EHIC in Bulgaria: apply online, validity, common traps
How to apply for the Bulgarian EHIC (ЕЗОК) online, how long it is valid, and why the law bans issuing it if your health insurance rights are interrupted.
You are setting off on holiday or to work in Europe and someone tells you to get a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC, called ЕЗОК in Bulgaria). You open Google and find government portals and one site full of ads, and for how long it takes to issue you see three different numbers. Yet nobody tells you the most important thing.
And the most important thing is this: the card does not certify that you are Bulgarian. It certifies that your health insurance rights in Bulgaria are active. If they are not, the law forbids issuing it to you. That is exactly why thousands of applications are returned, and people learn the reason only when they reach the counter.
❓How do I apply for a European Health Insurance Card online?
Source: Electronic service 2145, National Health Insurance Fund (НЗОК)
€0
Price of the card itself, wherever you apply for it
120
ПИБ distribution centres that accept applications and issue the finished card
36
Months back for which the НАП checks your health contributions
Rights first, then the card
This is the section that other sites do not have, and it decides whether you get a card at all. The Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО) lists two groups of people to whom the EHIC is simply not issued.
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 80г(1)
The ban is in the law, not a decision of the clerk at the counter. The two references mean: people whose health rights have been interrupted, and people who have declared to the НАП that they live abroad.
Official Bulgarian text
„Европейска здравноосигурителна карта не се издава на лицата по чл. 40а, ал. 1 и чл. 109, ал. 1, както и на лицата с предоставена временна закрила по чл. 1а, ал. 3 от Закона за убежището и бежанците.“
The first group is those with interrupted rights. The interruption does not happen at the first missed contribution. It happens at more than three, that is, at least four unpaid months of your own in the period checked.
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 109(1)
Official Bulgarian text
„Здравноосигурителните права на лицата, които са длъжни да внасят осигурителни вноски за своя сметка, се прекъсват, в случай че лицата не са внесли повече от три дължими месечни осигурителни вноски за период от 36 месеца до началото на месеца, предхождащ месеца на оказаната медицинска помощ.“
Someone else’s debt is not your debt
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 109(4)
Official Bulgarian text
„Когато задължението за внасяне на осигурителните вноски е на работодателя или на друго лице, невнасянето на осигурителни вноски не лишава осигуреното лице от здравноосигурителни права.“
If the contributions really are yours and your rights are interrupted, restoring them means paying all the contributions due for the last 60 months. The rights come back from the date of payment, not from the next month.
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 109(3)
Official Bulgarian text
„Здравноосигурителните права на лицата по ал. 1 се възстановяват от датата на заплащане на дължимите вноски по ал. 2, като сумите, платени за оказаната медицинска помощ, не се възстановяват.“
If you pay your contributions yourself, the monthly health contribution in 2026 is, according to НАП data, not less than 22.03 euro for the months from January to July and not less than 24.81 euro for the months from August to December. Check your status free of charge in the НАП check and only then submit an application. The steps for the check are described in checking health insurance by personal number (ЕГН) at the НАП and in checking health insurance status.
If you have declared that you live abroad
The second banned group surprises exactly the people who travel most. A Bulgarian who insures themselves and has filed a statement with the НАП that they reside abroad for more than 183 days a year stops paying health contributions. This is legal. The price, however, is that a Bulgarian EHIC is no longer issued to them.
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 40а(1)
The logic is simple: if you are not insured in Bulgaria, Bulgaria has nothing to certify to a foreign hospital. If you work legally in another EU country, your card is issued by the fund there, not the НЗОК.
Official Bulgarian text
„Българските граждани, които са длъжни да осигуряват себе си и пребивават в чужбина повече от 183 дни през една календарна година, могат да не заплащат здравноосигурителни вноски до края на съответната календарна година, смятано от датата на напускане на страната, и за всяка следваща календарна година след подадено заявление до Националната агенция за приходите.“
The card can be cancelled while it is still in your wallet
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 80в, item 3
The second half of the sentence also applies to people who have declared to the НАП that they live abroad: their valid card is also declared invalid.
