For the Bulgarian community in Los Angeles, this is the practical link to the administration back home — documents, identity, civil status, and help when something goes badly wrong far from home.
Below you will find the contact details on record, what the office typically handles, how appointments work and the questions people ask most before travelling to Los Angeles.
📞 Quick Contact
- Address: 11766 Wilshire BLVD 440, Los Angeles
- Phone: (310) 478-6700
- Official website: http://www.mfa.bg/embassies/usagc2
- Type of office: Consulate General
🛂 Services normally available
Bulgarian consular offices generally handle the following, though not every post offers every service:
- Visas: entry permission for those whose nationality requires it. Ask whether your trip needs one at all before assuming it does.
- Passports: the most common reason people come here. Expect an appointment, a visit in person, and a wait while the document is produced elsewhere.
- Documents: certification of papers so they have legal effect abroad — either an apostille or the older legalisation chain, depending on the country.
- Powers of attorney: drawn up or witnessed here for use at home. The wording should come from the lawyer or notary who will use it.
- Civil status: the paperwork that keeps two legal systems in agreement about who you are and who your family is.
- Help in trouble: a consulate cannot lift you out of a foreign legal system, but it can make sure you are not facing it alone.
📅 Before you book
Most consular procedures need an appointment, and at a busy consulate general the wait for one is usually the longest part of the whole process.
Use the office’s own channel. Sites that charge for slots are intermediaries, and consulates warn against them regularly.
Bring originals and copies of everything. Counters keep the copy and return the original, and the reverse is the exception.
🤝 Worth knowing before you go
Check the consular district before anything else. The map that matters is the one the country drew, not the one on your phone.
Names are the other recurring problem. Where the spelling on an American document differs from the Bulgarian record — accents dropped, surnames ordered differently, a married name — expect to be asked for evidence explaining the difference.
Consular processing is slower than any commercial service and the timetable is not negotiable. Start early.
Before you travel to the consulate general in Los Angeles
How do I find the office once I get there?
It is at 11766 Wilshire BLVD 440 in Los Angeles. Allow extra time if you are arriving by public transport, because queues tend to form before opening.
Do I need a visa to visit Bulgaria?
That depends on your nationality and the length of the trip. Where Bulgaria does require one, it is increasingly applied for online rather than at a counter.
Is there a site with the current fees?
Yes: www.mfa.bg/embassies/usagc2 publishes the current tariff, which is usually revised annually.
What if I lose my passport days before a flight?
That does not go through the ordinary appointment queue. Call and say it is an emergency: for imminent travel most networks issue a travel document valid for a single journey.
Does this office handle passports?
It usually does, by appointment and with personal attendance for biometrics. Ask whether the booklet is collected at the counter or posted out.
Is it worth calling ahead?
Yes, and it saves wasted journeys. Call (310) 478-6700 and ask what they need and how they take payment — cards are the exception rather than the rule.
How do I know which office is mine?
By the consular district assigned to it, not by distance. It is the first thing worth asking on the phone.