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DeanR Aug 18th 2020 11:55 am

Moving to Hungary
 
New user here so please be gentle 😀
I'm hoping you guys can help and guide me with a planned move to Hungary from Cambridge, UK.
Me and my Hungarian wife are planning to move to Hungary (destination TBC) in approx 18 months time. My other half hails from Gyula in the east but this is an isolated town with not much employment so our sites are set on the Budapest/Balaton area.
I speak VERY little Hungarian so I have big concerns about potential employment for the First 12-18 months while I immerse myself in the Hungarian language. I currently work in the uk as a supply chain specialist in the fmcg industry.
What are job prospects like for non hungarian speakers? Think I know the answer 😀
Can anyone recommend an area to live around the Budapest area... would prefer outside of Budapest. Székesfehérvár seems a very nice town and also has some good employment prospects? Can anyone advise on this particular town and area? Or advise anywhere better?
would appreciate your feedback and look forward to speaking/typing to you all over the coming months.

wolfi Aug 18th 2020 2:50 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Wish you luck!
What about Esztergom or rather one of the surrounding villages and smaller towns?
We have a lot of industry here partially based on the Suzuki plant.
Are you thinking of and do you have the money for buying a house?

DeanR Aug 18th 2020 3:36 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by wolfi (Post 12898514)
Wish you luck!
What about Esztergom or rather one of the surrounding villages and smaller towns?
We have a lot of industry here partially based on the Suzuki plant.
Are you thinking of and do you have the money for buying a house?

Yes. We will be looking to buy. Not sure we can do that outright but we would certainly have a min 50% deposit on a mortgage (depending where we end up of course) We thought renting or a motor home might be best until we found the right place. The motor home idea being that it allows you to stay in more places without the commitment of a rental property.
I had heard about the Suzuki factory. Suzukis are everywhere in Hungary! I also heard Mercedes set up their A class production in kisckemet (please forgive my poor hungarian spelling) recently? So may be another option?
I assume you came from the UK? Could I ask how your move to Hungary went? And any big obsticles you found? We're you a hungarian speaker before arriving?

wolfi Aug 18th 2020 6:00 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Dean, I'm German but with strong connections to Britain. One of my sisters married an Englishman and now they live near London but travel to Germany and Hungary often.
I also traveled to London several times a year for my collection of Science Fiction books.
Around 20 years ago i bought a "summer house" near Héviz, found a wonderful Hungarian woman and now we live part of the year near Esztergom because it's not too far from Budapest where her young ones live.
But we were already retired when we met, both being born in WW2 ...
We still are living part of the year in Germany.

Joetography Aug 18th 2020 6:02 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by DeanR (Post 12898384)
New user here so please be gentle 😀
I'm hoping you guys can help and guide me with a planned move to Hungary from Cambridge, UK.
Me and my Hungarian wife are planning to move to Hungary (destination TBC) in approx 18 months time. My other half hails from Gyula in the east but this is an isolated town with not much employment so our sites are set on the Budapest/Balaton area.
I speak VERY little Hungarian so I have big concerns about potential employment for the First 12-18 months while I immerse myself in the Hungarian language. I currently work in the uk as a supply chain specialist in the fmcg industry.
What are job prospects like for non hungarian speakers? Think I know the answer 😀
Can anyone recommend an area to live around the Budapest area... would prefer outside of Budapest. Székesfehérvár seems a very nice town and also has some good employment prospects? Can anyone advise on this particular town and area? Or advise anywhere better?
would appreciate your feedback and look forward to speaking/typing to you all over the coming months.

I can't give much help, but my gf is Hungarian and we plan on making the move from Preston in 2023. At first we will stay in Debrecen, but if we can make it a permanent move we will re-locate to Budapest and the surrounding area. As it'll be better for work and more things going on there.

wolfi Aug 18th 2020 7:07 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Joe is right - jobs are concentrated in the big cities - of course especially in Budapest. Our young ones eg wanted IT jobs outside BP (the cost of living is quite high there) - but no way.

Joetography Aug 18th 2020 7:20 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by wolfi (Post 12898666)
Joe is right - jobs are concentrated in the big cities - of course especially in Budapest. Our young ones eg wanted IT jobs outside BP (the cost of living is quite high there) - but no way.

