Moving to another country can be overwhelming depending on many factors, but this guide will not only serve as a checklist, I will also warn you of some common pitfalls and give you some tips along the way, so read through. It will be helpful for a period of 8 months, the first 2 months being before you come to Hungary and the other 6 months being your first half year in Hungary. Although I mention Hungary, it is written from a Budapest point of view, because most foreigners move to and live in Budapest, including me. Nonetheless, if you move to Győr, Debrecen or Pécs, it will help you as well. I will explain documents, grocery shopping, internet services, job search, housing, social norms, health services, residence permit and even entry to Hungary. Hungary belongs to the European Union and at the same time is part of the Schengen Area. All in all, you will have a comprehensive guide for you to prepare, make sure you bookmark this article.
In case you have not decided yet, or you are unsure on whether you should move to Hungary, I have this article for you: Comprehensive guide 2023: pros and cons of living in Hungary
One last thing before starting the guide, I live in Hungary since 2006, speak Hungarian in an advanced level (apart from English and Spanish), am an Expat Consultant and a Tour Guide. I help tourists and expats every day. Drop me a message if I can help you in anything.
Planning
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. That phrase has been used millions of times and I will also use it here. Is it boring to use a common phrase? Yes, but it is true. I myself did not plan when moving to Hungary and it costed me headache and money. In my defence though, I have to say that at that time blogging was just starting internationally; about Hungary there was no content.
Now, in terms of planning, you need to focus mainly on 2 things, money and documents. In case you are coming with a working contract, then money will be fine, although it is always better to understand in advance what will be your expenses when arriving to Hungary. For example, to rent an apartment, when signing the contract (before moving to the apartment), you will need to pay 3 months of rent. The first 2 months will be a deposit and the third will be your first month of rent. There will be many unexpected expenses, so is better to be very clear with the expected expenses and bring additional money with you.
Warning: never pay any deposit in advance before arriving to Hungary, seeing the apartment and meeting the owner personally. More about renting later on.
Note: this article is somewhat written in a chronological order, however it will change depending on what type of residence permit you can apply to or will bring when moving to Hungary.
The next section will be about documents, so I will tell you about that there. When helping expats, I focus on helping them in avoiding problems, not solving problems. Avoiding problems is easier and cheaper. If you need help planning, contact me.
Documents
One document alone in Hungary can cost a flight ticket. In case you are from a nearby country or live in a country close to Hungary, then it might cost you a train ticket. Let me explain. If you do not bring all documents you need for all the paperwork, you might need to go back to your country. It might also happen that you brought the document, but it does not complies with the requirements, so anyway you need to go back to your country. I am not only talking about documents for a residence permit, you might need your university diploma with an apostille because you are not able to practice your profession in Hungary unless you validate or approve your diploma with the Hungarian authorities.
Concluding this section, make sure you know exactly what you need at least 3 months before travelling to Hungary. In that way, you will have time to requests papers back in your country before moving here. One more thing, many official documents such as a birth certificate will need to be translated to Hungarian language, but most times the translation will only be valid when done here in Hungary in the official translation office called OFFI. Again, make sure you know which documents need to be translated.
Entry to Hungary
Hungary is a member state of the European Union and at the same time of the Schengen Area despite having its own currency, the Hungarian forint. That is important to know, but more important is to know and understand if you are an EU Citizen, an EEA National or a Third-Country National. Even more important and crucial is to know and understand whether you are a Third-Country National with visa-free transit or not. Why is it important? Because of the 90 days rule and the 180 days rule that applies for EU Citizens and EEA Nationals. For Third-Country Nationals with visa-free transit those 90 days have another meaning. For some types of residence permits, you as a Third-Country Nationals with visa-free transit can apply for the residence permit inside Hungary while you are on those 90 days. If the 90 days passed, you cannot apply while in Hungary. In the case of Third-Country Nationals without visa-free transit, you will always need to apply from outside of Hungary even if you have a Schengen Visa.
Make sure you understand this, because it will define from where you can apply to your residence permit, to which types of residence permits you can apply to and to which ones you cannot apply, furthermore what documents you need to bring. More about residence permits below.
Deciding where to live
The first choice for the vast majority of foreigners is Budapest as a city, but you might be moving to Szeged, Pécs, Miskolc or Győr which are other big cities. In case of those cities it might be simpler to choose where to live, but in the case of Budapest it might get trickier. Your choice will depend on a array of different factors, but let me help you with the costs of renting. Here below find a table with the 12 most in demand Budapest districts as of March 2023. It starts with the most expensive at the top which is the fifth district.
