Client story
Client's story
Where they started
The client's Bulgarian roots traced through paternal grandfather. The grandfather was Bulgarian—one of those Bulgarians who once lived in Bessarabia, in present-day Ukraine. The grandson had full entitlement to a Bulgarian EU passport through the grandfather's ancestry and wished to obtain it.
Why the standard route did not work
However, there was a serious life complication. The client's father—the Bulgarian grandfather's son—had died several years prior. It is precisely the father's documents that connect grandfather and grandson: to prove the client is this Bulgarian grandfather's grandson, one must demonstrate that the father was the grandfather's son and the client was the father's son. The father's documents existed but were incomplete, and crucially—the father himself could no longer obtain or confirm anything.
What BRIDGES had to solve
The client believed the case was hopeless without a living father: if the father could not appear, sign, or request his documents, then roots could not be proven through him. In reality, this is incorrect. The father's documents can be recovered without him—through archives where birth records are maintained. The father's birth certificate, where the grandfather is listed as father with Bulgarian nationality indicated, is what connects grandfather and grandson, and it can be retrieved from archives even when the father is deceased.
Why a standard answer would not do
At BRIDGES, the client came to proceed precisely this way: recover the missing father's documents from archives, prove that the father was the Bulgarian grandfather's son, and that the client was the father's son, and obtain a Bulgarian EU passport for the grandson despite the father being deceased.
My roots come from a Bulgarian grandfather through paternal line, but my father died several years ago, and I was certain I could prove nothing without him—he himself could neither obtain his documents nor confirm them. Anna explained that the father's documents could be recovered through archives without him. The team retrieved my father's birth certificate, where grandfather is listed as Bulgarian father, completed all necessary procedures, and connected grandfather to me through documents. As a result, I obtained a Bulgarian EU passport. Father is gone, but his documents helped—this was important both legally and humanly.
