A Daily Telegraph investigation uncovers that a Bulgarian passport can be acquired for as little as 180,000 euros, allowing the applicant and their children to become EU citizens.

Undercover reporters posing as representatives of an Indian businessman were told that a Bulgarian passport could be legally obtained for a payment of about £150,000.

Earlier this month, undercover journalists approached several companies based in Bulgaria asking about the possibility of buying citizenship for a rich Indian businessman.

Arton Capital, a “one stop shop for citizenship” with offices in Sofia, London, Dubai and other cities, explained there were now extensive benefits of buying a Bulgarian passport.

Milan Keremedchiev, the vice president of the firm, said: “When you become a Bulgarian citizen, then you have all … the rights of an EU citizen, you live, study, work, settle down, uh, anywhere within the European Union.”

He added: “When the main applicant receives his Bulgarian citizenship, within three months, the children … apply and receive Bulgarian citizenship based on what I told you before, one of the parents being Bulgarian.”

There is no suggestion that the firm acted illegally or improperly as they were simply explaining to the undercover reporters how the Bulgarian passport scheme operates.

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