In this article I will explain you many details about the Hungarian residence permit for a Third-country national who reunites with a European or Hungarian (EEA national) family member who is in Hungary. This residence permit is called family reunification residence permit in most countries as well as in Hungary. I will explain you the most important details such as to whom it applies, what type of family member could get it, the documents required, its validity and I will also give you some advise. Here is the first one, make sure you are very clear with all conditions and requirements and seek expert advise before submitting the application.
Important: this guide is for third-country nationals, however it is all connected to the family member who is a European or Hungarian citizen, therefore I will explain all definitions, do not miss them.
Hungarian family reunification residence permit
The name says it all, but I will explain even the most simple things to make it easy for you. This is a family reunification residence permit, but it does not apply to any type of family or relative. Another specific element of this permit is that it is for a third-country national to reunite with a European or Hungarian family member. Let me explain that with an example to make it even clearer. Let us say a Hungarian man moves to Panama to work and he meets a Panamanian woman, magic happens and they get married. After 5 years living in Panama, they move to Hungary. In this case, she is the third-country national and he is the European-Hungarian. In other words, a non European individual reunites with a European.
Eligibility for family reunification
The main condition for you to be eligible is for you to be able to provide evidence of the fact that you are family. You can be family, but if you cannot provide evidence, you will not be eligible for this process.
Another criteria is the type of relative you are, it is not any type of family. I already mentioned one type of family and that is marriage, so a spouse of a European or Hungarian is eligible. If not married, but the union is official, there is eligibility as well. Another type of family is a descendant, meaning the children of a European or Hungarian. Another type of family is the European or Hungarian´s ascending line, meaning Mother, Father, Grandfather or Grandmother, but that scenario gets trickier in terms of documents required compared to the case of descendants. Just to make it clear, girlfriends, boyfriends, brothers, sisters or cousins are not eligible.
Third-country and EEA nationals
Although I already explained a bit about this, I need to explain these definitions well because both are equally important in this specific process.
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 European Union (and in Hungary as a member state) you are a third-country national. Individuals from any EU 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.
Documents required for family reunification
As it is a family reunification residence permit, the most common ways to show evidence of the relation between 2 persons are a marriage certificate or a birth certificate.
Additionally, you will also need to submit other documents. Documents which prove that you will be financially self-sufficient in Hungary. Documents which prove you have housing or accomodation and documents which prove you have health insurance coverage. Lastly, if the EEA national you are uniting with is a European (and not a Hungarian), he or she will need to provide his or her Registration Certificate Card. In case the EEA national you are uniting with is Hungarian, he or she will need to provide his or her personal documents.
Application process and processing period
The process starts after submitting the completed forms, the documents and the administrative fee. This can only be done electronically while being in Hungary because after 2 weeks, you will need to go to the inmigration office to present your documents personally for their due diligence. My advise is that you make sure you understand all the requirements and when you travel to Hungary to apply, you have all documents with you.
They suppose to take 70 days to process the application, but I have seen it is not always the case. They can take much more time if you do not submit the correct documents or if the documents you submit do not comply with their standards, or in case they ask for additional documents.
Family reunification residence permit validity period
The validity period of your permit will depend as well on the EEA national´s planned stay in Hungary. In general though, it will have a validity of maximum 5 years.
Personal documents to live and work in Hungary
After getting the residence permit you are still not done, all in all, you will need 4 personal documents to live and work in Hungary along with your passport.
- The family reunification residence permit card
- Address card or in hungarian lakcímkártya
- Tax card or in hungarian adókártya
- Social security card or in hungarian TAJ kártya
Do you need help?
I can assist you in different ways!
Have a good day,
Renato
Immigration´s office website: Residence in Hungary (bmbah.hu)