Official Bulgarian text
„лицето е загубило правото НЗОК да заплати за оказаната му медицинска помощ при условията на чл. 109, ал. 1, освен ако до датата на обявяването на картата за невалидна възстанови здравноосигурителните си права, както и в случаите по чл. 40а, ал. 1.“
Ask Pravko and get an answer with citations from the law.
Online application step by step
The electronic route is service No. 2145 on the egov.bg portal. You do not need an electronic signature: to log in to the portal a ПИК from the НАП will do, and the portal also accepts a ПИК from the National Social Security Institute (НОИ) or a mobile electronic signature. Note: this applies to the form in the portal. The other electronic route, where you download the PDF application yourself and send it through the Secure Electronic Delivery System (Система за сигурно електронно връчване), requires a qualified electronic signature (КЕП). In both cases you must have an active profile in the e-delivery system.
Submitting an EHIC application online
Log in to the portal
Open the form at eforms-web.egov.bg/dashboard/2145 and identify yourself with a ПИК from the НАП or an electronic signature. On first login the portal may ask for an email address and create a profile.
Choose your РЗОК
This is the Regional Health Insurance Fund (районна здравноосигурителна каса) for your place of residence. It carries out the service and issues the card.
Load your details automatically
The form has an automatic fill field. Check that the names in Cyrillic and in Latin letters match your ID card or passport, because they are printed on the EHIC.
State how you will receive the card
Three options: in person at the distribution centre where the application was submitted, in person at the office of your РЗОК, or by courier to an address you give. Choose carefully: courier delivery is paid for, collecting in person is not.
Send the application and check it
After sending, open the Secure Electronic Delivery System at edelivery.egov.bg and see whether there is a document to your РЗОК among the outgoing items. If there is not, the application has not gone.
If the send button does not appear
An application for a child is submitted separately for each child, but only by one parent. Both parents do not need to take part.
At the counter in a bank distribution centre
If you prefer paper, the application is submitted at a distribution centre of First Investment Bank (ПИБ). The form is obtained on the spot or downloaded from the НЗОК website. The list of locations is on the НЗОК website and covers 120 centres across the country. You can submit the application in person or through an authorised person.
What to bring to the counter
ID card, passport or a foreigner’s card (карта на чужденец) of the person the card is for*
The ID card of the parent or guardian, when the application is for a child under 18*
A document certifying parenthood, guardianship or curatorship, when you are applying for another person. Most often this is the birth certificate*
The decision of the Territorial Expert Medical Commission (ТЕЛК), if you have one. The НЗОК explicitly asks for it, because the card’s period of validity depends on it
A telephone number and email address, so that the НЗОК can contact you if something is inaccurate
* Mandatory documents
What an EHIC costs
Issuing the card
€0
Filling in the application at a ПИБ distribution centre
€0
Collecting on the spot at the distribution centre or at a РЗОК office
€0
Courier delivery to an address you give(optional)
The only item that can cost you money. It is paid to the provider, not to the НЗОК.
under the postal operator’s tariff
Total
€0 for the card. You pay only if you yourself choose courier delivery.
How long the card is valid
The period is not the same for everyone and you do not choose it. It is set in the law and depends on which group you fall into.
| Who you are | Period of validity | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Adult who works or insures themselves | One year | Art. 80б(1) |
| Child under 18 | Until reaching adulthood, but not less than one and not more than 5 years | Art. 80б(2). The law says “minor” (непълнолетен); the НЗОК applies the period to all children under 18 |
| Pensioner for insurance record and age | 10 years | Art. 80б(3) |
| Disability pensioner | For the period of the pension granted, but not more than 10 years | Art. 80б(3) |
| Adult with a ТЕЛК decision who is not a pensioner | Until the end of the ТЕЛК decision’s period | НЗОК practice. This case has no separate provision in Art. 80б |
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 80б(3)
Note the second half. The НЗОК information page describes this case as a period up to the validity of the ТЕЛК decision. The law ties it to the period of the pension granted. If the two dates differ in your case, ask your РЗОК which one it accepts.