Although Debrecen is a smaller City it does have a lot of English speaking jobs available (I'm always looking) BT...yes British Telecom. Deutsche Telekom and several more have help desk type jobs. Also in 2023 (maybe '24) BMW are opening a large plant. So jobs should be available.

wolfi Aug 18th 2020 8:08 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Populationwise Debrecen is the second largest city after Bp (around 200 000 people), it also has a large university and several large companies, that's true.
So you can't really call it a "smaller city" ...
Pécs might also be interesting.

FenTiger Aug 19th 2020 5:15 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
I moved to Hungary nearly four weeks ago. My wife is Hungarian. We are both retired so can't help on the employment side. We sold our UK house and plan to buy in a village south of Miskolc. I will post more information when I've got time and my laptop is in front of me. I'm using my smartphone!
Briefly, if you're selling a property in UK and moving over to Hungary on contract completion day you'd need alot of planning and a Plan B, and possibly a C & D.
​​​​​Anyway, I'll post later. I had quite a lot of help from this forum.

jetsam1 Aug 19th 2020 7:54 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
I am of working age and moved here nearly 5 years ago now.... !!!!

OK, in terms of jobs there are always loads of English language jobs in Budapest being advertised. If you have a second language that will make for a better salary.
At the moment we are all working from home and it does sound like this may be a more common way of working in the future hopefully. I would be aware that costs for property are mental in Budapest itself but if you keep an eye on areas outside in Pest Megye along the train lines it might not be too bad for a commute.

If you have any IT skills you won't have any real issues. Many of the Multi Nationals and some local companies all have English as the corporate language.

I gave up self employment last September and had 2 interviews, 8 call backs and one concrete offer within two weeks of making applications. So it is not so bad but keep salary expectations realistic.

My background is geological sciences but I got a reasonable starting IT Support job and so far so good.

Property prices are very high in Budapest hence why I am enjoying living outside of Pest County and getting Budapest salary! I am hoping it will continue and I don't need to commute any more.

PaulinEger Aug 19th 2020 1:08 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Hi, my suggestion would be to get yourself a TEFL and think about teaching for a local language school or privately, either face to face or online. Working hours are flexible, no need to speak Hungarian and you can earn a much higher than average salary. It's not for everyone but if you can do it, it can be rewarding. Plus, outside of Budapest there is far less competition and being a native speaker will command a higher hourly rate.

jetsam1 Aug 19th 2020 1:16 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
TEFL can cost a lot of money to do though. And there are no gaurentees of work, or even if the salary is going to be all that good. Potentially could end up self employed which is a whole barrel of issues as well. I would be wary of language teaching personally as I do know people who have done it and found it to be challenging and not necessarily in the good way. Teachers also get almost zero respect from anyone here it seems like as well.

Peter_in_Hungary Aug 19th 2020 1:57 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by DeanR (Post 12898384)
New user here so please be gentle 😀
I'm hoping you guys can help and guide me with a planned move to Hungary from Cambridge, UK.
Me and my Hungarian wife are planning to move to Hungary (destination TBC) in approx 18 months time. My other half hails from Gyula in the east but this is an isolated town with not much employment so our sites are set on the Budapest/Balaton area.
I speak VERY little Hungarian so I have big concerns about potential employment for the First 12-18 months while I immerse myself in the Hungarian language. I currently work in the uk as a supply chain specialist in the fmcg industry.
What are job prospects like for non hungarian speakers? Think I know the answer 😀
Can anyone recommend an area to live around the Budapest area... would prefer outside of Budapest. Székesfehérvár seems a very nice town and also has some good employment prospects? Can anyone advise on this particular town and area? Or advise anywhere better?
would appreciate your feedback and look forward to speaking/typing to you all over the coming months.

You don't say what your qualifications are. It might be easier to get advice if you said what you do now. (assuming you don't mind working in the same field).
I can't offer advice about jobs as we came here 26 years ago and life was different then. We have never had a real job since moving here (SWMBO, self employed translator/interpreter, me, self employed farmer, both now pensioners)
What I would advise is that if you are within 10 to 15 years of pension age then try to get residency this year as it will ensure that your UK state pension is not frozen.
We are on the north side of the Balaton near Tapolca. Its a good area but not much industry. If you are in to teaching then there are some English language schools in the area, (main stream schools that teach the curriculum in English) that welcome native English speakers but a qualification is needed.
Son in law is a civil engineer and works for a Budapest firm but lives half a kilometre down the road. He has been doing 'home office' for 2 years now, a long time before the virus made it fashionable.
My son (Mech Eng masters.) works for an American firm (oil and gas industry) in Székesfehérvár where English is the company language.
If you get the right property then tourist lets can provide an income in this area.

