MBBS in Bulgaria Fees 2026-27: Sofia, Varna, Pleven, Trakia

MBBS in Bulgaria fees for 2026-27 run from EUR 7,000 to EUR 10,000 a year in tuition, depending on the university and year of study, roughly Rs. 7.4 lakh to Rs. 10.6 lakh at October 2026 rates. Six years of tuition alone comes to EUR 47,500 to EUR 60,000, about Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 64 lakh, before living costs.

Key takeaways on MBBS in Bulgaria fees

• Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026, so every university now quotes fees in euros. Where an older page still shows leva, the fixed rate is 1.95583 BGN to EUR 1.

• Medical University Varna charges EUR 10,000 a year in years one and two, EUR 9,100 in years three and four and EUR 9,000 in years five and six. Medical University Sofia charges EUR 9,950 a year. Medical University Pleven charges a flat EUR 9,000. Trakia University in Stara Zagora charges EUR 9,000 in years one and two, EUR 7,500 in years three to five and EUR 7,000 in year six.

• Medical University Plovdiv had not published its 2026-27 fee schedule at the time of writing; its last published schedule, for 2025-26, ran from EUR 7,000 to EUR 9,200 a year depending on the year of study.

• Every Bulgarian medical university requires an entrance test in Biology and Chemistry, usually online, with an application or exam fee of EUR 55 to EUR 340. There is no admission on a first-come basis.

• All seven Bulgarian medical faculties, including the four state medical universities, Trakia, Sofia University and Burgas, are listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools, checked on 22 October 2026.

• The Bulgarian long-stay visa (type D) costs EUR 100 and is lodged through VFS Global centres in India since 1 November 2025.

MBBS in Bulgaria fees 2026-27: university by university

Figures checked on 22 October 2026. Rupee amounts use the ECB reference rate of 21 October 2026, EUR 1 = Rs. 106.13, rounded. Sofia University's Faculty of Medicine also teaches Medicine in English; its 2026-27 fee document lists the programme but presents the figures in a form that does not map cleanly to one annual fee, so we have not quoted it.

How much does MBBS in Bulgaria cost in total over six years?

Tuition is the largest line but not the only one. The table adds a realistic living budget using the only official city figure we have, Medical University Pleven's own estimate of a minimum EUR 500 a month, and Medical University Varna's published rent ranges. Sofia and Plovdiv are larger cities, so budget towards the top of the range there.

Living cost sources: MU Pleven fees and living costs page (minimum EUR 500 a month; food EUR 250 to 300; hostel EUR 75 to 95; private flat EUR 300 to 400; monthly travel card EUR 8) and MU Varna accommodation page (university hostel 100 leva, about EUR 51, a month excluding electricity; private rent 500 to 700 leva, about EUR 255 to 360). For a family comparing this with India, a private MBBS seat in India is typically Rs. 60 lakh to Rs. 1 crore in tuition alone; our post on the cost of MBBS in India sets out the government, private and deemed figures.

What the tuition fee includes and what it does not

Bulgarian tuition covers teaching, examinations and use of university facilities for the academic year. It does not include the hostel, food, health insurance, textbooks, the entrance exam fee, the visa, or the residence permit card issued after arrival. Three universities charge a preparatory English course separately for students who do not meet the language requirement: EUR 4,000 at Pleven and EUR 3,500 at Trakia, each for a one-year course. Varna invoices tuition per semester, EUR 5,000 in first year, and Pleven in two equal instalments. Plovdiv asks for a pre-enrolment payment of EUR 2,000 that counts towards the first semester but is not refunded if the student withdraws.

Who is eligible for MBBS in Bulgaria

Three conditions apply to every Indian applicant. First, Class 12 with Physics, Chemistry and Biology; the universities require Biology and Chemistry in the school leaving certificate because those are the entrance exam subjects. Second, an entrance test in Biology and Chemistry, set by the university, in English. Third, for Indian students, NEET UG qualification in the year of admission or in one of the preceding years, because the NMC requires a NEET qualification for MBBS abroad for anyone who later wants to practise in India.

Minimum marks vary by university and are set each year in the admission guide. The universities also verify the Indian school certificate through NACID, the Bulgarian National Centre for Information and Documentation, which is why Varna asks for the NACID certificate in the paper file before 11 September.

Entrance exams and admission dates for Bulgarian medical universities

This is the step most other pages leave out or get wrong. Every university tests applicants, and the test dates set the application calendar. The 2026 cycle ran as follows; universities publish the 2027 dates in their admission guides from early 2027.

Sources: MU Sofia admission of foreign citizens, MU Varna how to apply, non-EU, MU Plovdiv admission guide 2026 (PDF), MU Pleven admission guide, Trakia University applications for non-EU students.