Official Bulgarian text
„Когато заявителят е лице, което получава пенсия за осигурителен стаж и възраст, срокът на валидност на европейската здравноосигурителна карта е 10 години, а ако лицето получава пенсия за инвалидност - за срока на отпуснатата пенсия, но не повече от 10 години.“
The practical consequence for most people is unwelcome: the card is renewed every year. Old cards are not renewed automatically; a new application is submitted. And there is a trap in the other direction: it is not accepted earlier than 25 calendar days before the old period expires. So not “when I remember”, and not “the whole last month”, but in the last 25 days.
What it covers and what it does not
This is where almost all Bulgarian websites shrink your entitlement. They write “urgent and emergency care” (спешна и неотложна помощ). The European regulation is wider: the cover includes care that is medically necessary, judged against how long you will be staying.
Regulation (EC) No 883/2004
Art. 19, paragraph 1
The difference is practical. Monitoring a pregnancy or regular treatment of a chronic condition during a two-month stay can be medically necessary without being an emergency. But note the first words: paragraph 2 makes an exception, and it matters.
Official Bulgarian text
„Освен ако друго не е предвидено в параграф 2, осигуреното лице и членовете на неговото семейство, които имат престой в държава-членка, различна от компетентната държава-членка, имат право на обезщетения в натура, които са необходими по медицински причини по време на престоя им, като имат предвид същността на обезщетенията и очакваната продължителност на престоя.“
Regulation (EC) No 987/2009
Art. 25, letter A, item 3
The test is whether, without the treatment, you would have to cut your stay short and go home. If so, the care falls within the scope of the card.
Official Bulgarian text
„необходимостта от които е медицински обоснована, с оглед на това да се избегне принудителното връщане на осигуреното лице в компетентната държава-членка преди края на предвидената продължителност на престоя“
Dialysis and oxygen therapy must be arranged in advance
Regulation (EC) No 883/2004
Art. 19, paragraph 2
The agreement is between you and the healthcare provider, not with the НЗОК. So do not wait for the fund to arrange it for you.
Official Bulgarian text
„Административната комисия съставя списък на обезщетения в натура, за предоставянето на които през време на престой в друга държава-членка, се изисква, по практически причини, предварително съгласие между заинтересованото лице и институцията, която предоставя грижите.“
| Covers | Does not cover |
|---|---|
| Treatment at state healthcare providers and at private ones that work with the local health fund | Doctors and clinics outside the local health system, even when they are nearby |
| Care in sudden illness and when a chronic condition flares up | Planned treatment that you travel for on purpose. It needs prior authorisation |
| Care in pregnancy and childbirth, if it cannot be postponed | Rescue operations and repatriation, that is, bringing you back to Bulgaria |
| Treatment on the same terms and at the same prices as for the locally insured | User charges and co-payments, if locals pay them too |
The card is not insurance
If they do not accept the card and you pay out of pocket
It happens. The doctor does not work with the local fund, the emergency department asks for payment on the spot, or the card is not read. What you paid does not vanish: the regulation provides for reimbursement.
How to ask for your money back
Gather the documents on the spot
Invoices, receipts, prescriptions and the discharge summary. Without them a claim is not considered.
Ask the fund in the foreign country
The first address is the institution at the place of your stay. It reimburses at its own rates, if its legislation allows it.
If you did not ask there, apply to the НЗОК
After you return you submit a claim to the НЗОК. As a rule, reimbursement is again calculated at the rates of the country where you were treated. The regulation also allows a calculation at the Bulgarian rates, but only with your consent or when the foreign legislation provides no reimbursement at all.
For a large sum, ask for an advance
The regulation allows the competent institution to pay an advance while the claim is being considered.
