Recognition is an official written confirmation of compliance of a completed period, class, stage, completed school education and acquired professional qualification at school in a foreign country or at a school of the European Schools System with those in school education in the Republic of Bulgaria. The recognition of documents issued by schools in foreign countries is a procedure whereby documents for the recognition of I to VI grade are submitted to the principal of the selected school, and for VII to XII grade – to the nearest Regional Department of Education (RDE).

The documents for recognition of a completed class, stage or degree are:

1. Application form approved by an order of the Minister of Education and Science;
2. Document for school education and / or professional qualification;
3. A document indicating what rights the document under item 2 gives for continuing education, in cases where this is not specified in the document under item 2;
4. In case the person wishes to continue his/her education at the first or second high school stage in a Bulgarian school – a reference for the studied subjects with the number of hours and the grades, if they are not entered in the document under item 2;
5. Translation into Bulgarian of the documents under items 2, 3 and 4 by a sworn translator;
6. Document for the last completed class in a Bulgarian school (if any) before the education in a foreign school, when the person wishes to recognize classes from VIII to XII inclusive;
7. Document for paid state fee – for documents submitted to the RDE.

The documents under items 5 and 7 shall be submitted in original, and the documents under items 2, 3, 4 and 6 – in original or a copy certified by a notary or by the school that issued the document.

Recognition shall be carried out in order to:

• access to education in the system of pre-school and school education;
• access to vocational training;
• access to education in the higher education system;
• facilitating access to the labour market.

The documents items 2, 3 and 4 shall be legalized, translated and certified in accordance with the Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Documents, with the Treaties signed between the Republic of Bulgaria and the country in which they are issued or by the Regulations on Legalization. , certifications and translations of documents and other papers approved by Decree No 184 of the Council of Ministers of 1958 (State Gazette No. 73/1958), with the exception of documents issued by a school in the European Schools system that have not been legalized, as well as for persons wishing to recognize classes I to IV inclusive.

Documents of persons seeking or receiving international protection cannot be legalized and certified.