Bulgaria

Holding any illegal drug in Bulgaria is a crime, and the Criminal Code writes in no small-amount exception: acquiring or possessing narcotic substances or their analogues without proper authorisation carries one to six years in prison plus a fine of 2,000 to 10,000 leva where the substance is classified high-risk, and up to five years plus a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 leva where it is classified a risk substance. Only in minor cases does the penalty drop to a fine of up to 1,000 leva, and that is the court's call. Which substances fall in which class is set by separate drug-control legislation, the Act on Control over Narcotic Substances and Precursors, and not by the Criminal Code, so do not assume any particular substance is treated leniently. Acquiring or holding drugs in a public place with intent to distribute, or distributing them, is punished far more heavily at five to fifteen years, and the drugs and the means used for the offence are forfeited to the State. The rules are national; there is no local variation and no separate tourist allowance.

Criminal Code (Наказателен кодекс), art. 354a, as printed in the Ministry of Justice consolidated text current to State Gazette issue 55 of 16 June 2026. Acquiring or possessing narcotic substances or their analogues without proper authorisation, art. 354a(3): high-risk substances, 1 to 6 years' imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 to 10,000 leva; risk substances, up to 5 years and a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 leva. Minor cases under paras 3 and 4, art. 354a(5): a fine of up to 1,000 leva. Producing, processing, acquiring or holding with intent to distribute, or distributing, art. 354a(1): high-risk, 2 to 8 years and a fine of 5,000 to 20,000 leva; risk substances, 1 to 6 years and 2,000 to 10,000 leva; where the object is precursors or equipment or materials for production, 3 to 12 years and 20,000 to 100,000 leva. Large amounts, art. 354a(2): 3 to 12 years and 10,000 to 50,000 leva. Acquiring or holding with intent to distribute, or distributing, in a public place, or especially large amounts, or where the offender acts for an organised criminal group, is a doctor or pharmacist, is an educator, teacher or head of a school, or acts under dangerous recidivism: 5 to 15 years and a fine of 20,000 to 100,000 leva. Breaching the rules established for production, acquisition, keeping, accounting, dispensing, transport or carriage of narcotic substances, art. 354a(4): up to 5 years and a fine of up to 5,000 leva. In all cases under paras 1 to 5 the object and the means of the offence are forfeited to the State, art. 354a(6). Fines are stated in leva exactly as the Criminal Code prints them; the Code carries no euro figures and none is converted here.

Verified Oct 15, 2026

Bringing cannabis into Bulgaria is punished far more heavily than holding it once you are inside. Carrying narcotics across the Bulgarian border without proper authorisation is smuggling under article 242(2) of the Criminal Code, and cannabis sits on Bulgaria's List I of high-risk narcotics, banned even in human and veterinary medicine. That puts the offence at 10 to 15 years in prison plus a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 leva — the figures the Code itself states, in leva. There is no personal-use allowance at the border and no medical exemption to fall back on. The court can confiscate part or all of your property instead of the fine, what was smuggled is forfeited to the State whoever owns it, and the vehicle used to carry it is forfeited as well if it is yours — the Constitutional Court struck down in 2021 the words that extended that to a vehicle which is not the offender's. Bulgarian law controls the cannabis plant itself, cannabis meaning the leaves and the flowering and fruiting tops, hashish meaning the mechanically separated resin, and hashish oil, and producing any of them is prohibited outright.

Carrying narcotic substances and/or their analogues across the border without proper authorisation: for high-risk narcotics, 10 to 15 years' imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 leva; for risk narcotics, 3 to 15 years and 10,000 to 100,000 leva (Criminal Code art. 242(2)). Where the object of the smuggling is especially large and the case especially serious, 15 to 20 years and a fine of 200,000 to 300,000 leva (art. 242(4)). Instead of the fine the court may order confiscation of part or all of the offender's property (art. 242(5)). What was smuggled is forfeited to the State whoever owns it, and if it is missing or has been disposed of its equivalent value is awarded (art. 242(7)). The vehicle used to carry it is forfeited to the State unless its value clearly does not correspond to the gravity of the offence; the words in art. 242(8) extending that to a vehicle not owned by the offender were declared unconstitutional by Constitutional Court decision No. 12 of 2021 (ДВ бр. 84 от 2021) and are not law. Preparation to commit the offence carries up to 5 years, with the same forfeiture (art. 242(9)). A case treated as minor can end in an administrative fine of up to 1,000 leva (art. 242(6)), but that is discretionary and only after you have been caught. Producing cannabis, hashish and hashish oil is prohibited outright, and the controlled items are defined as any plant of the genus Cannabis, the leaves and/or the flowering and fruiting tops, and the mechanically separated resin (Drugs and Precursors Control Act art. 28 and § 1, items 1 to 3). Every fine above is stated in leva because that is the unit the Criminal Code prints.