Regulation (EC) No 987/2009
Art. 25, letter B, item 4
Official Bulgarian text
„Ако осигуреното лице в действителност е изплатило разходите за пълния или частичен размер на обезщетенията в натура по член 19 от основния регламент, и ако прилаганото законодателство от институцията по мястото на престой позволява възстановяване на тези разходи на осигуреното лице, то може да изпрати искане за възстановяване до институцията по мястото на престой.“
Regulation (EC) No 987/2009
Art. 25, letter B, item 8
That is, you will never get back more than you paid, and often you will get less, because it is calculated at the foreign rates.
Official Bulgarian text
„възстановяването на разходи на осигуреното лице не превишава сумата на реално извършените от него разходи“
Where the Bulgarian EHIC is valid
The card works in all the countries of the European Union, in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and also in Switzerland. The НЗОК names two more outside these: the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Serbia, under bilateral agreements and only for cards issued by the НЗОК.
One case is missing from this list and is worth knowing: the United Kingdom. The British health service, the NHS, explicitly tells visitors from the EU to bring a valid EHIC issued by their own country, and accepts it for treatment that becomes necessary during the stay, including for a pre-existing condition and routine pregnancy care. The basis is different: not the coordination regulations but the Protocol on Social Security Coordination to the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the text of which the НЗОК publishes in its Brexit section. Because the НЗОК page on the EHIC does not list the United Kingdom, also bring a printout of the NHS confirmation if you are travelling there.
If you are moving to live in another country, the card is not your document. The difference is between a stay and residence, not between a short and a long trip. Which document you need depends on where you remain insured. If you start work there, you are insured in the local system and it issues your documents. If you stay insured in Bulgaria but live in the other country, then it is form S1, with which you register with the local health fund.
Where your right to this document comes from
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 35(1), item 7
The EHIC is not a service at the administration’s discretion. It is a right of the compulsorily insured person. That is why a refusal must rest on a specific provision, and the only ones are those listed in Art. 80г.
Official Bulgarian text
„да получат документ, необходим за упражняване на здравноосигурителните им права в съответствие с правилата за координация на системите за социална сигурност“
Health Insurance Act (ЗЗО)
Art. 80а(1)
This is where the figure of 30 days comes from. It is a statutory deadline, not a forecast. The shorter period of 15 calendar days that the НЗОК states is the time to produce the plastic.
Official Bulgarian text
„Националната здравноосигурителна каса издава документи, необходими съгласно правилата за координация на системите за социална сигурност за упражняване на здравноосигурителните права на лицата, в 30-дневен срок от датата на подаване на искане от заинтересованите лица.“
Frequently asked questions
How long do I wait for the card?
The two numbers you will meet do not contradict each other. 30 days is the statutory deadline: Art. 80а(1) of the Health Insurance Act obliges the НЗОК to issue the document within 30 days of the request being submitted. The same period appears in the description of the electronic service. 15 calendar days is the time to produce the plastic, which the НЗОК itself states on its website. Plan on the longer period, especially in June and July when applications are at their most numerous, and add time for delivery.
Can I get it the day before travelling?
Do not count on it. If you are leaving soon and have no valid card, ask your РЗОК for a provisional replacement certificate (удостоверение за временно заместване, УВЗ) in place of the EHIC. It gives the same rights as the card, is issued free of charge and is valid for 2 months. The application and a copy of the ID card are submitted at the Regional Health Insurance Fund, in person, by post or through an authorised person.
Do I need a separate card for each child?
Yes. The EHIC is personal and every family member travels with their own. Applications for children are submitted separately, but by one parent.
What if I am a student abroad?
If you remain health insured in Bulgaria and are only studying there temporarily, the EHIC is your document. If you start work and are insured in the foreign country, the card is issued to you by the fund there.
I lost the card, what do I do?
You notify the НЗОК, the old card is declared invalid and you submit a new application. The notice of cancellation is published on the НЗОК website.
Ask Pravko and get an answer with citations from the law.
If you remember one sentence from the whole article, let it be this: the card does not create rights, it only shows them. Checking your status takes two minutes and saves you a refusal at the counter or, far more expensively, a refusal in a foreign hospital.
⚠️ Important
Pravko provides legal information, but it does not replace advice from a lawyer. For important legal matters, consult a licensed lawyer.
