Thread: Hi from Bulgaria

Hi everyone
My husband and I now live here in Bulgaria. Love the country and the friendly locals, but really missing home.
So pleased to find this website

Jenny

Wecome to Brits Abroad Jenny & O/H hope you
like it here and if you ever feel like a chat to
ease the boredom just log in.

Nice to have you here.


.

Hi Sheena, Hi Andy
We have been living here in Bulgaria for 16 months now.
Bulgaria is a beautiful country, with some really stunning scenery.
We have purchased a house in one of the many villages, and find a lot of the locals very friendly and kind towards us.
Our problem is that we are very home sick and sometimes wish that we could go home.
We have had loads of problems trying to get our UK State Pensions paid into a bank here. It would seem that Bulgaria has normal banking facilities, IBAN numbers etc, It is the fault of the DWP in the Uk. It would seem, at this moment in time, they will not pay money into a Bulgarian bank by electronic money transfer. They say they that they do not have the facility to do so. They will pay by cheque sent to Bulgaria. These have got lost because the Bulgarian postal system is unreliable in the villages. When the cheque does arrive it has to be taken to your Bulgarian bank for return to the UK, against your signature, for payment authorisation. It can take 30-45 days for the money to reach your bank account in Bulgaria. The easiest way is of course to have it paid into a UK bank, assuming that you still have one. The problem then arises when the bank card expires. Some banks will post the cards to you, but then you face the problems with the Bulgarian postal system.There are banks that will not send cards by post and you have to return to your bank to collect them. Please has anybody any idea how we can overcome this problem.
Thank you both for the warm welcome it is very much appreciated.

Jenny

Sorry Jenny can't help with your pension problem, but thought i would tell you of a friend that moved to Bulgaria last year when he retired. He used to come back to see his family in the British summers but the last time he vowed he would only return if it was something of real importance as he hates it here now.
He loves it their so much and has met some real good friends and does alot of skiing.

Sorry not too sure what part of Bulgaria but could find out for you if you want.

Hi Andy
Yes we would like to speak to your friend please.
Thank you

Jenny

Hello, I have just joined this site and read your post. We have been out of the uk for about the same length of time. You are not alone with your feelings. We going to try and get back next year. The few Brits in the general area are middling to unpleasant, whereas the locals are lovely. The area is beautiful, but I no longer see it. The weather is better, but I would welcome rainy old Brit days on the High St. I still have difficulty doing meals with limited types of food. I am not about to cook a pigs face or a bunny rabbit. Dogs are tied up 24x 7 and go mental, esp during the night. I could go on, ( I did consider calling myself Meldrew !! )

In the first place you dont see these things, the excitement of an adventure takes over, or you think they are nothing and can be overcome. However, they enlarge and get bigger. Mainly though, it has been to do with our treatment from expats who have been here longer. No, I am not saying which country.

Originally Posted by Jenny

Hi Sheena, Hi Andy
We have been living here in Bulgaria for 16 months now.
Bulgaria is a beautiful country, with some really stunning scenery.
We have purchased a house in one of the many villages, and find a lot of the locals very friendly and kind towards us.
Our problem is that we are very home sick and sometimes wish that we could go home.
We have had loads of problems trying to get our UK State Pensions paid into a bank here. It would seem that Bulgaria has normal banking facilities, IBAN numbers etc, It is the fault of the DWP in the Uk. It would seem, at this moment in time, they will not pay money into a Bulgarian bank by electronic money transfer. They say they that they do not have the facility to do so. They will pay by cheque sent to Bulgaria. These have got lost because the Bulgarian postal system is unreliable in the villages. When the cheque does arrive it has to be taken to your Bulgarian bank for return to the UK, against your signature, for payment authorisation. It can take 30-45 days for the money to reach your bank account in Bulgaria. The easiest way is of course to have it paid into a UK bank, assuming that you still have one. The problem then arises when the bank card expires. Some banks will post the cards to you, but then you face the problems with the Bulgarian postal system.There are banks that will not send cards by post and you have to return to your bank to collect them. Please has anybody any idea how we can overcome this problem.
Thank you both for the warm welcome it is very much appreciated.

Jenny

Hi Jenny - I don't know if this will help but we use Paypal (and the internet) to transfer money. We pay money from our US bank account into our US Paypal account. We then transfer it to our UK paypal account and then pay it into our UK bank acount. The process takes 7 days and works the same in reverse and it's perfectly legal - you just have to inform Paypal of what you're doing.

If you want to know exactly how to do it let me know!

Originally Posted by Hbucket

Hello, I have just joined this site and read your post. We have been out of the uk for about the same length of time. You are not alone with your feelings. We going to try and get back next year. The few Brits in the general area are middling to unpleasant, whereas the locals are lovely. The area is beautiful, but I no longer see it. The weather is better, but I would welcome rainy old Brit days on the High St. I still have difficulty doing meals with limited types of food. I am not about to cook a pigs face or a bunny rabbit. Dogs are tied up 24x 7 and go mental, esp during the night. I could go on, ( I did consider calling myself Meldrew !! )

In the first place you dont see these things, the excitement of an adventure takes over, or you think they are nothing and can be overcome. However, they enlarge and get bigger. Mainly though, it has been to do with our treatment from expats who have been here longer. No, I am not saying which country.

Sorry your experience of moving abroad is not going so well. Hopefully having a chat about it here will help.

We've met all types of ex-pats here, good and bad but the Americans we're getting to know are worth the effort and, although I still miss the UK because of family and friends, the beauty of this place takes my breath away on a daily basis so I'm happy to be here. I do travel backwards and forwards to the UK a lot though so I'm fairly lucky.

Have you thought about moving elsewhere?

Hi Jenny, welcome to BA. I hope you can get to pop on here for a chat often as it does help with the lonely homesick feeling. There are a few of us that feel that way and we always feel better when we chat on here.
I will ask my OH about the pension and bank issue, he may have some ideas as he works in financal matters for expats.

Hi HBucket and welcome to you.
Sorry you are feeling like you want to go home.How long have you been there? Sometimes it can take a while to adjust and settle in. Try to persevere a while and maybe things will turn a corner. I know what you mean about other expats, they are the same here. They tend to be very clichy and it takes them a while before they seem to accept you. Sad and odd but very true.
When you feel low, pop on here and have a chat with someone, it always makes me feel better

Hi Traveller and Doz. Thankyou so much for your kind responses to me and Jenny. I was full of sympathy for Jennies situation and was trying to make her feel better. Maybe your answers will help. Our pension is paid into uk ( not the bigger pension yet ) We leave it there. We live on interest from the money we bought over and use hole in wall if emergency. It seems to work.
We have been here nearly 2 years. I thought we would be welcome with open arms by any Brits. I thought we would be close and have a common bond. Hah !!

We choose England to go back to.....cant wait ..xxxxx