PaulinEger Aug 19th 2020 8:44 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by jetsam1 (Post 12898969)
TEFL can cost a lot of money to do though. And there are no gaurentees of work, or even if the salary is going to be all that good. Potentially could end up self employed which is a whole barrel of issues as well. I would be wary of language teaching personally as I do know people who have done it and found it to be challenging and not necessarily in the good way. Teachers also get almost zero respect from anyone here it seems like as well.

You've been talking to the wrong people.
We've been here for 12 years and teaching for the whole time with no previous experience. As I said, it's not for everyone, it depends on your personality as to whether you'll be successful. Qualifications are not always an issue as, if you're in demand, the school will work around it if they can (but not always the case):
I've done everything from nursery, primary school, secondary school, private language school, business English to private one-to-one and group lessons. Face-to-face and online. Worked for myself and for others. The money is usually much better than the average hourly rate and the hours less than a normal working week and more flexible.
Where I live teachers get plenty of respect as it it considered a professional career.
TEFL is not expensive if you know how to go about it. Online courses can be done cheaply and are accepted in most places.
Being self employed costs me about 57,000ft per month in taxes, contributions and bookkeeping fees.

cathyg Aug 20th 2020 7:49 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
I would echo what PaulinEger has said about teaching, I have also taught in a school for several years having had previous experience of working with young people and running training courses, My role was to encourage children to speak as I am not a qualified English teacher. You will find that native English speakers are highly valued here with parents wanting their children to speak with native English speakers. You can make a living this way if you want.
We live near Veszprem and often go to Szekesfehervar which has everything you might need. It also has excellent transport links to Budapest if you want to commute. I don’t know about living there but it has a beautiful old town.
We have family who live near Gödölló which is east of Budapest. Again lots of people commute to BP and there is also quite a bit of Industry around there.
Even though some jobs are advertised in English outside of BP you still need to speak hungarian. I would start learning now rather than wait until you move over here. I am not sure what sort of work permit you will need after Brexit. GE a has quite a big presence here so it might be worth keeping an eye an the international company websites for jobs.
It’s all about research research research.
Good luck!

jameswm Aug 24th 2020 7:05 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Dean - I also worked in FMCG supply chain in the UK for a while.
Clearly there will be more jobs in cities, but where I live in the countryside (between Miskolc & Nyiregyhaza) there are a number of large factories so if you're looking for supply chain jobs it would depend on the area.
It also depends how far you would commute to go to work. Alternatively, if you could do self employed consulting, you could live anywhere (esp if it was mainly online). Good luck.

Petemack1 Mar 22nd 2021 11:14 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Really good thread this one.. I am 45 and English my wife is 30 and Hungary with our new borne son we are currently looking at moving over and purchasing a house in zalakaros.. I don't intend to work, anybody know this area and what there may be to do for a retired housefather

FenTiger Mar 23rd 2021 5:57 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
If you're planning to bring alot of your UK electrical stuff make sure you buy some good quality adaptors with the correct Amps. Most travel adaptors are for maximum 10 amps so using something which needs 13 amps might cause problems. I maybe talking out of my a$$ on this as I'm no an electrician or knowledgeable enough what's safe to use.
Do take out removals insurance. You will be surprised how valuable all your stuff is. Itemise the expensive stuff in numbered boxes with a valuation for insurance purposes.
Sorry if I've gone off point. (Very tired because someone woke me up late last night and I thought something had happened. It was just the dog barking its head off to be let outside for a poo. . I'd let him out only fifteen minutes earlier!!!).

Peter_in_Hungary Mar 23rd 2021 7:15 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by FenTiger (Post 12986691)
If you're planning to bring alot of your UK electrical stuff make sure you buy some good quality adaptors with the correct Amps. Most travel adaptors are for maximum 10 amps so using something which needs 13 amps might cause problems. I maybe talking out of my a$$ on this as I'm no an electrician or knowledgeable enough what's safe to use.

