wrong! Although, most probably, you are not to be blamed. In fact, it is not even your agent who has messed up with your application.
In order to pass successfully the screening of the National Security Agency, you must act proactively! You don’t have to merely submit your application and wait. This is not the way to get EU citizenship by investment in 2021. To obtain citizenship by investment, you must not simply present “clean criminal record”. The process requires much more than that.
Reputational criteria
Many applicants who have tried to obtain Maltese or Cypriot citizenship by investment know very well that having “clean criminal record” is far from enough. Don’t believe us? Check out why Russian tycoon Michail Fridman had to withdraw his Maltese citizenship application. Mr Fridman didn’t have any criminal background or any shady activities. To be approved by the state security services, the application has to also pass the “reputational criteria” – the hardest tests of all.
Luckily for you however, even if the harm is done, there is still chance for you to get citizenship. But you need to act fast now, really fast.
The State Agency for National Security
The State Agency for National Security has enormous power to decide on the fate of your investment citizenship application. The bad thing is that when the Agency doesn’t have enough information, the response will usually be negative. Naturally, if the Agency finds something in your background that may be worrying, the response will be equally negative.
The solution
So what all that mean to you? Simply, if you are not Novak Djokovic or Lionel Messi trying to get EU passport, you must present your file to the Agency proactively. You and your agent have to make certain that there are ZERO traces of doubt about your past and your intentions. And no, don’t get us wrong here. There are very few people with a million Euro aside that are as pure as the driven snow. But it is for you and your agent to present yourself adequately. And believe us, this is the core of the ultimate professionalism during the investment citizenship application. This is the step that makes the difference from success and failure. And this is the step we are most experienced at.
Our approach
We are always ultimately proactive with all of our clients’ applications. We make sure, that all of our clients who have passed through our preliminary due diligence procedures, have their files presented in advance.
In this way, we can guarantee ultimate compliance and acceptance by the State Agency for National Security. Hence, we can guarantee for 100% approval of the applications at this part.
VD&A Gold Club Members
All VD&A Gold Club Members enjoy automatically our full guarantee in this respect. Our strict acceptance criteria for the Club are guaranteeing our members legal compliance and reputational conformity.
If you have applied already for citizenship through another agent
Please contact us if you have applied through another legal entity and have your application rejected by the Agency. Not everything may be lost. There still may be some very realistic chance for you to get your Bulgarian passport in due time. But you need to act now!