Recruitment businesses in Bulgaria operate under a specific registration regime. A company that matches candidates with employers cannot rely only on its Commercial Register entry or a general recruitment clause in its articles. It must determine the services and countries it will cover, meet the staffing and office requirements, and obtain the relevant Employment Agency registration before providing regulated employment intermediation.

Registration is only the start. The intermediary must provide its services to jobseekers free of charge, use compliant contracts and advertisements, maintain the statutory electronic records, protect candidate data, and keep the Employment Agency informed of vacancies and material changes.

Employment, data-protection, immigration, and administrative rules can change. This guide is general information as at 1 August 2026, not legal or regulatory advice for a particular recruitment model or placement.

Employment Intermediary Registration at a Glance

Who Needs Registration?

The regulated activity is broader than introducing two people. It covers one or more employment services intended to assist jobseekers and employers toward an employment contract, including:

• informing or advising jobseekers and employers
• psychological support for jobseekers
• referral to adult education
• directing and assisting a person to start work in Bulgaria or another country

A conventional recruitment agency that takes vacancies, sources candidates, screens CVs, arranges interviews, and supports hiring will normally fall within this framework. Executive search, specialist placement, and an online business that actively matches and presents candidates may also require registration. The analysis follows the real service, not labels such as “consultancy,” “job platform,” or “success fee.”

A website that only sells neutral advertising space may have a different classification, but once the operator advises, selects, refers, or otherwise mediates between candidate and employer, it should assess registration before launch. Internal recruitment by an employer for its own workforce is not the same as offering intermediary services to third parties.

Do Not Confuse Intermediation with Temporary Work

An employment intermediary does not normally employ the candidate. It helps the candidate and employer conclude their employment relationship, and the employer hires the worker directly.

A temporary-work undertaking instead employs workers and assigns them to work under a user undertaking's supervision. That activity has separate registration, financial-security requirements, prescribed documents, and a five-year certificate. The official temporary-work service record should be used when the agency, rather than the end client, will employ the worker.

Who Can Apply?

Bulgarian individuals and legal entities may apply, as may eligible EU, EEA, or Swiss persons established in Bulgaria. A recruitment company should have coherent representation and activities; our company-registration guide explains that separate Commercial Register process.

Article 27a of the Employment Promotion Act sets eligibility conditions. In outline, the applicant must not have relevant established public debts unless valid deferral or instalment arrangements apply, must not be insolvent or in liquidation, and must meet the three-year clean-record conditions concerning specified intermediary sanctions. Related checks also reach members of a legal entity's management and control bodies.

The individual applicant or the legal entity's representative, together with employees who will perform intermediary work, must have completed secondary or higher education. For seafarer placement, the regulation adds at least three years of work experience in maritime transport for the relevant people.

The current intermediary regulation uses functional requirements rather than a fixed headcount or floor area. It names suitable service premises, office furniture, computer and copying equipment, telephone, and internet access. The office should also support confidential meetings and secure records.

Documents for a Bulgarian Applicant

The Employment Agency's current administrative-service record lists a streamlined electronic file for persons registered under Bulgarian law. It normally includes:

• the electronic application identifying the selected services and territorial scope
• a list with the required identity and diploma data for the individual applicant or legal representative
• a corresponding list for employees who will carry out intermediary activity, if any
• copies of education documents where the authority cannot verify the specified Bulgarian diploma data electronically
• recognition details or documents for education obtained abroad, as applicable
• for seafarer placement only, evidence of the required maritime-transport experience

The application is submitted through the unified electronic register and is ordinarily signed with a qualified electronic signature, subject to the specific statutory electronic-government exception. The authority checks key status and sanction circumstances for Bulgarian applicants officially.

An EU, EEA, or Swiss person established in Bulgaria uses the foreign-applicant route, providing prescribed home-state status and authorisation evidence, staff-education information, and official Bulgarian translations.

Registration Procedure Step by Step

1. Classify the Business Model

Map every proposed service and identify who contracts with, employs, pays, and supervises the worker. Separate recruitment intermediation from temporary work, immigration support, training, payroll, and outsourced services.

