Was the UK government capable of confirming in 2016 if I was in Bulgaria?
I'm actually asking as research for a novel which is set in 2016.
If a UK citizen was reported missing abroad, would the UK authorities be able to check using name and DOB only, and discover that someone with those details was definitely in Bulgaria at that time? (NB- Bulgaria is not in the Schengen Zone, so passport checks are required at all borders).
Best Answer
First of all you should consider that name and date of birth is not enough to uniquely identify a person. Even if Bulgarian authorities recorded entries and exits, they could with the name and DOB only confirm or reject that a UK citizen with that name and DOB was currently present in Bulgaria at any time. It would not be possible to find out if it is the person you are actually looking for.
IANAL and I am not familiar with Bulgarian record keeping of foreign visitors, but when it comes to the question if a UK citizen would generate entry and exit records passing a Bulgarian bolder in 2016, I would with 99.9% certainty say no. UK and Bulgaria were at that time both members of the EU (UK not being a Schengen member is not significant here) and it would be a breach of EU data protection laws if one country with no reason tracked the movement of other EU citizens.
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