The table below is based on statistics of the median rent costs, it should only serve as a guide. You might find an apartment or flat in the 7th district that is more expensive than other one in the first district for example. You can also see in the table which of the 12 districts are popular with expats and actually there is only 2 that are not. Therefore, this is a topic on its own and should have a separate article.
| District V (5) | Popular for expats |
| District II (2) | Popular for expats |
| District I (1) | Popular for expats |
| District VI (6) | Popular for expats |
| District XII (12) | Popular for expats |
| District III (3) | Popular for expats |
| District XIII (13) | Popular for expats |
| District XI (11) | Popular for expats |
| District VIII (8) | |
| District IX (9) | Popular for expats |
| District XXII (22) | |
| District VII (7) | Popular for expats |
Renting a place
In case you are buying a property, I highly recommend you to get the help of a lawyer. In case you do not have one, drop me a message and I will recommend one who I know since 2008; he speaks Hungarian, English and Spanish. If you are renting like most foreigners, it is simpler, but still I have many tips for you below:
- Never ever transfer monies to anybody before arriving to Hungary. Many people do that to save time and money, and then get scammed.
- Only pay the 3 months when signing the contract after seeing the apartment, meeting the owner, asking for the owner´s IDs to verify the data against the contract and asking all the questions.
- Looking for an apartment might be difficult and there are no shortcuts, because of many factors you might need to work a lot before you get one. It can take between 2 weeks and 2 months. The biggest platform in Hungary to look for housing is ingatlan.com (for buying or renting). You might find listings also in Facebook, but there you need to be extra careful, scammers get their victims mostly in Facebook.
- At the moment the real estate market is hot. When visiting apartments, you will need to decide quickly. Sometimes it happens that you want to see 5 apartments and then decide, but if 2 days passed, maybe 3 of them are already taken. I recommend you to shortlist as much as possible and for example visit 4 apartments all in one day. At the end of the day come back to the one you liked the most and sign the contract plus pay the 3 months.
- Apart from the renting fee there are other fees. Ask for all those fees in detail and all the costs. Those fees include water, electricity, heating, gas, sewage, internet, cable TV and common costs. Ask also the difference between the electricity, gas and heating bills in the different seasons (summer and winter).
- If possible, have someone who knows Hungarian language to check the lease or renting contract. For example is important to check the terms for you to get back the deposit when you move out from the apartment.
- Communicate to the landlord that you will need that rental agreement for your residence permit. Data needs to be accurate, signatures need to be there and other things are required if the owner is a company.
Residence permit
There are many types of residence permits in Hungary such as the White Card for Digital Nomads, or Student Visa, Work Permit or Family reunification permit. Which one can you apply to will differ depending on a couple of factors. Two things you will need to be very clear with are eligibility and documents. I have mentioned a bit about eligibility in the section above called entry to Hungary and I also mentioned the importance of documents. All that will depend on your unique personal situation, here are some guides you can start with, it will help you understand the basics of what are your options:
Work in Hungary: how EU citizens get the registration card (Registration card is like a Residence Permit for EU Citizens)
Guide to all types of visas and residence permits in Hungary
Documents to work
To be able to legally work you will need 4 personal documents issued here in Hungary. The sequence in which you will get these different documents will depend on the type of residence permit you get.
The 4 documents will be:
- Your Residence Permit or equivalent.
For EU citizens this is called Registration Card. - Your address card (in Hungarian: lakcímkártya)
- Your tax card (in Hungarian: adókártya)
- Your social security card (in Hungarian: TAJ kártya)
In most cases, along with your residence permit, for some further paperwork you will also need your passport or personal ID (if you are an EU Citizen). In other words, for example if you are going to open a bank account, they will ask for your passport and also your residence permit card. They will not accept only one or the other, they will need both.
Shipping goods
Now that you have rented a place and you have your residence permit, you are sure that you will stay in Hungary and with peace of mind you can have your stuff shipped or moved from your home country to Hungary. There are many companies to work with, make sure you check reviews and compare prices.
Arranging utilities
Landlords not always have all utilities contracted, although I can dare to say that is the norm. However, in case they need to be set up, you need to do it, they will be on your name and bills will come to you. Your landlord should tell you the companies. If you have a nice Landlord, he or she will help you with the forms and processes as well.
This should be the same in every country, but still I write it for the sake of having a complete guide:
- Water
- Heating/Gas
- Electricity
- Internet
- Cable TV
The common costs (collective maintenance fees) will always be at the owner´s name and you will need to pay it on top of the renting fee.
Note: make sure you ask the landlord the mailbox´s key and also stick a paper with your name and last name to the mailbox. The postman will bring your documents from the Immigration office, but if you are not at home, he will leave an official note on the mailbox. With that note you will then go to the Post Office to receive the document.
