In this article I will explain to you in detail what the registration card is, but most importantly how to get it if you are moving to Hungary to work. Additionally, I will tell you what other personal documents you will need to acquire before and after you get the registration card which will allow you to pay taxes and be covered by the Hungarian universal healthcare system. Before explaining how to apply, I will explain you important definitions that will be helpful once you are in the immigration´s office website.
Updated on March 2024: the recent changes in the Hungarian immigration law do not impact the Registration certificate card for EU or EEA citizens.
EU Citizen and EEA National meanings
An EU citizen is an individual citizen of any of the member states of the European Union. However, in the website of the Hungarian immigration office you will not see EU citizen, you will see EEA national. EEA means European Economic Area, which entails all EU countries with the addition of four more: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
If your country is not a member state of the EU or the EEA, then in the website they will refer to you as a third-country national and I have a guide for all the types of permits you can apply to here: Guide to all types of visas and residence permits in Hungary
Note: is not really called Immigration office here in Hungary, the official name is National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing. I just used immigration office for the sake of simplifying things for you.
Residence or work permit for EU citizens to work in Hungary
If you are an EU citizen or EEA national you do not need a residence or work permit per se, but you do, kind of. The registration card is sort of a residence permit, and you legally cannot work in Hungary if you do not have it. Nonetheless, it is somehow a formality.
Registration certificate or registration card
As I wrote above, the registration certificate or registration card is kind of a residence permit, and it doesn’t exist only in Hungary. You need it to work in any EU or EEA member state that is not your own country.
Period of time allowed for an EU citizen to stay in Hungary
As a tourist or as a temporary resident you have a maximum of 90 days, but in a period of 180 days. In other words, in a period of 6 months, you can stay in Hungary for 3 months. After those 3 months, you need to apply for the registration certificate.
Eligibility for the registration certificate or registration card
You are entitled for the registration certificate if you are an EU citizen or EEA national and you come to Hungary to work, to study, to open a business, to be a freelancer or to live.
Process to apply for the Hungarian registration certificate
Your application can be submitted personally in one of the immigration offices or online via their system. However, before the registration certificate you will need to apply for the tax card, which is really easy. After the tax card, then you will apply for the registration certificate, and after that you will need to apply for the social security card which is not as easy.
Once your registration card is approved, you will be notified by e-mail and you will need to go to the immigration office to get your physical card. Two to three weeks later, you will also get your address card which is another key document in Hungary.
Documents required to apply for the registration certificate
The main document you will need is a contract in case of coming to work. In case of studies, it will be an admission letter or document from the university. In case of opening a business, you will need to provide for instance the articles of incorporation of the company. In case of any other reason, you will need to present documents which prove the reason you are coming, for example if you come for a medical treatment you will need to present the hospital´s documents.
Additionally there are other documents. Documents which prove that you will be financially self-sufficient in Hungary. Documents which prove you have housing and documents which prove you have health insurance coverage.
Application processing period
The official and communicated period for processing the application is 3-4 weeks, however it can be a bit less or a bit more depending on their backlog or depending on the season of the year, for example summer or christmas.
Validity of the registration certificate
The certificate does not have an expiry date, in other words, it is issued for an indefinite period of time. However, if you and when you live Hungary for good, you need to revoke your registration certificate.
Personal documents required to live and work in Hungary
Above I already mentioned all of them but I will write them here in bullet points adding their translations to Hungarian language.
- Registration certificate card or in hungarian regisztrációs igazolás
- Address card or in hungarian lakcímkártya
- Tax card or in hungarian adókártya
- Social security card or in hungarian TAJ kártya
One thing you need to know is that you can find information about the registration certificate in english in the immigration´s office official website, but not about the tax card or the social security card. Information about those two are in other official websites and only in Hungarian language.
If you are coming to work in Hungary, I have created a course-based guide specific for that scenario where I explain every requirement for every and each of the documents you need to submit, as well as how to fill the forms, the process, insights and advise. With this course, you will save lots of time, problems and delays.
Do you need guidance?
I have created an online course for you to complete the process all by yourself.
Have a good day,
Renato
Immigration´s office website: Residence in Hungary (bmbah.hu)
