Complete digitalization of Bulgaria’s visa application procedures is planned by 2025, Bulgarian Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova said.
His comments came during a meeting with Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy in London and are part of efforts to simplify visa procedures and shorten visa issuance times. visas. SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
The Ministry of Tourism is part of an interministerial group created to achieve a simplification of current procedures and a shortening of deadlines for issuing tourist visas. Full digitalization is planned by 2025.
The closer ties between the two territories will bring benefits to the citizens of both countries, according to Minister Ersoy.
“Facilitating travel between the two countries will significantly increase the number of Turkish tourists” Ersoy.
Opportunities for cooperation in the field of winter tourism were also discussed. According to the Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria, this can happen through the implementation of a joint project aimed at attracting travelers from neighboring Balkan countries and, later, more distant markets.
It is important to work together to improve transport connectivity between Bulgaria and Turkey through more efficient use of the daily express rail connection between Istanbul and Sofia, as well as regular flights on the Sofia-Istanbul route..
During the meeting, the practices of the two states in the field of vocational education and opportunities for more young people to prefer the field of tourism to achieve themselves were also discussed.
As Turkey is not on Bulgaria’s visa waiver list, Turkish nationals must obtain a visa to travel to Bulgaria.
Nationals of several countries around the world can travel to Bulgaria without a visa for short stays, including those from Schengen zone countries, the United States and Canada; however, not those of.
Nationals of countries that are not on the visa waiver list are subject to additional requirements when planning to reach that territory, such as visas; however, children under the age of six, including those from visa-required countries, are visa-exempt when arriving in this Balkan country.
Bulgaria is not part of the EU Schengen visa-free travel zone. However, it is part of the European Union. Therefore, all EU member countries, as well as Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, are also excluded from Bulgaria’s long-term visas for a period of 90 days as well as from the Bulgarian requirements in regarding work permits due to the European Union’s right of free movement.