Verified Oct 14, 2026

Cannabis is completely illegal in Bulgaria, including small amounts for personal use — there is no decriminalisation, no possession threshold and no medical exemption. Bulgaria's own classification ordinance puts cannabis, hashish, hash oil and THC on List I, which the Drugs and Precursors Control Act defines as plants and substances of high risk to public health that are banned even in human and veterinary medicine, so simple possession is a criminal offence carrying 1 to 6 years in prison plus a fine of 2,000 to 10,000 leva — the figures the Criminal Code itself states, in leva. Sowing or growing the plant is prohibited outright and so is producing cannabis, hashish or hashish oil; the only lawful cultivation is permitted low-THC industrial hemp grown for fibre and seed, which is no permission to hold the drug. A court may reduce a genuinely minor case to a fine of up to 1,000 leva, but that is discretionary and only after you have been arrested and prosecuted. Driving after using cannabis is a separate crime with no permitted blood level, and the car is taken as well.

Acquiring or possessing cannabis, a high-risk narcotic: 1 to 6 years' imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 to 10,000 leva (Criminal Code art. 354a(3), item 1); for a substance classified as merely risk rather than high-risk the band is up to 5 years and 1,000 to 5,000 leva (art. 354a(3), item 2). Distribution, or acquiring or possessing with intent to distribute: 2 to 8 years and a fine of 5,000 to 20,000 leva (art. 354a(1)). In a minor case under art. 354a(3) or (4) the penalty is a fine of up to 1,000 leva (art. 354a(5)). The substance and the means of the offence are confiscated in favour of the State (art. 354a(6)). Driving after using narcotics: 1 to 3 years and a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 leva, with no permitted blood level; a repeat offence carries 1 to 5 years and 2,000 to 10,000 leva (art. 343b(3) and (4)). As amended by ДВ бр. 32 от 2026, the vehicle goes too: it is forfeited to the State if the driver owns it, and where it is missing or has been disposed of, or is not the driver's or is only co-owned — a rental or a friend's car — the court awards its value instead (art. 343b(5)). Sowing and growing cannabis plants is prohibited except under the low-THC industrial-hemp permit, and producing cannabis, hashish and hashish oil is prohibited outright (Drugs and Precursors Control Act arts. 27(1), 28 and 29(1)). Every fine above is stated in leva because that is the unit the Criminal Code prints.

Verified Oct 14, 2026

Carry prescription medication in original packaging with your prescription and a doctor's letter; some medicines may be illegal in Bulgaria even if prescribed at home.

Verified Jul 27, 2026

Carrying or holding a firearm in Bulgaria without a Bulgarian authorisation is a crime punishable by two to eight years in prison, and the same article of the Criminal Code covers ammunition, explosives and, the trap for travellers, pyrotechnic articles. Three traps worth knowing. Picking up a firearm, ammunition, explosives or pyrotechnics that you simply found and keeping them without a permit carries the same two to eight years. Handing firearm ammunition to someone who holds no permit to carry the matching firearm is itself an offence at the same level. And a large quantity raises the sentence to three to ten years. The Criminal Code sets these penalties; the permit system itself sits in separate Bulgarian arms legislation that this entry does not cover, so do not read an exemption for any particular item into it. The rules are national, with no local variation and no separate tourist allowance.

Criminal Code (Наказателен кодекс), art. 339, as printed in the Ministry of Justice consolidated text current to State Gazette issue 55 of 16 June 2026; art. 339(1) last amended State Gazette issue 84 of 2023. Acquiring by any means, researching, holding or transferring to another person explosive substances, firearms, chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, ammunition for firearms or pyrotechnic articles without the proper authorisation, art. 339(1): 2 to 8 years' imprisonment. Where the items are in a large quantity, art. 339(2): 3 to 10 years. Alienating or transferring explosive substances, a firearm, a chemical, biological or nuclear weapon or pyrotechnic articles to a person who has no permit to acquire them, art. 339(3): 2 to 8 years. The same penalty applies to alienating or transferring firearm ammunition to a person who has no permit to carry the corresponding firearm, art. 339(4). The penalty under para 1 also applies to a person who, without the corresponding permit, collects found explosive substances, a found firearm, chemical, biological or nuclear weapon, found firearm ammunition or found pyrotechnic articles, art. 339(5). Where the object of the offence is cluster munitions, anti-personnel mines or other articles within the meaning of the Act implementing the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, art. 339(6): 3 to 10 years in the cases under para 1, 5 to 12 years in the cases under para 2, and 3 to 10 years in the cases under paras 3, 4 and 5. Article 339 prescribes imprisonment only; it attaches no fine. The permit regime referred to as "proper authorisation" is set by separate Bulgarian arms legislation, which was not read for this entry and about which nothing is asserted here.

Verified Oct 15, 2026

Declare EUR 10,000 or more (cash, traveller's cheques, gold) when entering or leaving the EU via Bulgaria. Travelling to or from another EU country you must still declare it if a customs officer asks. Undeclared cash can be detained and fined.

Customs may detain the cash and impose a penalty under national law.

Verified Jul 27, 2026

You can be charged with DUI in Bulgaria at a BAC as low as 0.05%; penalties for an injury/fatal accident range from a fine to life imprisonment.

Penalties range from a US $25 fine to life in prison for an accident causing injury or death; DUI can mean immediate jail, vehicle confiscation and fines.

Verified Jul 27, 2026

Drunken or disorderly behaviour in Bulgaria — loud conduct or urinating in public — can result in a fine or arrest.

Fine or arrest.

Verified Jul 27, 2026

Smoking is banned outright in every enclosed public place in Bulgaria — bars, restaurants, cafes, hotels and other accommodation, shops, pharmacies and any building the public can enter — and in workplaces, including their ancillary and service rooms. There is no smoking-room exception anywhere except sealed, separately ventilated rooms inside airport buildings, and under-18s may not be in those. The ban also reaches named outdoor places: the grounds and pavements of nurseries, kindergartens, schools, student dormitories and places providing social services for children, children's playgrounds, any place hosting an event for children or pupils, and sports venues, open-air cinemas and theatres while a sporting or cultural event is on. The fine falls on the smoker, and separately and more heavily on whoever runs the venue for allowing it, so staff will enforce it. Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) is banned in the same outdoor places and in enclosed public places. The Health Act, which carries all of this, says nothing about e-cigarettes or heated tobacco — Bulgaria regulates those in a separate tobacco-products act — so do not read this ban as settling where you may vape.

Smoking in an enclosed public place, in a workplace, or in one of the listed outdoor places: a fine of 300 to 500 leva, rising to 500 to 1,000 leva for a repeat of the same offence (Health Act art. 218(1), penalising arts. 54, 56 and 56a(1)). Whoever allows the offence in premises they manage: a fine of 300 to 500 leva, a property sanction of 1,000 to 1,500 leva if a sole trader, or 3,000 to 5,000 leva if a legal person; on repeat, 500 to 1,000 leva, 1,500 to 3,000 leva and 5,000 to 10,000 leva respectively (art. 218(2) and (3)). Using nitrous oxide in the listed places: 3,000 to 5,000 leva, or 5,000 to 10,000 leva where the offence is committed in a food-and-entertainment venue or repeated (art. 218(2b)). Enforcement is by the Regional Health Inspectorates (art. 15(1), item 7).

Verified Oct 14, 2026

A valid digital vignette (e-vignette) is required on motorways and main roads in Bulgaria; buy it online (no printing needed).

Fine for driving without a valid vignette.

Verified Jul 27, 2026

A US licence is only valid in Bulgaria with an International Driving Permit, which must be obtained before travel; most rental companies require an IDP.

Driving without an IDP may void insurance.

Verified Jul 27, 2026

Transmitting radio equipment is permission-based in Bulgaria and the sanction is criminal, not a ticket. Building, keeping or using a radio device that transmits on the air without written authorisation is a crime carrying up to 5 years' imprisonment plus a fine, and the device itself is forfeited to the State. The same article catches using a transmitter you have not first registered with full identifying data, using it for purposes the authorisation does not allow, and changing its registered data on your own initiative. Jamming sits in the same article: obstructing or interfering with the operation of a radio-communication, broadcasting, television or radio-relay station or a radio transmission centre carries the same penalty, so a signal jammer or an unapproved booster is the clearest way for a traveller to commit this offence. Note the word keeping — the offence does not require you to switch the device on. Equipment that only receives, and a phone on a Bulgarian or roaming network, are not what this article is about. Separately, using special technical means to reach or learn a message not addressed to you — by telephone, over a computer network or by any other telecommunication means — carries up to 2 years, and that extends to computer data sent within or between information systems, including electromagnetic emissions from an information system.

Building, keeping or using an air-transmitting radio device without written authorisation; using one without having first registered it with full identifying data, or for purposes the authorisation does not permit; unilaterally altering its registered data; or obstructing or interfering with the operation of a radio-communication, broadcasting, television or radio-relay station or a radio transmission centre: up to 5 years' imprisonment and a fine of 100 to 300 leva, and the radio device is forfeited to the State (Criminal Code art. 348). Unlawfully accessing or learning, by means of special technical devices, a message not addressed to you transmitted by telephone, telegraph, a computer network or another telecommunication means: up to 2 years (art. 171(3)); the same penalty applies where the object is computer data sent within or between information systems, including electromagnetic emissions from an information system (art. 171(4)). Damaging a telegraph, telephone, teleprinter, television or radio installation or line and thereby cutting off or hindering communications: up to 5 years, or up to 1 year, probation or a fine of 100 to 300 leva if done negligently (art. 347).

Verified Oct 14, 2026

There are no legal restrictions on same-sex relations or LGB events in Bulgaria, but same-sex marriage is not legal and LGBTQ+ people may face stigma and verbal abuse, especially outside Sofia.

Verified Jul 27, 2026

Covering your face in public is illegal in Bulgaria (balaclavas, full veils, etc.) — including in public buildings, streets, parks, restaurants, shops and on public transport; medical masks are exempt.

Arrest and heavy fines for non-compliance.

Verified Jul 27, 2026

It is a legal requirement to carry valid photo ID at all times in Bulgaria; a printed copy of your passport photo page is accepted.

Failure to carry ID is a legal violation.

Verified Jul 27, 2026