“Other Purposes” Residence Permit in Hungary

What is an “Other Purposes” Residence Permit?

A Hungarian “other” (egyéb) type Residence Permit (tartózkodási engedély) allows you to live in Hungary, but does not allow you to work here. It is also called a “Residence Permit for Other Purposes”. It’s basically an extended tourist visa. You might use this if you just want to stay in the country for a little bit longer to travel around, if you want to enroll in a language school, or if you met that special someone and just don’t want to leave yet.

 

 

What do I need to get an “other purposes” type Residence Permit?

To get an “other purposes” type residence permit, you should have the following:

Lease

Many landlords will not want to give you an official lease, because they often don’t pay taxes on it. You need to have some kind of documentation, stating that you have somewhere to live for the duration of your residence permit. One option is to have an “accommodation courtesy agreement” which states where you are living and that you have the right to live there for a period of time. The period of time for the lease or accommodation courtesy agreement should be at least the period of time you are requesting a residence permit for. You will only get a residence permit through your lease validity. A good option here is to get an “indefinite” term, where either party can cancel with a certain amount of notice. The immigration office sees this is just being indefinite. If the landlord wants a guarantee of at least a year, put in the contract “an indefinite period of at least one year”. I have heard of people having 2 documents, a lease which says they pay monthly rent, and a separate “accommodation courtesy agreement” which says they stay for free. This is an option if your landlord won’t let you turn in your real lease.

Title Deed

This is a document that comes from the land office, that shows the owner of the place you are staying, so that the immigration office knows that the lease you have is from the person who is actually the owner.
This is no longer necessary, because the immigration office now has the ability to look it up themselves.

Power of Attorney

You might hear this called by different names. The immigration office might call it a “signature specimen” or an “authorization” (meghatalmazás). You only need this if the person signing your contract or your accommodation reporting form is not the owner of the place you are staying.

Accommodation Reporting Form

The Accommodation Reporting Form for Third Country Nationals (szálláshely bejelentőlap harmadik országbeli állampolgár részére) is where you fill out details about yourself, your entry into Hungary, and where you will live. It is a thick piece of paper, and one-third of it is perforated and will be torn off to become your address card (lakcímkártya). You can see an example of it below, and you can download it here. Sometimes, you might get the form in Hungarian. It doesn’t matter if it’s in Hungarian or in English.

Proof of Health Insurance

You should have private health insurance. If you’re requesting a year or more, make sure that your health insurance lasts for one year. (Usually, you can’t get insurance for more than one year at a time.)

Bank Account Statements

Print out your most recent 3 months of bank account statements. You want to show that you have sufficient funds to live in Hungary, since you won’t be allowed to work here. The last I heard, you want to show 3-4 million Hungarian forints (€7,337.14–9,782.85).

It’s also a good idea to mention, in your Motivation Letter, the source of your money. Make sure to include something like, “I saved a lot of money while I was working, so I can afford to not work for the next year.” The immigration office will think it’s suspicious if your bank statements show a large deposit to get you to the appropriate amount. If you have such a deposit, make sure you justify it. You could say something like, “I recently sold my business and I plan to live on the proceeds of that sale during my stay in Hungary.”

Copy of Your Passport

Every page, cover to cover.

Motivation Letter

A motivation letter (motivációs levél) is a letter explaining why you want to stay in Hungary.

Things you should mention:

• Learning Hungarian
• Learning more about the country and the culture
• Volunteering
• Visiting other Hungarian cities
• Doing research
• Working on an online degree
• Income that you receive from outside the country, that is not for work you are doing in Hungary

Things you shouldn’t mention:

• Working in Hungary
• Looking for a job

Anything you mention, which you can provide documentation for, do so. For example, if you plan on taking Hungarian classes, enroll and get an enrollment letter from the language school.

Reference Letters

Reference letters aren’t required, but I think that they help. If you have some Hungarian friends, especially if they have known you for a while, or if they can back up your motivations, have them write a personal reference letter for you, in Hungarian.