Sorry to disagree with this one but once you have imported your electrical goods I would recommend changing the plugs for the Hungarian type rather than using adapters. Any kit with molded plugs can have the plugs cut off and local standard plugs simply fitted. Adapters introduce an extra potential failure point and a new plug is probably cheaper than an adapter. The only exception would be where some devices have a power supply contained within the plug e.g. some baby alarms or phone chargers, here there is no choice but an adapter.

FenTiger Mar 23rd 2021 7:27 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary (Post 12986701)
Sorry to disagree with this one but once you have imported your electrical goods I would recommend changing the plugs for the Hungarian type rather than using adapters. Any kit with molded plugs can have the plugs cut off and local standard plugs simply fitted. Adapters introduce an extra potential failure point and a new plug is probably cheaper than an adapter. The only exception would be where some devices have a power supply contained within the plug e.g. some baby alarms or phone chargers, here there is no choice but an adapter.

Oops - I remember you mentioning this. I'm dead tired today! I will check with a local Hungarian friend for help on changing the plugs.

Benny Kovacs Mar 23rd 2021 9:42 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by FenTiger (Post 12986691)
If you're planning to bring alot of your UK electrical stuff make sure you buy some good quality adaptors with the correct Amps. Most travel adaptors are for maximum 10 amps so using something which needs 13 amps might cause problems. I maybe talking out of my a$$ on this as I'm no an electrician or knowledgeable enough what's safe to use.
Do take out removals insurance. You will be surprised how valuable all your stuff is. Itemise the expensive stuff in numbered boxes with a valuation for insurance purposes.
Sorry if I've gone off point. (Very tired because someone woke me up late last night and I thought something had happened. It was just the dog barking its head off to be let outside for a poo. . I'd let him out only fifteen minutes earlier!!!).

As already mentioned just change the plugs. Things like PC, printer, modem etc. that are close together can go on a 4 gang extension meaning you just need to change 1 plug.

As for itemising everything, as of Jan 1, you will be coming from outside the EU now so iirc you will need to itemise everything plus have the UK value and HUF value listed as it will be an unaccompanied personal import which should be declared to Hungarian tax people.Everything must be used and have been in your possession for 6 months.

However, once your goods clear French customs they will be in the EU and nobody will check at borders between Calais and your house.


The days of chucking everything in a van and blasting off down the road have gone now.

FenTiger Mar 23rd 2021 11:29 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Multiplug gangway lead - I never thought of that! I've brought several over here so will look into getting the main three pin plug changed to two pin.

Sachina Mar 23rd 2021 5:17 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Benny Kovacs (Post 12986749)
As already mentioned just change the plugs. Things like PC, printer, modem etc. that are close together can go on a 4 gang extension meaning you just need to change 1 plug.

As for itemising everything, as of Jan 1, you will be coming from outside the EU now so iirc you will need to itemise everything plus have the UK value and HUF value listed as it will be an unaccompanied personal import which should be declared to Hungarian tax people.Everything must be used and have been in your possession for 6 months.

However, once your goods clear French customs they will be in the EU and nobody will check at borders between Calais and your house.


The days of chucking everything in a van and blasting off down the road have gone now.

I'm not so sure about that. My furniture etc arrived from South Africa via Hamburg and had to be cleared by the Hungarian customs when it arrived in Budapest.

wolfi Mar 23rd 2021 6:28 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Re electric connection - we've discussed that before:
Look out for a three wire system - old houses often miss this. Just look;
The cables should have three wires not just two.
And also think about an FI-switch ie RCD - if possible for the whole house.
Electric installations here are often a kind of nightmare so get an expert to look at them.
A general hint:
Try to make friends with a neighbour who can suggest good and reliable handymen to you.

Benny Kovacs Mar 24th 2021 6:51 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Sachina (Post 12986939)
I'm not so sure about that. My furniture etc arrived from South Africa via Hamburg and had to be cleared by the Hungarian customs when it arrived in Budapest.

So there you have it, just to complicate things further everything has to go through Budapest.

Who would have thought that losing freedom of movement would be a vote winner?

FenTiger Mar 24th 2021 6:57 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Sachina (Post 12986939)
I'm not so sure about that. My furniture etc arrived from South Africa via Hamburg and had to be cleared by the Hungarian customs when it arrived in Budapest.

Sachina - last time I visited you I thought I was in Africa!

Peter_in_Hungary Mar 24th 2021 8:17 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Benny Kovacs (Post 12987163)
Who would have thought that losing freedom of movement would be a vote winner?

