Bulgaria Emigration and Immigration

Online Sources

 * 1850-1934 Auswandererlisten, 1850-1934 (Hamburg passenger lists) at FamilySearch, images.
 * 1850-1934 Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934 at Ancestry, ($) index and images.
 * 1855-1924 Hamburg Passenger Lists, Handwritten Indexes, 1855-1934 at Ancestry, ($) images.
 * Hamburg, Germany Emigrants at FindMyPast, ($) index.
 * 1878-1960 UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, at Ancestry.com, index and images. ($)
 * 1890-1960 Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960 at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1892-1924 New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924 Search results for Bulgaria
 * 1946-1971 Free Access: Africa, Asia and Europe, Passenger Lists of Displaced Persons, 1946-1971 Ancestry, free. Index and images. Passenger lists of immigrants leaving Germany and other European ports and airports between 1946-1971. The majority of the immigrants listed in this collection are displaced persons - Holocaust survivors, former concentration camp inmates and Nazi forced laborers, as well as refugees from Central and Eastern European countries and some non-European countries.

Cultural Groups

 * Die Deutschen in der Dobrudscha : zugleich ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der deutschen Wanderungen in Osteuropa, e-book. History of the Germans in the Dobrudja, Romania, mainly Tulcea and and Constanţa counties, and partly in Bulgaria.
 * Registers of the Spanish Legation in Sofia, Bulgaria (Registros de la Legación de España en Sofía, Bulgaria), images.
 * Registers of the Consulate of Spain in Rustchuk, Bulgaria (Registros del Consulado de España en Rustchuk, Bulgaria), passports and identity cards, images.

British Overseas Subjects

 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms, Bulgaria, index and images, ($)


 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Banns and Marriages, Bulgaria, index and images, ($)


 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials, Bulgaria, index and images, ($)

Finding the Town of Origin in Bulgaria
If you are using emigration/immigration records to find the name of your ancestors' town in Bulgaria, see Bulgaria Finding Town of Origin for additional research strategies.

Bulgaria Emigration and Immigration
"Emigration" means moving out of a country. "Immigration" means moving into a country. Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the country. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. Sometimes they also show family groups.

Emigration From Bulgaria
An estimated three million ethnic Bulgarians are dispersed around the world, the majority in Europe such as in neighboring nations of Romania, Greece, Serbia, Turkey and North Macedonia. About 200,000 in the U.S., with 50,000 others in Canada, 20,000 in Australia, and 20,000 in Brazil. Other large Bulgarian diaspora communities are in France, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Italy, Russia and the United Kingdom.

For Further Reading
There are additional sources listed in the FamilySearch Catalog: