In this article I will explain in brief all the permanent residence permit types in Hungary which are currently four. This guide will help you mainly to know which type of permit you should apply to. Knowing this you will minimize the risk of applying to the wrong one and getting rejected, which in the future is not good for you as the rejection will be documented. A difficulty that you might encounter during the application process or indirectly with translations will be the language barrier. Important: this list does not contain temporary residence permits or citizenship. It only contains the permanent ones, in other words, primarily those types of permits for foreign individuals who have lived in Hungary for years and are planning to stay permanently.
In case you are moving to Hungary for the first time, you cannot apply for a permanent residence permit. I have another list for people moving for the first time here: Guide to all types of visas and residence permits in Hungary.
In case you are looking for how to acquire Hungarian Citizenship, I have a guide here: Guide: all pathways to acquire Hungarian Citizenship.
Third-country and EEA nationals
The first section of this guide is about 2 important definitions which are of crucial importance to do things the correct way.
Third-country national refers to an individual who is moving to a foreign country and is processing his or her papers to legally work in that foreign country. Another way of calling an individual on that particular situation is foreign national. In the other hand, individuals from any European Union member state (including Hungary) or from the Economic European Area (EEA) are referred in the official website of the inmigration office as EEA national. I am explaining all this to you because it will be helpful when you will be submitting your application. One thing though, the United Kingdom is no longer a member state of the European Union, neither of the EEA, thus UK citizens in this context are third-country nationals.
By the way, the Hungarian inmigration office is not called like that, I use that term to simplify the guide. Their official name is National Directorate for Aliens Policing.
Now that you are clear with these definitions, I will explain the four permanent residence types.
Permanent Residence Permit for EU or EEA citizens
This is a bit of a contradiction, because, for EU citizens or EEA nationals to live and work in Hungary, they only need the registration certificate. That certificate serves as an indefinite residence permit. In other words, you can live and work in Hungary with that certificate as much time as you wish, however, you can also apply for the Permanent Residence Permit for EU citizens or EEA nationals.
The main conditions though will be to have the registration certificate and have lived and worked in Hungary at least for a period of five years.
Hungarian Permanent Residence Permit for Third-Country Nationals
This permanent residence permit is for Third-Country Nationals who are planning to live and work in Hungary for a long term. The main condition is to have lived and worked legally in Hungary for at least three years. Let me explain with an example. A panamanian comes to work in Hungary with a work permit and has already three years of living and working in the country. The person applies for this permit, and if issued, there is no need to change the work permit every time the person would like to change jobs to a different company.
European Permanent Residence Permit for Third-Country Nationals
This permanent residence permit is for Third-Country Nationals who are planning to live and work in Hungary for a long term. The main condition is to have lived and worked legally in Hungary for at least five years. Depending on a very specific condition, you can apply to it with only 2 years of having lived and worked in Hungary.
There are other conditions obviously, but these are the main ones. From what I know, this permit is the most difficult one to get in terms of due dilligence.
Provisional Permanent Residence Permit for Third-Country Nationals
This permanent residence permit is for Third-Country Nationals who are planning to live and work in Hungary for a long term, but have lived with a residence permit in another EU or EEA member state. The main condition is to hold a residence permit issued by any other country within the European Union or the Economic European Area. And one more thing, in Hungary the plan is to work.
Permanent Residence Permit validity
All of these permits will have an initial validity period of maximum 5 years, with the opportunity to extend to additional 5 years.
Do you need help?
I can assist you in different ways!
Have a good day,
Renato
Immigration´s office official website: Residence in Hungary (bmbah.hu)
