Why I Left Bulgaria?

Why did I leave Bulgaria? This is the question that I often get from lots of my clients and acquaintances. In today's video I'm addressing my reasons to why I moved to Bulgaria in the first place, and why I finally left a few years later.

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Should you move to Bulgaria? What are the upsides and downsides of setting up a residency in this country?

I'm originally from Canada, and in spring of 2018 I moved to Bulgaria. I've stayed there for about 3 years before relocating to Dubai UAE.

Bulgaria is an interesting country, and a choice for lots of digital nomads, global entrepreneurs and location independent workers.

It offers cheap costs of living, lots of beautiful nature and maybe the best of all - amazing taxes!

But it has lots of downsides as well.
Here I'm covering these from my perspective and laying out all the things that made me leave Bulgaria and establish my residency somewhere else.

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Introducing Michael Rosmer, the true modern-day Renaissance man and international entrepreneur, who has been mentored under top international tax attorneys.
He is widely regarded as the foremost international tax expert for legal cross-border tax planning, with extensive experience in immigration, residency, and second citizenship for those seeking a plan B, asset protection, global offshore banking, and payment processing.

Michael leads a team of lawyers and accountants who are top experts in their respective fields. This multi-lingual, multi-national team has worked with digital nomads, entrepreneurs, and investors from 62 countries, providing practical real-world multi-dimensional solutions for their clients.

At Offshore Citizen we understand that each individual's situation is unique. Unlike most industry service providers, we do not push any particular country or solution. Instead, we analyze your individual situation and custom-tailor the best countries and strategies for you, drawing on every part of the globe.

With Offshore Citizen, you can rest assured that you are in the hands of professionals who have your best interests at heart. Let us guide you through the complex world of international tax planning, immigration, residency, and second citizenship.
Contact Michael today for a personalized consultation and take the first step towards securing your financial future.
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[reyhanneazi]

the atmosphere, the nature, the food, the soil, the sea is indescribable, healing for the human soul

[TomSeliman]

Lived here in Bulgaria since 2018 (from the USA). Learning Bulgarian changes the experience. Also Bulgaria has much higher quality of food where as Dubai must import everything. Another great thing about Bulgaria is the low amount of violent crime.

[PatrickNoonan]

I just moved to Bansko, Bulgaria. Really enjoying it so far.

Since it's a small ski town plenty of English speakers here.

Made sense for me as already an EU citizen and love hiking and the outdoors too!

[Kurrkabin]

Just a comment regarding the weather.

Sofia is at high elevations ~ 600 meters. It's a mountainous city.

Plovdiv, the second largest city and a cultural capital, and Burgas, the 4th largest city, both feature a humid subtropical climate. Literally, all of Southern Bulgaria's lowlands feature either a Mediterranean (Primorsko/Sandanski) or Humid Subtropical climate. You can find wild olives, pomegranate, palm trees and kiwis growing outside w/o any winter protection. 2200-2800 annual sunshine hours. That's not cold.

So the author has a rather limited understanding of Bulgaria; his views are only based on living in Sofia. This is like saying - America is cold because New York has bad weather.

[spinjim]

Bulgaria is fantastic. I am hoping to retire there. Class D visa should be obtainable for me because pension. Comparing Dubai to Sofia is just so wrong. Those 24 hour gyms? Not a draw, a nice walk around Sofia is more to my liking.

[mr.v.]

You totally lost me at 'Bulgaria is cold'.
Bulgarian weather is basically the same as Spanish weather, just on the south-eastern part of the continent.
Enjoying a nice, refreshing Mojito while typing this comment btw. It's October 14 and the temperature outside is about 27 degrees Celsius.

[Luke-pmrb]

Dubai is a big gay shopping mall of empty consumerist culture. Basically hell....

[tisho]

So I am a Bulgarian and judging by the title was curious to understand if this was going to be one of those trash-talking videos about our country.
Turned out it's quite a positive video and mentioning some of the benefits that we have living here is great!

