First topic message reminder :Following after the new legislation with the new system of buying a property as a Foreign but European citizen in our own name and not as a company, there is more work with buying a car.
Some friends of ours bought a car over four weeks ago and have still not been able to drive it! Surprised, well don't be, because the new system appears to be a long drawn out process. Under the old system you could buy a car if you owned a company and drive it away that day with very little problem. Under the new system you have to have a Visa with your picture on it which carries a personal number. The alternative to this is to acquire your white Visa and then fill in a form at the KAT office and wait a further week to collect the form before going through the rest of the system with Mot etc. It sounds confusing and as a new foreigner in BG you need a friend who speaks Bulgarian to guide you through it all.
Failure to have this Visa or the form submitted and returned to you means you cannot insure the car and therefore you cannot satisfy the criteria to have the car in your name and have the registration plates changed. Our friends car dealership were unaware of the new system with foreign buyers and thought that the car could simply be driven by the new owners after obtaining the white Visa and the MoT and changing the registration plates together with the insurance. Maybe the BG government will make it easier sometime in the not too distant future, but until then that is the situation.