Hoteliers in the largest tourist complex on the Southern Black Sea coast have serious problems with the Bulgarian embassies, which must issue work visas to their seasonal employees. Hotel managers in Sunny Beach are raising the alarm about this and give as an example our embassy in Uzbekistan, which has been delaying the issuance of documents to workers who have passed interviews for three months.
Alexander Alexandrov, who is a hotel manager in Sunny Beach, explained on “Hello, Bulgaria” on Nova TV that he and his colleagues rely largely on employees from third countries, outside the European Union. These workers are subject to a more specific work permit regime. "They must be issued a work permit, which is issued by the Employment Agency. I want to praise the Agency because in the last two years they have radically changed the way they work. They meet all legally established deadlines, we have feedback from them. I must note that there are cases in which we make mistakes, but they are corrected electronically", said Alexandrov.
But he complained about the work of our diplomatic consulates abroad - especially our embassies in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. "I am still waiting for about 15 people whose work permits have already expired halfway. It has been in effect since April 20, but our consular services are not issuing them visas. I cannot explain the reason for this. Some of them submitted documents and went through an interview back in February. We sent numerous emails, questions, documents - but unfortunately no effect", emphasized the manager.
He emphasized that his hotel had borne all the costs associated with these third-party employees. They paid the agencies that select these people. They also paid their insurance. "All these expenses were borne by us. In addition, we rely on these people in view of the already approaching summer season. If they are delayed for another 2 weeks, I can no longer extend their stay," said Alexandrov.