IMO the vote winning aspect of loosing freedom of movement was very much in the direction of the UK i.e. to stop all the 'Europeans' coming to the UK with very little said about the inability of the Brits to easily go to the rest of Europe

FenTiger Mar 24th 2021 9:28 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary (Post 12987185)
IMO the vote winning aspect of loosing freedom of movement was very much in the direction of the UK i.e. to stop all the 'Europeans' coming to the UK with very little said about the inability of the Brits to easily go to the rest of Europe

You are spot on. One thing which one of my long time friends said was he was fed up with Europeans in his area but hey, he has a farming background, so guess who did all the crop picking? Eastern europeans!!!! Brits wouldn't do this back breaking work! On top his girlfriend is a Fillipino living in Japan. He wants her to move to UK! He's 63! He has not seen her for atleast a year due to the pandemic and restrictions on flying.

Sachina Mar 24th 2021 11:26 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Benny Kovacs (Post 12987163)
So there you have it, just to complicate things further everything has to go through Budapest.

Who would have thought that losing freedom of movement would be a vote winner?

Where did you expect one's belonging to be checked? Until it gets to it's final destination which is Hungary, it's only in transit and of no interest to any other member country of the EU.

If you expected anything different after the UK left the EU, then you're naive my friend.

FenTiger Mar 24th 2021 11:37 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Sachina (Post 12987250)

If you expected anything different after the UK left the EU, then you're naive my friend.

Very true! Quite a few of my UK friends are envious about us moving here. We were lucky the transitional end period was 31/12/2020. I had to grit my teeth and lose quite a few thousand pounds on the sale of my UK house to ensure it was sold and we could finally complete our relocation to Hungary. It's been a bonus the HUF to GBP is very favourable, on top we've bought a house within the budget we had targeted.

Peter_in_Hungary Mar 24th 2021 1:07 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Sachina (Post 12987250)
Where did you expect one's belonging to be checked? Until it gets to it's final destination which is Hungary, it's only in transit and of no interest to any other member country of the EU.

Twice recently I have ordered car spares from the UK. One over the threshold for import duty and one under. In each case the carrier was DPD. The parts were held in a depot in France for customs clearance. For the package over the threshold I was sent an email from DPD requesting me to pay the duty (by card in euro) which I did and once paid the package was then sent via a DPD depot in Austria and then via Budapest to me. The second also went to the same customs clearance place in France and was assessed as being below the duty threshold and was then forwarded on the same route as the first free of duty. Neither package showed signs of being opened by customs for inspection so I presume it was all done on paperwork, a load of household goods might get inspected as would any parcel of interest.

I conclude that a carrier can sort customs duty, get it paid, forward the duty to the relevant country and forward the goods to the owner. With these parts the delay post Brexit vs. pre Brexit was an extra 4 days.

I suspect things would be different for a house load of belongings and the abilities of the carrier to use TIR shipments may be key to a quick delivery but it does seem that a carrier (with the right setup) can get customs clearance anywhere (approved) within the EU without the need for further inspection - chose your carrier carefully.

Sachina Mar 24th 2021 2:45 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary (Post 12987287)
Twice recently I have ordered car spares from the UK. One over the threshold for import duty and one under. In each case the carrier was DPD. The parts were held in a depot in France for customs clearance. For the package over the threshold I was sent an email from DPD requesting me to pay the duty (by card in euro) which I did and once paid the package was then sent via a DPD depot in Austria and then via Budapest to me. The second also went to the same customs clearance place in France and was assessed as being below the duty threshold and was then forwarded on the same route as the first free of duty. Neither package showed signs of being opened by customs for inspection so I presume it was all done on paperwork, a load of household goods might get inspected as would any parcel of interest.

I conclude that a carrier can sort customs duty, get it paid, forward the duty to the relevant country and forward the goods to the owner. With these parts the delay post Brexit vs. pre Brexit was an extra 4 days.

I suspect things would be different for a house load of belongings and the abilities of the carrier to use TIR shipments may be key to a quick delivery but it does seem that a carrier (with the right setup) can get customs clearance anywhere (approved) within the EU without the need for further inspection - chose your carrier carefully.

You're talking about packages which is a completely different kettle of fish to a container full of furniture and personal belongings. As part of my job I used to have to organise the paperwork for medical goods being shipped by the US government to South Africa, and I know how much work is involved. Every item down to the last suture needle had to be itemised and accounted for and it was a similar process when my belongings arrived in Hungary.

