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The work and residence permits electronic platform, developed by Information Services, reduces thrice the time needed to obtain permits for foreign nationals. This was announced by Nikoleta Stoyanova, Head of Business Analysis Department at the company. Before October 2024, when the system was put into operation, the time needed to issue a work permit took 14 days, while now the whole process is completed within no more than 4 days. Through the system, employers are able to submit applications for the employment of foreign workers fully electronically from anywhere and at any time.
The developed electronic platform allows for the issuance of several types of permits related to the employment of foreign nationals in an extremely short time periods. These include the Single Residence and Work Permit, the EU Blue Card Long-Term Residence Permit, the Intra-Corporate Transferee Permit, the Seasonal Worker Permit and the Registration for Short-Term Employment up to 90 days. Employers can submit applications to hire foreign nationals at https://workinbulgaria.egov.bg/.
"The digitalisation of foreign nationals work permits process greatly facilitates the administration and the private sector, and saves a lot of time," said Nikoleta Stoyanova, Head of Business Analysis Department at Information Services. In her words, the electronic platform significantly assists Bulgarian businesses in their attempts to cope with the chronic shortage of staff in certain industries.
Digitalising the process drastically reduces the steps administrative authorities have to go through to issue work permits. Prior to digitalisation, the process went through 22 steps, whereas now it has been reduced to 10. The electronic platform also reduces the time taken to process applications to employ foreigners by an impressive 19 times. At present, the electronic submission of applications as well as the submission of additional documents through the Portal is completed in about 25 minutes, whereas it used to take more than a day for employers to queue up for submission.
The newly built platform is centralised and has been developed as a web-based application that meets all the information security and usability requirements as per the legislation and recommendations of the Ministry of e-Governance (MoEG). The system is fully synchronized with the European procedure for issuing the European Union Blue Card type of residence and work permit. The Blue Card is a work permit for non-EU nationals and gives foreign nationals access to highly skilled employment, the right of entry, the right to change employer after the first 12 months of highly skilled employment. It guarantees equal treatment with the nationals of the relevant country in terms of working conditions, education, training, social security and access to services.
The system ensures transparency, traceability and publicity in the processing of applications and granting of permits. The platform provides a single point for checks and online enquiries at any time of the day or night. It provides full control and detailed traceability of the movement of documents and their processing in the different administrations involved in the process - the Ministry of Interior, the Employment Agency, the State Agency for National Security and the Executive Agency General Labour Inspectorate. The platform eliminates the need for paper-based document flow and reduces the possibility of errors that are often found in manually processed documents. It provides automated data exchange, fast sending and receiving of foreigners’ files for processing, requesting additional documents and the possibility of real-time checks on the status of applications submitted by the applicant or an employee of a specific administration.