2. Choose the Scope

Decide whether the intermediary will recruit for positions in Bulgaria, place people in other countries, recruit seafarers, or use more than one scope. Foreign placement and maritime work carry additional substantive obligations; do not select them merely for future marketing flexibility.

3. Check the Applicant, People, and Office

Confirm the corporate status and public-liability position, review the relevant three-year sanction history, identify every person who will perform intermediary work, and collect the correct education evidence. Secure the office and named technical resources before representing that the business is operational.

4. Prepare the Electronic File

Create the necessary access to the Employment Agency's central register, test the electronic signature, and reconcile names, identifiers, diploma data, office details, service types, and territorial scope. A mismatch between the application, public registers, and supporting lists can trigger instructions.

5. Submit and Monitor the Profile

The competent official decides on the application and its documents within 14 days of receipt. If the file is incomplete or inaccurate, the applicant is notified through its individual registry profile and has 14 days from receipt to correct it. The documents are then treated as filed on the correction date. Additional research or inter-agency coordination may extend the registration period by up to 14 days, with notice through the profile.

6. Pay When Notified

The certificate is issued after the official fee is paid. The applicant has 14 days from notification that it is due and can pay electronically through the register or by bank transfer under the current instructions.

7. Verify the Public Entry Before Trading

The certificate is an electronic document, delivered through the individual profile and entered in the public register. Check the registration number, name, office, representative, services, and territorial scope. Use the registration number in recruitment advertising and begin only within the registered scope.

Fees, Timing, and Refusal

As at 1 August 2026, the official service record lists EUR 410.06 for registration covering Bulgaria and EUR 447.38 for registration for other countries or seafarers. These are administrative fees, not the total setup budget. Company formation, electronic signatures, education recognition, translations, office setup, privacy documentation, insurance, and professional support are separate.

The 14-day period assumes a complete file. Corrections, additional checks, translations, and payment lengthen the project. Registration is indefinite but is not transferable as an ordinary asset and can end for non-compliance.

A reasoned refusal may be challenged under the Administrative Procedure Code; the service record gives a 14-day appeal period.

Cross-Border Recruitment Rules

A Bulgarian intermediary placing people in another country needs the correct territorial registration and must comply with the receiving state's employment rules. The Bulgarian regulation requires a contract with the foreign employer, specific information on the job and conditions, supporting evidence on the foreign employer, and Bulgarian translations. Before departure, the jobseeker must receive the employer-signed individual employment contract and a Bulgarian translation. Terms and pay may not be below the applicable receiving-state minimums.

An EU, EEA, or Swiss provider lawfully established in another relevant state may use the separate temporary or one-off services route instead of Bulgarian establishment registration. It must notify electronically at least 14 days before starting and provide the prescribed home-state evidence and Bulgarian translation. This is not a route for an ongoing Bulgarian establishment to avoid registration.

Recruiting third-country nationals for Bulgarian employers adds immigration and labour-market procedures. Intermediary registration does not grant the worker access to Bulgaria's labour market, and the intermediary is not a substitute for the responsible employer. See our work-permit guide and confirm the correct permit, visa, residence, and start-work sequence for each candidate.

The regulation also excludes inter-company assignments abroad where Bulgarian employees keep their Bulgarian employment relationship; posting and social-security rules may apply instead.

Contracts, Advertising, and Candidate Data

The intermediary must contract with both jobseekers and employers. The jobseeker agreement covers the parties, rights and duties, term, termination, liability, and compliant financial terms. Employer charges must never be passed to the candidate through deductions, deposits, paid “training,” or another indirect device.

Every job advertisement must display the intermediary's registration number. The agency may advertise a vacancy only where it has an intermediary agreement with the employer and an actual notified vacancy. Employer instructions and ad copy should be screened for discriminatory conditions, misleading pay, or unsupported claims. The agency must reject requests that conflict with the Employment Promotion Act's equal-treatment rules.

Recruitment involves identity data, CVs, employment history, assessments, and sometimes health or other sensitive information. The intermediary should map the legal basis for each use, give a clear privacy notice, restrict staff access, secure transfers to employers and vendors, define deletion schedules, and manage candidate rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Consent should not be used as a universal substitute for analysing the actual processing purpose.

