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I hope someone answers!

We won't bother taking most household items like furniture, electrical goods, and cookware with us, we'll just buy there. Clothes and small personal items can be taken a suitcase at a time as needed and left in the house. But we will want to take our books and they'll fill a small van!

@brandon76

I admit that I didn't do it recently, but when I drove over I came with a car and trailer, and no paperwork at all. They seemed to be quite relaxed as it appeared to be a private (rather than commercial) vehicle with personal effects (everything in plain moving boxes or battered old suitcases).

If you're thinking about doing it yourself, there's not really a huge amount you can squeeze into your car. And probably it's not worth a huge amount, which explains why the border guys are pretty indifferent.

Even if you do some paperwork, it's not laborious to deal with a book collection, I suspect. I doubt you need to itemize individual books. You just write 6 x boxes of miscellaneous books (value 400 euros).

If it's really a book "collection", featuring rare first editions and priceless scrolls, then perhaps a bit more detail is called for. :-)

If you're really importing a lot of very valuable stuff, then perhaps it makes sense to prepare a bit of paperwork. In which case, you should know that after you get your Bulgarian residence permit sorted out, and you're a legal resident of Bulgaria, you can make a "Transfer of Residence" (ToR) declaration which entitles you to duty-free (and VAT-free) import of your personal effects (including a vehicle). This needs some documentation proving that you lived in UK before (utility bills, council tax, employment contract, etc.) and now you are going to live in Bulgaria (residence permit, rental contract or notary act, etc.), but shouldn't be too difficult.

I don't know... but my guess is that it won't be a big deal. However, might be good to get your residence permit... find yourself a place to live... before you worry about the logistics of relocation. :-)

@gwynj Thanks for the input.  I am planning to do it myself but I have been told by official moving companies and the embassy that 'everything' must be itemised. 

But, as it seems you found, if you drive yourself with a car full of stuff, there doesn't seem to be an issue.  Several people who have moved themselves have told me that is the best way to go.

I'm an EU Citizen about to travel with some goods that I haven't even opened still in Manufacturer boxes like a computer table, microwave, air fryer etc Will I have problems at Borders I purchased in the EU so shouldn't be a problem..right? I'm starting to understand why people just lie on the sofa all day watching TV soon as you walk out the door there's Rules and Paperwork everywhere!

@janecaruthers

If you're moving, there's bound to be a bit of aggravation, innit. :-)

But Bulgaria is the  Promised Land... with scenic countryside, wide-open spaces, friendly locals, low property prices, low taxation, and a very affordable cost of living. And with your EU passport, getting your residence permit here is very easy.

Jane, I haven't moved any household goods to Bg this so it's just based on what I've read for pre-Brexit UK citizens moving there. A as an EU citizen you're a lot less likely to have issues than a Brit will post-Brexit.

Still, printing off the original purchase receipts and attaching them to the boxes might be wise as that proves they were purchased in the EU. If you've owned them at least six months there should be zero issues. Opening the boxes and using the items that can be used like the microwave and the airfryer so they become used rather than new items could be good, too.

Prices on most household items are similar in Bulgaria and can be bought online from stores like emag and delivered to your house, so we're buying new there rather than taking things with us. We'll Just be moving clothes, books, and personal items. And our herd of cats. Ack! makes me want to take up lying on the sofa watching TV, too! Preferably with a nice glass of wine!

But what ive heard Post doesnt get delivered to my House it gets delivered to a central location in the village?

If you add your Bulgarian phone number to the end of your address the PO will call you when they get it

But i dont have a Bulgarian phone number? Do i have to get a Landline or a Bulgarian Mobile?

You can get a Bulgarian pay as you go SIM quite cheaply. Then if your phone is dual SIM you can have both your current number and a Bulgarian one. Or use an old cheapy phone for the Bg number just to get calls and texts.

My brother, in the UK, has a landline... and he has a full postal address with postcode. Like most Brits, he gets plenty of mail (bills, bank card, junk mail, Amazon orders).

Here, we don't have a landline in the house or the flat in Plovdiv. I think it's possible if you really want one, but I'm not sure it's massively popular. Most folks have a mobile phone (with BG SIM usually from Vivacom, A1, Yettel), and it's more typical to reach you with this. Especially as you'll often get a Viber (or Whatsapp or SMS) message instead of a call.

I can give you an address for the house and the flat. And the flat's address is on my residence permit (it serves as ID and proof of address). By we get almost zero post in either place.

Bills are done online, normally (or at an EasyPay kiosk). Deliveries almost always come by courier, the main ones here are Econt and Speedy. It's different... but, actually, it works very well. Perhaps even better than UK.

And Emag is good, I use it a lot. Not quite as good as Amazon, but very quick and low-cost delivery. Plenty of other useful websites too, Praktiker for DIY materials, IKEA/Jysk for furniture, Technopolis for electrical/electronics, Decathlon for sports and recreation.

´Will be inteeresting what people will do when WhatsApp get banned in the UK.

@brandon76

Hi Brandon,

We moved last year in our own 7.5t lorry, funnily enough it was still sign written as a Brittania Lanes removal lorry and it didnt raise an eyebrow.

I had pre prepared a cursory packing list but only itemised large electrical items like running machine, tv's etc. The only issue i had all the way was being slightly overweight crossing into Romania and having to pay a sweetener in folded documents at the suggestion of the border authorities, same happened at Calafat but I didnt have any cash and they couldnt hide a card payment so waved me through with a disgusted look. You should bave no issues in a van or car.

On entering Bulgarian customs they were satisfied with a verbal declaration that it was our own goods and we were travelling to our house at Vratsa, and with a cursory look at the packing list and downloaded Amazon receipts they happily waved us through to Vidin and never once did we have the goods checked in our lorry.

I did have my Visa D but had not yet received my Bulgarian prolonged stay card (Residency takes 5yrs now to gain).

Thanks for your blog although I don't have many receipts as bought a while ago I think I may be lucky and make sure I have euro's, by the way did you move before Brexit?

@jakeytk

No post Brexit hence needing a Visa D to come and live here, we were screwed by Covid and couldn't get to Bulgaria to apply for residency before Brexit even though we already had a property here.

I gave up trying to find a removal firm to bring stuff here from the UK got rid of it all to charities and am more than able to find and buy the things I need here .

thanks for getting back to me I have a residency card so hope that will also help.@grahamstark1

We have residency cards as well but I just couldn't find any individual or company willing to transport furniture  from the UK to Bulgaria

@kaththomas700

try Expat Couriers or Vipcourier Bguk. There are actually many more options, and not so expensive.

@grahamstark1

yes i was screwed by covid also uugh:(