Problems with Bulgarian citizenship for children of mixed marriages
Naturalisation or registration?
Today we will look at a serious problem in the Bulgarian legislation. We will examine the case when a child has parents – a Bulgarian citizen and a foreigner. The child does not acquire Bulgarian citizenship immediately after birth, but wants to acquire it later. However, according to the Bulgarian Constitution, the child should automatically become a Bulgarian citizen at birth. But is this so?
Even if the child is born abroad, the birth is not registered in Bulgaria and the child has acquired the citizenship of the foreign parent, the child should automatically acquire Bulgarian citizenship. This should be formalised with the registration of his birth certificate in Bulgaria later. Unfortunately, however, a naturalisation procedure may also be necessary. And this procedure, although duly regulated in the Bulgarian Citizenship Law, is in our opinion illegal.
The Bulgarian Constitution and the lack of clarity regarding Bulgarian citizenship
As we have repeatedly written, the provisions of the Bulgarian Constitution are not properly reflected in the Bulgarian citizenship law. According to the Constitution:
A Bulgarian citizen is anyone at least one of whose parents is a Bulgarian citizen or who was born on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, if he/she does not acquire another citizenship by origin. Bulgarian citizenship may also be acquired by naturalisation.
art. 25, par. 1 of the Bulgarian Constitution
According to the text, anyone with at least one Bulgarian citizen parent should “automatically” be a Bulgarian citizen. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Under the Bulgarian Citizenship Law, a wide range of persons who have a Bulgarian citizen parent must go through a naturalisation process. Today we will look at the hypotheses for which children with one Bulgarian citizen parent can obtain Bulgarian citizenship. We will not be examining cases where a child is born to Bulgarian citizen and foreign citizen parents and is immediately registered as a Bulgarian citizen at birth.
Children of Bulgarian citizens
Notwithstanding the above-quoted text of the Bulgarian Constitution (at least as written), under the Citizenship Law, not everyone with one Bulgarian citizen parent is a Bulgarian citizen. What happens if a child is born to two foreigners, and one of them, after the birth of the child, acquires Bulgarian citizenship. According to the Bulgarian Citizenship Law:
Children up to the age of 14 acquire Bulgarian citizenship if their parents or their surviving parent accept Bulgarian citizenship or if only one of their parents does so, if the other is a Bulgarian citizen. Under the same conditions, children aged 14 to 18 acquire Bulgarian citizenship if they so request.
at. 17 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law
Children with two Bulgarian parents
In other words, children up to the age of 14 acquire citizenship if both parents acquire Bulgarian citizenship. Or if at least one of them becomes a Bulgarian citizen in case the other parent is deceased. The same rule applies to older children, those aged 14 to 18, but they must explicitly wish to be granted Bulgarian citizenship. As we can see, the provision of Article 17 of the Citizenship Law applies only to children whose both parents (or one if the other is deceased) have acquired Bulgarian citizenship. But what happens if one parent acquires Bulgarian citizenship and the other is a foreigner?
Children with one parent who is Bulgarian citizen
However, if the child has only one parent who is a Bulgarian citizen, then another provision of the Citizenship Law applies, namely:
Children up to the age of 14, of whom only one of the parents is a Bulgarian citizen, if they do not have Bulgarian citizenship, may become Bulgarian citizens without the conditions of Article 12, if both parents or the survivor of both parents give their written consent. The consent of a parent who is deprived of parental rights is not required. Children aged 14 to 18 may acquire Bulgarian citizenship under the same conditions if they so request.
art. 18, par. 1 of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law
Another collision with the Bulgarian Constitution
First of all, let us see what is the “flaw” in this legal provision. Unlike Article 17, Article 18 does not say that the parent has accepted Bulgarian citizenship. Article 18 says that “only one of the parents is a Bulgarian citizen“. That is, it does not imply that the parent acquired citizenship after the birth of the child. Or at least it shouldn’t be, but in reality it is all messed up. Because the wording of Art. 18, par. 1 of the Citizenship Law is identical to the wording in Art. 25, par. 1 of the Constitution – “at least one parent is a Bulgarian citizen“.
Both provisions provide for Bulgarian citizenship in the case of one Bulgarian parent (at least one or only one is not relevant). Only that under the Bulgarian Constitution, the child is a Bulgarian citizen imperatively, while the Bulgarian Citizenship Law provides for a naturalization procedure. It is unfortunate that one of the most important institutions in Bulgarian law, namely that of Bulgarian citizenship, is formulated in such a contradictory manner.
Problems with a foreign parent
A serious problem arises in a situation where the child has a foreign parent. In this case, if the foreign parent does not give his/her consent, the child cannot acquire Bulgarian citizenship. Again in contradiction with the Constitution. In this case, the child must wait until the age of majority to get a chance to become a Bulgarian citizen. Even though that should be his constitutional right.
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