How to apply for a Bulgaria Schengen visa from Ireland

Where you apply

Apply to Bulgaria if it is your main destination: the Schengen country where you will spend the most days, or where the main purpose of the trip lies. If you spend the same time in two or more countries, apply to the one you enter first. Bulgaria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs adds that, as a rule, you apply at the consulate responsible for the country where you legally live.

For Ireland that is the Embassy at 22 Burlington Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Its Consular Office receives visitors by appointment only, Monday to Friday from 09:30 to 13:00, and the Embassy takes the bookings by phone or email (its online booking platform is for Bulgarian citizens' identity documents):

• By phone: +353 1 660 3293 or +353 1 660 3022, on working days between 14:00 and 16:00.
• By email: consular.dublin@mfa.bg.

Step by step

1. 1

   Check the timing

   Apply no earlier than six months and no later than 15 days before the trip, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2. 2

   Book an appointment with the Consular Office

   By phone in the afternoon window or by email to consular.dublin@mfa.bg, as above.
3. 3

   Fill in the Schengen application form

   Use the harmonised Schengen form from the Ministry's visa forms page. Fill it in legibly in block capitals: names in Latin letters as in your passport, everything else in English or Bulgarian. You sign it yourself.
4. 4

   Attend the appointment at the Embassy

   Hand in the signed form, passport, photo and documents with copies, and give your ten fingerprints. The Ministry lists a document showing the visa fee is paid among the minimum requirements; the Embassy's page does not say how to pay, so ask when you book.
5. 5

   Wait for the decision

   Within 15 calendar days of an admissible application, extended up to 45 in individual cases.

Documents

The country's own checklist is the one that counts. The core of it:

• Passport issued within the last ten years, valid at least three months after you leave the Schengen Area, with two blank pages.
• Your Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card, valid beyond your return.
• The signed application form and a photo to the ICAO passport standard.
• Travel medical insurance with at least €30,000 cover, valid in every Schengen country for the whole trip.
• Recent bank statements, and a letter from your employer or proof of studies or self-employment.
• A flight reservation, and hotel bookings or an invitation letter.

On top of that, the European Commission's list for every Schengen applicant in Ireland and the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ask for:

• An IRP or Irish re-entry visa valid at least one month after you leave the Schengen Area.
• Proof of your current address in Ireland, such as bills, a rent book or a lease.
• A recent Irish bank statement in your name and address showing the last three months of transactions; if your spouse supports you, the marriage certificate and the spouse's statements.
• Employees: a recent, signed letter from your employer on headed paper with its Irish registration number, and/or payslips for the last three months. Self-employed: the company registration certificate and a recent Companies Registration Office printout.
• A colour photo, 3.5 × 4.5 cm, on a light background; copies of the passport's data page and of your latest Bulgarian and Schengen visas.
• Means of at least €50 for each day of the stay and no less than €500 in all, or prepaid tourist services, according to the Ministry.
• Tourism: a hotel reservation in Bulgaria, or a tour voucher. A private or business visit: an invitation-declaration on the standard form, certified by a notary and by the Migration Directorate of Bulgaria's Ministry of Interior.
• Children travelling without their parents: a copy of the birth certificate and the parents' notarised consent.

Fees and processing time

Visa fee, adults

€90 (Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, November 2026)

Children under 12

Free, according to the Ministry (the EU standard fee for ages 6 to 11 is €45)

Service fee

None: the Embassy takes the applications itself

Processing

Within 15 calendar days of an admissible application, up to 45 in individual cases

The fee is not refunded if the visa is refused. Applications from nationals of some countries go through prior consultation with other Schengen states, which can lengthen the procedure, according to the Ministry.

Applications and refusals

In 2025, the consulates of Bulgaria in Ireland received 312 short-stay Schengen visa applications: 1.0% of all those lodged in Ireland, and the 15th most of any Schengen country. They refused 2.4% of the applications they decided; across every Schengen country in Ireland the rate was 3.1%, according to the European Commission's visa statistics.

Applications, 2025

312

Rank in Ireland

15th of 21 Schengen countries

Refused

2.4%

All Schengen countries in Ireland

3.1% refused

The Commission counts applications where they are lodged, not by nationality, so these are residents of Ireland of many nationalities. A refusal rate is an average over every applicant and says little about any one file; and the country you apply to is set by your main destination, not by its refusal rate.

Getting the appointment

The form is the easy part. The hard part is a free date with the Embassy of Bulgaria in Dublin: when demand is high the calendar can stay empty, and new dates go quickly when they appear.

These are the ways to get a date:

Every route we do track is on the Ireland appointment board page. For how the booking systems work, see how to book a Schengen visa appointment in Ireland.

Questions

Is there a VFS Global centre for Bulgarian visas in Ireland?

No. Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists the countries where VFS Global takes Bulgarian visa applications, and Ireland is not one of them. You apply at the Embassy of Bulgaria in Dublin, 22 Burlington Road, Ballsbridge.

How do I book a Bulgaria visa appointment in Dublin?

By phone to the Consular Office on +353 1 660 3293 or +353 1 660 3022 between 14:00 and 16:00 on working days, or by email to consular.dublin@mfa.bg. The office receives visitors by appointment only, Monday to Friday from 09:30 to 13:00.

Is a Bulgarian visa valid for the rest of the Schengen Area?

A Schengen visa Bulgaria issued on or after 31 March 2024 is valid throughout the Schengen Area, within the 90-days-in-180 rule. A Bulgarian national short-stay visa issued before that date is valid only for Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus.

Do children pay the Bulgarian visa fee?

No. Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says children under 12 are exempt from the visa fee; adults pay €90.

What is the refusal rate for Bulgaria Schengen visas in Ireland?

In 2025, the consulates of Bulgaria in Ireland refused 2.4% of the short-stay visa applications they decided, against 3.1% across all Schengen countries in Ireland, according to the European Commission’s visa statistics. They received 312 applications, the 15th most of any Schengen country.

Sources

• Embassy of Bulgaria in Dublin: contacts and consular office
• Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: visa for Bulgaria
• Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: type C (short-stay) visa (October 2026, Word document)
• Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: visa application forms
• Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: fees
• European Commission Implementing Decision C(2024) 6137 of 11 September 2024: supporting documents for visa applicants in Ireland (annex)
• EU Visa Code, Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 (consolidated text of 28 June 2024)
• European Commission: visa policy and the short-stay visa fee
• European Commission: Schengen visa statistics for consulates, 2025 (2025-consulates-schengen-visa-statistics.xlsx)

Rules and fees are set by the consulates and their visa centres and can change; check the official pages above before you apply. Our coverage, prices and release statistics on this page are live. Visa Catcher is an independent appointment-tracking service, not affiliated with any visa centre, embassy, consulate or government.