Hungarian telephone number
Many expats from the European Union stay with their home country SIM cards even when they live in Hungary permanently. If you are a Third-Country National, you are almost obliged to get a Hungarian telephone number. The 3 main mobile telephony providers in Hungary are Telekom, Yettel and Vodafone. I wish I could tell you which is the best or the cheapest, but that depends on your phone usage. Therefore, you need to invest the time to go there and ask for the different plans to know which one is the best for you.
Job search
Note: depending on what type of residence permit you are eligible to, you will have to search for a job before applying to the residence permit. In other cases, you will be able to look for a job after getting your residence permit. It might as well be that you do not need to look for a job because you are a Digital Nomad and will apply to the White Card.
Anyway, the most common platforms to look for a job in Hungary are profession.hu and also cvonline.hu. But it does not ends there, you can also look for jobs in the Career websites of the different multinationals established in the country. If your aim is to apply in multinational companies, it will be important to have a top-notch LinkedIn profile which at the same time is in absolute sync with your curriculum vitae (Recruiters will take a look at both). In fact, you will also see job listings there. To check companies, their salaries and what employees think of the management, Glassdoor is very useful. However, you will only be able to check big companies in that platform. In case of small or medium size companies, you will need other tools (and Hungarian language) to verify.
Warning: it is not as common, but there are some companies recruiting foreigners which not always play fair. Try to verify as much as you can and never pay anything in advance without making sure it is a legitimate employment contract with a real company.
Open a bank account
Most companies in Hungary will only transfer your salary to a Hungarian bank account. If you ask your employer and they say you need a Hungarian bank account, then you need one. When opening a bank account the bank will ask for your passport or ID card, plus your residence permit, your address card and your tax card. In terms of which bank to use, it will depend greatly on what services do you need, what services the different banks offer and their plans, as well as their fees. Some popular banks are: K&H Bank, Erste Bank, Granit Bank, MagNet Bank, CIB Bank, Raiffeisen Bank and UniCredit Bank.
English language is an important factor for expats, nonetheless there is no list to know which banks or which branches speak English, so you need to try all this personally.
Integration
Culture shocks are always to be experienced when moving to a new country, either we realize it or not. Some people, like me, do not get so affected by culture shocks, but some do. I have heard, and not only once, foreigners deciding leaving the country only because they did not feel good for not knowing the local language. Even when they spoke English at work and did not need Hungarian language at all. Somehow the fact that they were not able to communicate fluently with locals made them feel bad.
I strongly suggest that you invest some time in the topic of integration. Integration does not mean you will be Hungarian. I myself feel a bit Hungarian by now (or rather bicultural) but I have never stopped feeling that I am 100% panamanian. Integration is rather getting to know the culture, the people, the country, to be able to live better amongst Hungarians and or decreasing the chance of conflict. This is not only for them, it is also for you.
Hungarian language
Many foreigners live permanently in Hungary for decades, and some for all their lives and they do not speak the language. That is absolutely fine, however I recommend generally to learn at least 10 to 20 words, or 10 phrases. That minimum effort will make people smile and smiles open doors.
History and culture
Same as with the language, you do not need to be a Hungarian history scholar, just study a bit of the basics. For example start investigating about the three most important historic days in the year which I will list below. Hungarians will appreciate that you know a bit about their history, although do not say your opinion about the different events.
- Revolution of 1848 in March 15th
- State Foundation day the 20th of August
- Hungarian uprising of 1956 October 23rd
To get to know what Hungarians are like, here is an article for you:
What Hungarian people are like (Part 1)
Day to day social norms
When in Rome, do as the romans do. Right? Right! Let me tell you the number one social norm in Hungary: silence. Simple, no? No, it is not simple. When I was new to the country, I realized after a couple of months that locals whisper in public transport. But it is not only in a tram or in the metro, silence is expected everywhere except in concerts. Neighbours expect silence and you will become their most beloved person if they never hear any type of noise coming from your apartment. If you like loud music, buy the best ever over-ear headphones and that is it. If you like repairing stuff, do it within the allowed time window. Every residential building in Hungary has its rules (written in a paper in the entrance of the building) and there you will find from what time to what time you can hammer. In case of renovations, always communicate to neighbours in advance, in that way they can plan to go to the office instead of staying at home and not being able to concentrate because of the noise.
There are many other social norms, but I will leave that for another article.
Working culture in Hungary
This is another topic that I could write about a lot, but to keep it compact here, I will only give you 3 recommendations: punctuality, communication and keep your word. Be on time 99% of the times and if once you will not make it on time, communicate that you will be late and say how much you will be late. Keep your word 99% of the times with the tasks assigned to you, but in case you know you will not have it on time, communicate to all stakeholders and say for when you will have it.
