Immigration to Bulgaria began in the early 20th century. The first immigrants in contemporary Bulgarian history without any Bulgarian ethnic origin were the Armenian refugees who fled at the time of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The next wave of immigrants to Bulgaria was during the socialist government in the country where large numbers of foreign students coming to study in Bulgarian universities and many of them remain in the country after its completion, many of whom married Bulgarian citizens and settled in the country. Also at that time many Bulgarians mostly men marry citizens of the then Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact and Cuba. The process continues with even greater migration to Bulgaria after 1989, when large groups of Chinese, Arabs, Vietnamese, Africans, Russians, Ukrainians, Turks, Albanians and other groups established themselves permanently in Bulgaria. The country's accession to the EU on January 1, 2007, has not yet led to a significant rise in the number of immigrants, although there is a growth in the number of refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Sub-Saharan Africa, Armenia and a growth of private businesses being opened by citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, China, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the countries in the Middle East, notably Syria and Lebanon.
According to official data, the number of permanent foreign residents in Bulgaria as at 31.12.2008 is 66,806[1] and the vast majority of these come from Russia (21,309), the Ukraine (5,350), the Republic of Macedonia (4,375), Turkey (3,828) and Moldova (2.203). However, this number does not include immigrants who have already obtained Bulgarian citizenship or illegal immigrants. The number of immigrants in Bulgaria is expected to grow as a result of the accession of Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007.[2]
[edit] Investor Program for Residence and Citizenship in Bulgaria
A new Bulgarian legislation as of May 2009 provides the framework for attracting foreign capital and business knowledge to the country. In return, Bulgaria offers its right of residence and eventually citizenship[3]. The benefits of the Investor Program for Residence and Citizenship in Bulgaria are notably the exemption of physical residency requirements and Bulgaria's membership in the European Union [4].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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Bulgarians (6,655,210) ·
minorities: Turks (746,664) · Roma (370,908) · Russians (15,595) · Armenians (10,832) · Vlachs (10,566) · ethnic Macedonians (5,071) · Sarakatsani (4,107) · Greeks (3,408) ·
Ukrainians (2,489) Jews (1,363) · Romanians (1,088) · Germans (436) · Albanians (278) · Czechs and Slovaks (350) · Arabs (c. 10,000) · Chinese (c. 10,000) ·
Vietnamese (c. 1,500) · Black Africans ·
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