Contact the International Students Office
International Students Office
ABF Student Center
12 Svoboda Bachvarova Str.
2700 Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
If you graduated from a high school outside Bulgaria or received only an international diploma in Bulgaria, you'll need to have your diploma recognized by the Bulgarian authorities before starting your studies.
This process involves obtaining a "Certificate for Recognition of Secondary Education." You can get this from any Regional Department of Education in Bulgaria.
Here's a breakdown of the steps involved:
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The documents you need will depend on whether you're a first-year student or a transfer student:
- Notarized copy of your high school diploma with grades and subjects studied.
- A document certifying that your high school diploma gives you the right to continue your education in the higher education institutions in the country where you graduated from high school. This document is issued by the Ministry of Education in your country or by your high school. See sample here (if you are a first-year students)
- An original transcript from your current university (if you are a transfer student)
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The documents above should meet certain legalization requirements and should have a Bulgarian translation done by a Bulgarian Embassy in the country issuing the documents OR by an authorized translation agency in Bulgaria.
Legalization requirements
- a country which has signed the Hague convention (Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Morocco, Tajikistan, Turkey, USA, etc.) you must get an “Apostille” before translating the documents. An “Apostille” certificate is needed to legalize a document for use in another country. You may find the member countries and the competent authorities providing “Apostille” here.
- a country which has signed a bilateral legal aid agreement with Bulgaria for exemption of documents from legalization (Albania, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, North Macedonia, Mongolia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, etc.) the documents do not need legalization with an Apostille or by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thee need only a certified Bulgarian translation. You can find a full list of the countries with bilateral agreements with Bulgaria here.
- a country which does not fall into neither of the first two groups (Bangladesh, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkmenistan, etc.) the documents must be first verified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country issuing the documents and then by the Bulgarian Embassy there.
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- Option 1: Submit the above-mentioned documents to any of the Regional Departments of Education in Bulgaria, and bring or mail the “Certificate for Recognition of Secondary Education” to Registrar’s office not later than the first day of Orientation week.
- Option 2: Upload scanned copies of the legalized/translated documents in the AUBG Student Application Portal for initial review. After approval, mail the hard copies by express currier to the International Students office. Then, we will submit them to the Regional Department of Education in Blagoevgrad to issue a Certificate for recognized secondary education. This certificate costs 50 BGN which will be charged to your student account.
If you graduated from a high school in Bulgaria, the AUBG Registrar’s Office needs to keep on file a copy of your high school diploma or graduation certificate, including the grades and subjects studied. The Registrar’s Office can accept as an official document the original high school diploma or graduation certificate, or a notarized copy of your high school diploma. Photocopies, scans, or unsealed diplomas or graduation certificates are not accepted as they cannot be treated as an official document.
Choose one of the following options to submit the proper document:
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- Obtain your high school diploma or graduation certificate.
- Bring the original diploma or graduation certificate to the Registrar’s Office, where it will be verified by AUBG. Your original diploma will be returned to you immediately after the verification.
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- Obtain your high school diploma or graduation certificate.
- Obtain a notarized copy of your high school diploma or graduation certificate.
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Send the notarized copy of your diploma or graduation certificate via regular mail to:
Registrar’s Office
ABF Student Center
12 Svoboda Bachvarova Str.
2700 Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
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Please submit the required document no later than September 1, 2025.
Please ensure timely submission to avoid any disruptions to your academic plans. Failure to submit acceptable proof of your high school graduation diploma or certificate by the deadline will result in course registration cancellation and deferral of your enrolment.