Your colleagues and superiors will trust you and you will go a long way if you follow this.
Getting to know the city
I arrived 2 hours late to my first job interview here in Hungary, luckily I still got the job. For you to avoid such situations, get to know the city. Travel in the weekend to the office before your first day of work, so you get familiar with the surroundings and public transport. Sometimes even with Google Maps you get a bit lost, so better to invest the time.
Grocery shopping
Where locals shop
The biggest supermarkets are Tesco and Auchan (also InterSpar), but usually those are far from the city centre. Then there are the medium size supermarket chains. Lidl, Aldi and Penny are the cheapest and Spar (same brand as InterSpar) along with CBA are the most expensive despite no difference in quality.
Besides supermarkets, there are local markets. Find below the biggest ones in Budapest:
- Central Market Hall (Nagy Vásárcsarnok)
- Rákóczi Square´s Market (Rákóczi Téri Vásárcsarnok)
- Klauzál Square´s Market (Klauzál téri Vásárcsarnok)
- Hunyadi Square´s Market (Hunyadi téri piac)
- Lehel´s Market (Lehel Csarnok)
- Light Street Market (Fény Utcai Piac)
Shops for expats
In the last couple of years, hypermarkets (Tesco, Auchan and InsterSpar) have realized the demand for exotic food and now have whole areas with 6-8 shelves full of foods from different countries. You might find good stuff there if you are from a big country. Then, at least in Budapest, there are also the smaller shops like Szép Kis India International Exotic Market, that is the name in Google Maps. There you can find Asian food, African and Latin-American food. Also in Budapest we have Culinaris and you can find great stuff there, however careful there with the price tags. Better check their online shop first.
Public transport
Most of what you need to know about the public transport you will learn by experience, so I will leave this section short. First, public transport in Hungary, but especially in Budapest is fantastic. Second, if you use the transport without buying the ticket (and validating it) or the monthly pass (or any pass), you will get fined and the experience will not be a nice one, so do not do it. Buy your pass or your ticket. If you buy the ticket, validate it.
One more thing, use Google Maps, it is the most practical app ever invented and it is free. Use it and learn all functions in it, they are all useful. Even if you know the way, check because that day maybe a tram got broken and your usual way to go to the office is blocked. You will not know, but Google Maps will, so if you check you will be able to use an alternative route and get to work on time.
Health services
Purposely I have left the most difficult topic for the end. Let me start this way. To go to a clinic or hospital (even if private) you will always be asked for your social security card (in Hungarian: TAJ kártya), your residence permit or ID and your address card.
Second, where to go? If you work for a multinational company most probably you will have private medical insurance as a benefit, so ask a colleague if you are new to the company, they will explain you what to do and where to go. If you have private medical insurance as an individual, check the contract and all the information they sent you when you requested the services, to know what to do. If you do not have private medical insurance, you need to go to the public health care services. The exact clinic you need to go to will be defined by your residential address. In every district in Budapest, there is an area called körzet in Hungarian. There is a clinic always assigned to each of those areas. I explain all this for you to know, but the easiest way to know which is the clinic (and general practitioner or physician) assigned to your area is asking your neighbour. Ask them where is the clinic of the General Practitioner. In Hungarian is called like this: Háziorvosi rendelő. Rendelő means in this context clinic and háziorvos means General Practitioner or Physician.
That clinic will always be the starting point for anything except for emergencies. You will always go there, and in case you need an specialist your General Practitioner will give you a paper to go to a specialist. There is one challenge many foreigners face and that is the language barrier. Not all General Practitioners speak English, so in case yours does not speak English, ask them which other clinic close to you have General Practitioners who speaks English. Maybe they know, maybe they do not. If they do not, ask other expats if you know any who live close to you or in Facebook Groups.
In emergency cases call 112 which is the general number for emergencies (police, fire department or ambulance).
Concluding thoughts
If you read the whole guide, most probably you realized that I mentioned many times that many things will depend on your type of residence permit. As it is something so serious, and most importantly time bound, I recommend you to get advice on it well in advance. Consult fees with consultants like me or with lawyers and invest the money to save time, problems and money. Remember, is easier and cheaper to avoid problems than to solve problems.
On another note, this guide is only about the essentials. I did not include schools, leisure, entertainment, sport or social activities on purpose, otherwise the guide would be even longer. I will write about those in other articles.
Let me close this guide wishing you a great time in Hungary, enjoy it and make the best of it!
Sincerely,
Renato
Sources
novekedes.hu/ingatlan/alberleti-arak-varosonkent-keruletenkent-mutatjuk-mennyi-volt-a-dragulas