Surely, not ideal, there are no ideal or perfect places despite you having mentioned such. I've traveled around and have lived abroad in Slovakia and do not consider relocating anytime soon. Not for the moment, at least. Home is a dear place.

[nickob]

I met a load of Peace Corps Americans way back in Bulgaria and it was very clear that they were a square peg in a round hole, all of another thing I would say is like most capital cities Sofia is a little different to the rest of BG. Each to their own, for me Dubai is the last place I would ever want to visit never mind live, but thats the beauty of our realm.

[jassenjj]

It is great that you have found the place to develop your endeavours. But, honestly, switching from Bulgaria to Dubai suggest a very high level of randomness in your choice. I cannot even think of business opportunities overlap between the 2 countries.

[valeriepvi]

I was in Dubai for business ....but that is definitely a place I wouldn't like to live, the same with London /UK/.. . Bulgaria in my opinion is absolutely the opposite.❤

[NickEnchev]

I'm originally from Varna, but lived in Toronto my whole life (30 years). My wife and I moved to Varna in 2021 to get out of shithole Toronto and I'm literally scratching my head when you say Bulgaria is far surpassed by the conveniences in other places. I have the opposite experience, with the exception of the lack of Amazon (boohoo, i get emag, ozone and a million other online stores) and the couriers will literally show up at my door with card processors if needed and wait to see if I'm happy with my purchase. From a social and lifestyle perspective, its far more comfortable and safe going out here as, you probably know, Toronto and its makes going out a bullshit overpriced pseudo-trendy experience. I can literally sit at a table on the beach here without even greeting a restaurant host. Seeing a doctor or specialist is faster here than in Canada, I recently wanted to see a dermo and had an appointment within an hour, and for that same day. Paying my bills is super easy here, with the exception of the whole weird thing of water meter people coming to my door. In BG you have access to amazing beaches, winter fun in the mountains, amazing mineral spas and great well-rounded seasons (Varna > Sofia, I know), and overall way better "nature stuff" than in a lot of other countries. On top of that, the country isn't that large so visiting those places is easy af. I literally can't think of a single thing I miss, other than my close friends, about living in Canada. On top of all that, judging by how Canadians handled covid, and how people here in BG behaved, I know who I want to be around the next time the world loses its mind (possibly this winter). I won't even go into the fact that I was able to buy a large fully paid off apartment and live mortgage free. To your point, I did have to hunt quite a bit to find the quality and size/view that I wanted, but hey, I hunted even longer in Toronto to avoid most of the new shit-layout, low quality WAY overpriced builds in TO. I won't get into any of the other FAR lower costs such as >10X cheaper car insurance. It does help that I'm completely fluent in Bulgarian and have family here, but we're talking general conveniences. Oh and you're right taxis in Sofia are basically double what they cost in Varna.

[MT-ghhf]

loved the way how you put it from all angels. I went through the same thought process and moved from UAE to turkey. but my circumstances are different. Good luck in Dubai.

[deanatureshop]

Anyone who thinks that Dubai is crime free knows nothing about the world.... there is plenty of darkness going on in that place...

[DiMagnolia]

Interestingly enough, almost everything you described about disliking in Bulgaria is a pro for me and vice versa for UAE.

[dreww]

Thanks for sharing your story about iving in Bulgaria. That proximity to other European countries is appealing. Nice to hear you mention the pros and cons of living in Sofia. I liked your perspective about finding the ideal place to live based on one's individual preferences. Dubai has such an appeal to it - just not a fan of those high gulf temperatures. What colder weather city would you move to as a base other then selecting a balkan region country?

[asengrigorov]

You can skip straight to the 8 minute for the reasons. You will not miss anything and I haven't heard any obvious reasons why to left Bulgaria

[СветославТасев]

I think it is a very good summary of what Bulgaria is and isn't. It is a nice and very livable country but it may not be ideal for certain lifestyles

[zaptosmedia]

"Go where you ... like it the most" made me laugh 😀

[jonathangat]

I often hear people say....'you want to live there, but what about....insert someone else's projection I agree with you that there is no perfect place and I'm pursuing the path of less than perfect places that all add up to a good life.