Bulgaria: Information on the uses of baptismal certificates, whether they are used as identity documents, whether they indicate the ethnicity of the holder's parents, and the commonly used identification documents
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 October 1997 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | BGR27803.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Bulgaria: Information on the uses of baptismal certificates, whether they are used as identity documents, whether they indicate the ethnicity of the holder's parents, and the commonly used identification documents, 1 October 1997, BGR27803.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abea7b.html [accessed 10 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A letter sent to the DIRB on 19 September 1997 by a lawyer with the Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights in Sofia, an association of lawyers who defend people claiming that their human rights have been violated, states the following:
1. The commonly used identification documents are
-passports, issued to persons at the age of 16 and more years
-foreign passports or other substituting documents for travelling abroad;
-identification certificates for officers and sergeants from the Bulgarian Armed Forces, the Construction Forces, and the Department of Transportation and
- military cards for those who serve in the Bulgarian Armed Forces, the Construction Forces, and the Department of Transportation.
2. Baptismal and birth certificates constitute evidence identification documents for persons under the age of 16 years as well as evidence of parental origin whenever such evidence is required.
Whether such certificates do or do not contain evidence data on the nationality and/or ethnicity of the individual to which they are issued depends on the regulations of the respective issuing church, to which in general we have no direct access, unless we are provided specific data concerning your request.
Baptism certificates issued by the East-Orthodox Church are required upon application for the Faculty of Ecclesiastic Sciences at the Sofia University.
The last sentence of the above quotation is corroborated by page 882 of Country Reports 1996, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres and states, "At the Department of Theology of Sofia University all students are required to present a certificate of baptism from the Orthodox Church." Corroborating information on the remainder of the information contained in the 19 September 1997 letter could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights, Sofia. 19 September 1997. Letter sent to the DIRB.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996. 1997. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.
Additional Sources Consulted
CSCE Digest [Washington]. Monthly.
DIRB country file on Bulgaria.
Electronic sources: DIRB databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, REFWORLD (UNHCR database).
News from Helsinki Watch [Washington]. Monthly.
Transition [Prague]. Twice monthly.
Uncaptive Minds [Washington]. Quarterly.
Unsuccessful attempts to contact other oral sources.