Pleven's February intake is the one to watch now. A student who missed the September 2026 starts elsewhere can still file for February 2027 until 30 October 2026, sit the Biology and Chemistry tests, and begin in the spring semester. Our post on MBBS in Europe intake deadlines tracks the other European windows.

Documents you need for admission and the visa

• Class 10 and Class 12 mark sheets and passing certificates, apostilled by the Ministry of External Affairs, with a certified translation where the university asks for one. Our guide to the apostille for MBBS in Europe walks through the MEA process.

• NEET UG scorecard, for the NMC's purposes rather than the university's.

• Passport valid for the whole first year, with copies of the data page.

• NACID recognition of the school certificate, arranged through the university after a conditional offer.

• For the type D visa, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs long-stay visa guide (PDF) lists the application form, a valid passport with copies of the data and visa pages, a recent colour photograph, and originals plus two copies of the documents that support the application, including proof of "the financial resources possessed for subsistence and accommodation". For students that means the admission letter, proof of paid tuition and proof of accommodation. The guide also requires health insurance and, for an applicant over 18, a police clearance certificate from India. A personal interview is compulsory, with no exceptions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs fee page lists the long-stay visa fee as EUR 100, not refunded if the visa is refused. Our post on the student visa for MBBS in Europe covers the proof-of-funds bar country by country.

Since 1 November 2025, Bulgarian D-visa applications from India are lodged at VFS Global centres in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai, with the decision still taken by the Embassy in New Delhi.

Recognition: WDOMS listing and the NMC rules

All seven Bulgarian medical faculties appear in the World Directory of Medical Schools: Medical University Sofia, Medical University Plovdiv, Medical University Varna, Medical University Pleven, Trakia University in Stara Zagora, Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski and Prof. Dr. Assen Zlatarov University in Burgas. We ran the WDOMS search for Bulgaria on 22 October 2026 and all seven came back as operational. Bulgaria is a European Union member, and the Medicine degree is the EU-regulated six-year programme, so graduates can register to practise across the EU after the language requirement of the country concerned.

For India, what matters is the NMC's Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021: a course of at least 54 months, taught in English, with a 12-month internship in the same institution, in a country where the degree entitles the holder to practise, followed by the FMGE, the screening exam a foreign graduate sits before working in India. Bulgaria's six-year Medicine programme is built as five years of study plus a clinical year, which is why the structure fits. Our explainer on how to check NMC and WDOMS recognition of a university shows how to confirm each point yourself. NExT, the proposed common exit exam, remains notified but deferred and is not in force; FMGE is the exam that applies.

One honest constraint. The number of Indian students who have graduated from Bulgaria and sat FMGE is small, so the country does not yet have a long run of pass data to quote; the only official country-level release that names Bulgarian universities, NBEMS's 2021 performance report, listed Pleven at 4 passes out of 12, Plovdiv at 1 of 4 and Sofia at 1 of 5. Those are single-digit cohorts and tell a family more about how few Indians studied there before 2021 than about the teaching. Our post on the FMGE 2026 pass rate explains how to read these figures.

How Bulgaria compares with its neighbours on fees

The pattern in the region is that a lower fee comes with an entrance test rather than without one, and Bulgaria is no exception. A student who clears the Biology and Chemistry test gets one of the lower annual fees in the EU.

What if you miss a deadline or fail the entrance test

Most Bulgarian universities run several test dates between April and September, so a failed test in May can be retaken in June or July at the same university, with the retake fee of EUR 150 at Varna or EUR 400 at Plovdiv. Trakia counts the best result across sittings. A student who misses the September document deadlines everywhere still has Pleven's February intake, with documents due by 30 October 2026. A student who cannot meet the English requirement can take a one-year preparatory course at Pleven or Trakia and enter Medicine the following year, at the extra cost shown above. And a student who decides Bulgaria is not the right fit can look at the full futureMBBS Bulgaria country page and the other European countries we cover before committing a deposit anywhere.

Sources

• Medical University Sofia, admission of foreign citizens and fees for the 2026-27 academic year

• Medical University Varna, tuition fees 2026-27

• Medical University Varna, how to apply for non-EU citizens 2026

• Medical University Varna, accommodation and rents

• Medical University Pleven, fees and living costs 2026-27

• Medical University Pleven, admission guide and February 2027 intake dates

• Trakia University, tuition fees 2026 (PDF, June 2026)

• Medical University Plovdiv, admission information 2026 and tuition fees 2025-26 (PDF)

• World Directory of Medical Schools search, Bulgaria, checked 22 October 2026

• Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, consular fees

• Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, long-stay visa type D guide (PDF)

• European Central Bank, euro reference rate for the Indian rupee, 21 October 2026