Do US passport holders need a visa for Bulgaria?
Covers 11 passports and 80 destinations. Rules older than 30 days are flagged for re-check.
How this tool works
We read the official notice for each pair and record the date. Nothing here is generated; a pair with no written check is not shown.
How we checkNo visa. US passport holders visit Bulgaria visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180.
Bulgaria is in the Schengen area, so the 90 days are shared with every other Schengen country. At your first crossing you register in the EES with a face scan and fingerprints instead of a passport stamp. ETIAS, an online authorization for visa-free visitors, is not yet in operation. The visa exemption comes from the EU visa list (Regulation 2018/1806, Article 4 and Annex II), which the Bulgarian foreign ministry applies. The US State Department's page (Last Updated December 04, 2025) is consistent with the above. It adds that US tourists cannot stay more than a total of 90 days within a 6-month period without a Bulgarian visa, and that this is strictly enforced.
Source: European Union, Regulation (EU) 2018/1806. Checked Oct 4, 2026See the source
- Maximum stay
- 90 days in any 180
- Counted across the whole Schengen area.
- Passport validity
- 3 months after you leave
- The Schengen rule as GOV.UK states it, with issue within the last 10 years; not confirmed on a US government page.
- Blank pages
- 1 per stamp
- State Department: "1 blank page available per stamp."
- At the border
- EES registration
- Face scan and fingerprints at your first crossing; under 12s skip fingerprints.
- Pre-travel authorization
- None yet
- ETIAS (€20) is not in operation; the EU will announce a start date months ahead.
- Bulgarian limit
- 90 days in a 6-month period
- State Department: "U.S. citizens traveling on tourist passports cannot stay in Bulgaria more than a total of 90 days within a 6-month period without a Bulgarian visa. This law is strictly enforced."
Changes to this rule
- Apr 10, 2026EES fully operational at all external border crossing points of the countries using it; it replaces manual passport stamping.
- Jan 1, 2025Checks at the internal land borders between Bulgaria and Romania ended; Bulgaria now applies the Schengen rules in full.