Highly-qualified worker in Hungary

Application submission outside of Hungary

If your entry into Hungary does not constitute a visa-exempt travel, your application for the issuance of a residence permit is to be submitted outside of Hungary.  You may submit an application before a diplomatic or consular foreign mission of Hungary in the country of your nationality or your habitual place of residence. Please be advised to contact the competent foreign mission of Hungary to inquire for further information, if there are any other places authorised to receive applications for a residence permit. Such application receiving places are constituted by e.g., honorary consuls, trade representations, and external service providers.   

If there are not any consulates or other types of places receiving applications in the country of your nationality or your habitual place of residence, in exceptional cases, you may submit an application in a country where you are staying legally provided that you provide proof of the reasons of your exceptional application submission. Submitting an application for a visa separately is not required, as an application for the issuance of a residence permit comprises an application for a visa entitling its holder to collect the respective residence permit.

Application submission within the territory of Hungary

If you are allowed to enter the territory of Hungary visa free due to your nationality, and you are not a holder of a residence permit, you may submit an application for a residence permit during your legal stay in Hungary, within the territory of Hungary as well. Application submission in Hungary is available:

• by electronic means via the electronic information system and procedure initiation platform of Enter Hungary, which is available by clicking here, or
• in person, before the competent regional directorate of National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing as per the applicant’s place of accommodation.

Fees

If the application is submitted at a diplomatic or consular mission, the administrative service fee charged for the procedure for issuing a residence permit is EUR 110, payable at that diplomatic or consular mission primarily in EUR or other convertible currency, or in exceptional cases in the legal tender of the State where the application is submitted. The administrative service fee charged for the procedure is HUF 39,000 if submitted in Hungary in person, HUF 24.000 if submitted via the Enter Hungary platform. The fee charged for the extension of a residence permit is HUF 23,000.

The following documents may serve as proof of the purpose of residence:

• a preliminary agreement or a valid work contract established for an employment requiring higher professional qualification and
• a certificate of higher education or professional qualifications required for the job specified in the preliminary agreement or work contract (this is not required if you are applying as a professional sportsperson, professional coach, performer or film producer).

If the Hungarian employment was established on the basis of an agreement concluded between an employer established in a third country and a domestic employer in order to fulfil an agreement, the following documents must be attached besides the above-mentioned ones:

• the agreement between an employer established in a third country and a domestic employer for the purpose of the third-country worker's employment in Hungary.

If you apply for a Hungarian Card because you perform actual work in relation to the activities of a company, cooperative or other legal entity -established for gainful purposes - as an owner or an executive officer, the competent authority may request additional documents to confirm the operation of the company, in particular:

• a detailed statement of the economic activity,
• an enterprise contract,
• a contract of assignment, agreement,
• a contract of sales, purchase contract,
• a certificate from the tax authority stating that the company is not liable for taxes and contributions, it is not subject to execution or liquidation proceedings,
• a certificate that the company has fulfilled its obligations relating to the declaration of all its employees to the immigration authorities and the payment of taxes and contributions.

When applying for a single permit or a residence permit, you need to:

• present a travel document, which will remain valid for at least 3 months longer than the intended period of stay,
• prove adequate accommodation,
• prove sufficient financial resources and subsistence means (e.g. prior agreement for a work contract),
• prove health insurance (by being officially employed you are fully covered by health insurance).

More on Hungarian Card

Your work permit authorises you to carry out a specific employment activity with a specific employer. 

Family members of a third-country national who is a holder of a Hungarian Card can be granted a residence permit for family reunification.

Hungarian law distinguishes three different regimes for permanent residence and, for each, the applicant needs to have:

• adequate accommodation, 
• sufficient financial resources and subsistence means,
• health insurance.

You cannot be subject to any ground for refusal as set out in the law, e.g. threat to public or national security, being the subject of an expulsion order, entry ban or alert in the Schengen Information System.

Your family member will be entitled to a National Residence Card if he/she has legally and continuously resided for at least three years in Hungary. This permit authorises him/her to reside in Hungary for an indefinite period of time.

You will also be able to obtain a National Residence Card if you hold a residence permit or an Interim Residence Card and:

• you are a family member (other than a spouse) or a dependent relative in the ascending line of a non-EU citizen with immigrant, permanent resident or refugee status and lived together for at least one year before the application was submitted, or
• you are the spouse of a non-EU citizen with immigrant or permanent resident or refugee status and the marriage was contracted at least two years before the application was submitted, or
• you were formerly a Hungarian citizen whose citizenship was terminated, or your ascendant is or was a Hungarian citizen, or
• you are a minor child of a non-EU citizen with immigrant, permanent resident or refugee status.

Your establishment has to be in accordance with the interest of Hungary. You need to present a clean criminal record. General conditions for residence permits apply.

Your family member is entitled to an EC long-term residence permit if he/she lived continuously and legally in Hungary for five years. This permit authorises him/her to reside in Hungary for an indefinite period of time.

General conditions for residence permits apply.

If you are a non-EU citizen holding an EC Residence Card from another EU Member State, you can obtain an Interim Residence Card:

• for employment or business purposes (except seasonal employment), or
• to pursue studies or vocational training, or
• for other certified purposes.

Family members of non-EU nationals arriving for the purposes stated above (i.e. gainful employment, pursuit of studies and other justified reasons) apply for an Interim Residence Card, and the family members of non-EU nationals holding an Interim Residence Card may be issued an Interim Residence Card if their family relationship already existed in the Member State of the European Union where the EC Residence Card certifying permanent residence status was issued.

This status is valid for a maximum of five years and may be extended by a maximum of five additional years at a time.