Ongoing Compliance After Registration

A compliant operating system should ensure that the intermediary:

• gives candidates required information on the position, conditions, pay, insurance, and specific requirements
• reports open vacancies and when they are filled or withdrawn through the Employment Agency system
• maintains the prescribed electronic register of jobseekers and placed persons
• keeps the required contracts and placement documents in each office and retains specified records for five years
• notifies changes to registration documents, personnel data, or office addresses through its profile within the applicable ten-day period
• records temporary suspension of activity in the central register
• keeps advertising, employer mandates, vacancy records, and registration scope aligned
• updates privacy, security, complaint, and incident procedures as systems and vendors change

For its own employees, the intermediary also has ordinary payroll, labour-record, and workplace-safety duties. See our guide to occupational health services.

Sanctions and Common Mistakes

Under Article 81 of the Employment Promotion Act, operating without registration or the required prior notification attracts a fine or property sanction of EUR 2,556.46, with higher bands for repeat and subsequent violations. Operating in breach of the substantive requirements attracts EUR 511.29 to EUR 1,278.23, again with a higher repeat-offence band. These euro amounts reflect the fixed conversion of the Act's lev figures; always confirm the current statutory text before relying on a penalty calculation. Unregistered operation can also block a new application for three years after the penalty becomes final.

Common avoidable errors include:

• launching candidate sourcing or job advertisements before registration
• applying for domestic scope while marketing foreign placements
• confusing direct recruitment with temporary-worker supply
• listing staff whose education evidence cannot be verified
• treating a virtual address as a compliant service office without the required resources
• charging candidates directly or through a related service
• publishing vacancies without an employer contract, notified opening, or registration number
• holding CVs indefinitely without a purpose, access controls, or deletion rules
• failing to update the register when personnel, offices, or source documents change

Before launch, confirm the legal model, scope, applicant eligibility, qualified people, office, electronic access, forms, contracts, privacy notices, vacancy workflow, record retention, and named owner for every recurring notification.

How Lion Consult Can Help

Lion Consult can assess whether the proposed model is intermediation or temporary work, align the company and territorial scope, review eligibility, prepare the electronic application and supporting lists, and build a handover checklist for contracts, advertising, data, and continuing notifications.

Contact Lion Consult to discuss the recruitment services, candidate countries, employment model, staff, office, and intended launch date.

This article reflects general information available on 1 August 2026. Confirm the current Employment Promotion Act, implementing regulation, Employment Agency forms and fees, data-protection duties, and any foreign or immigration rules before starting intermediary activity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a recruitment agency need registration in Bulgaria?

Yes, when it provides one or more regulated employment-intermediary services intended to assist jobseekers and employers toward an employment contract. The actual service matters, not whether the business calls itself a recruiter, consultant, executive-search firm, or platform.

Is employment intermediation licensed or registered?

It is a registration regime administered through the Employment Agency. The Minister of Labour and Social Policy or an authorised official issues an electronic certificate, which is entered in the public central register and is indefinite while the intermediary remains compliant.

What qualifications must recruitment-agency staff have?

The individual applicant or legal representative and employees who perform intermediary work must have completed secondary or higher education. Seafarer placement additionally requires at least three years of work experience in maritime transport for the relevant people.

How much does employment-intermediary registration cost and take?

As at 1 August 2026, the official fee is EUR 410.06 for Bulgaria and EUR 447.38 for other countries or seafarers. The authority decides a complete application within 14 days, but correction periods, additional checks, translations, and fee payment can extend the project.

Can a Bulgarian recruitment agency charge jobseekers?

No. Intermediary services must be free to jobseekers and placed workers, without direct or indirect fees or other payments. The employer may pay the intermediary, but that cost cannot be deducted from the placed person's remuneration or shifted through another device.

Is an employment intermediary the same as a temporary-work agency?

No. An intermediary helps a candidate and employer form a direct employment relationship. A temporary-work undertaking employs the worker and assigns that person to a user undertaking; it requires a separate registration, security, documents, and a five-year certificate.

Can an EU recruitment provider work temporarily in Bulgaria without registration?

An eligible EU, EEA, or Swiss provider lawfully established and authorised in its home state may use the temporary or one-off services route. It must give the prescribed electronic notification at least 14 days before starting and provide the required home-state evidence and Bulgarian translation.