10,000 Forint Revenue Stamp Payment

You can get this from a post office.  You used to have to get this from the post office, but you can pay this by card in the immigration office now. (You can also use a yellow post cheque, which you can get from a post office.) It’s for the residence permit application fee.

Passport-size Photo

This is for the residence permit application form. There is a photo booth for these in the immigration office (in Budapest, at least). I can’t recall the price of the photo booth.

Application Form

You can download this and fill it out before you go, from here, or you can just get it at the immigration office and fill it out while you wait.

Excuse Letter

This is mostly only for people who are renewing their Residence Permit, and didn’t start the application process far enough in advance. I think you’re supposed to apply for renewal 60 or 90 days before your current card expires. (I’ll update this if I hear for sure which one it is.)

How do I get a Residence Permit?

Once you’ve gathered all the above documentation, head on over to the immigration office. In Budapest, it’s at Budafoki út 60, in the 11th District. (IMPORTANT NOTE: There are other Immigration Offices in Budapest, but this is the one you should go to unless you’re applying for a student visa.)

Some things to note:

Look up their opening hours before you go!

Here are their hours for the Budapest location, as of 30 March 2018:

Monday 08.30-13.00

Tuesday 13.00-17.00

Wednesday CLOSED

Thursday 08.30-13.00

Friday 08.30-12.00

You can find their current hours here. (Other locations around the country, with hours, are also listed.)

Expect to spend 3-5 hours there

• Bring a snack (maybe even a sandwich) and a bottled drink
• When you arrive, you have to first queue for a number
  When you get to the front of the line (can be up to an hour or so), you tell them why you are there, they make sure you have the things you will need, and they give you an application form (if you don’t already have one) and a number.
• They will take your picture and fingerprints
• You can choose to be notified of the decision by phone or by mail, and you can choose to receive your card by mail or in person
  SELECT TO BE NOTIFIED BY PHONE OR EMAIL AND TO PICK UP YOUR CARD IN PERSON
  The mail in Hungary is not the best, and things often just go missing.
• The immigration office in Budapest has a lot of English-speaking clerks, but outside of Budapest you might not be so lucky

I applied. Now What?

Congratulations. Hopefully you’ll get your Hungarian Residence Card soon!

How long will it take?

If everything is in order, and if you are approved, your new residence card should be ready in 6-8 weeks. It can take as long as 12 weeks, though.

How will I know when it’s ready?

Once a decision is ready, or if other documents are needed, or if the immigration office needs to talk to you again, they will try to get in touch with you. Unfortunately, sometimes they aren’t successful. Keep an eye on your phone, Email, and mailbox.

Make sure that your phone is on and working (check out my post on phone services in Hungary). Also, make sure that your mailbox has your name and floor/flat number on it. (And make sure that there aren’t other mailboxes in your building with the same floor/flat number on them! See my post about living in flats in Budapest, for my story about this.)

It’s been so long!

If it’s been too long, you can call or go to the immigration office. Sometimes the immigration office might have tried to get in touch with you, but not succeeded for some reason. If you haven’t heard from them for a while, and you feel like it’s been too much time, you can call or go back to the immigration office for an update. For an English-speaking operator at the Immigration Office in Budapest, call +36 1 463 9292.

I Need Help Getting a Hungarian Residence Card!

If you need help, there are some resources you can use:

Ask Questions in the Comments

Feel free to comment here with your questions, and I’ll answer them, if I can.

Check the Official Hungarian Immigration Office Website

Here is a page with info about the Residence Permit for Other Purposes.

Hungary Immigration Help (Facebook Group)

There’s a Hungary Immigration Help Facebook Group. Ask questions there, and hopefully someone will be able to answer them for you.

Immigration Lawyer or Immigration Consulting Service

There are many options for an Immigration Lawyer or Immigration Service companies. If you want a recommendation, contact us here, and we can make a recommendation.