This is for removals from the US, like the UK. a non EU country to Hungary.

https://www.internationalmoving.com/...o-hungary.htmlCUSTOMS REGULATIONS
  • Used household goods and personal effects are duty-free for foreigners with a valid Hungarian Residence Permit.
  • All required documents must be in Hungarian including transport documents and must be submitted to Customs one day prior to clearance.




Benny Kovacs Mar 25th 2021 3:57 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Sachina (Post 12987250)
Where did you expect one's belonging to be checked? Until it gets to it's final destination which is Hungary, it's only in transit and of no interest to any other member country of the EU.

If you expected anything different after the UK left the EU, then you're naive my friend.


WOW!

Where did that come from?

Get back in your box "my friend"

Peter_in_Hungary Mar 26th 2021 10:03 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Sachina (Post 12987320)
You're talking about packages which is a completely different kettle of fish to a container full of furniture and personal belongings. As part of my job I used to have to organise the paperwork for medical goods being shipped by the US government to South Africa, and I know how much work is involved. Every item down to the last suture needle had to be itemised and accounted for and it was a similar process when my belongings arrived in Hungary.

This is for removals from the US, like the UK. a non EU country to Hungary.

https://www.internationalmoving.com/...o-hungary.htmlCUSTOMS REGULATIONS
  • Used household goods and personal effects are duty-free for foreigners with a valid Hungarian Residence Permit.
  • All required documents must be in Hungarian including transport documents and must be submitted to Customs one day prior to clearance.

It mush the same when we moved to Hungary 26 years ago, but then it was Hungary that was outside the EU. The physical examination was very very cursory but the paperwork was gone over in fine detail.

One advantage we did find was that private goods came in tax/duty free providing we had owned them for 6 months or more......So we bought a new Land Rover and paid for it in the UK and had it delivered to Hungary 6.5 months later. Because it was exported from the UK (outside the EU) it was free of all UK taxes and because we could show Hungary we had owned the car more than 6 months (from the bill) it was free of Hungarian taxes. That saved us thousands (literally). I'm not sure if the same would work today.

FenTiger Mar 27th 2021 8:12 am

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary (Post 12987936)
It mush the same when we moved to Hungary 26 years ago, but then it was Hungary that was outside the EU. The physical examination was very very cursory but the paperwork was gone over in fine detail.

One advantage we did find was that private goods came in tax/duty free providing we had owned them for 6 months or more......So we bought a new Land Rover and paid for it in the UK and had it delivered to Hungary 6.5 months later. Because it was exported from the UK (outside the EU) it was free of all UK taxes and because we could show Hungary we had owned the car more than 6 months (from the bill) it was free of Hungarian taxes. That saved us thousands (literally). I'm not sure if the same would work today.

Was/is your Land Rover LHD or RHD?

Peter_in_Hungary Mar 27th 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by FenTiger (Post 12988271)
Was/is your Land Rover LHD or RHD?

LHD,
I picked it up from the main agent (there was only one then!) in Budapest road ready with Hungarian number plates and all.

The Duck 1969 Apr 12th 2021 1:55 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Epic thread this one fellas....
I married a hungarian lady 4 years back and now really thinking about moving over (from Cardiff).
It's quite a big move - with Hungarian being such a tough language, and the infrastructure/cultures being different also. But great to hear that there are many brits in the same boat!
How was the change for you guys? What difficulties did you have to overcome? Biggest issues in adapting to Hungary compared to UK?

Cost of living also - Agi (the missus) told me it was a lot less..... but whenever I visit her family - I don't see a huge difference in prices (except for the beer, which is a bonus).

Thanks for your advice guys

FenTiger Apr 12th 2021 4:11 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 

Originally Posted by The Duck 1969 (Post 12994212)
Epic thread this one fellas....
I married a hungarian lady 4 years back and now really thinking about moving over (from Cardiff).
It's quite a big move - with Hungarian being such a tough language, and the infrastructure/cultures being different also. But great to hear that there are many brits in the same boat!
How was the change for you guys? What difficulties did you have to overcome? Biggest issues in adapting to Hungary compared to UK?

Cost of living also - Agi (the missus) told me it was a lot less..... but whenever I visit her family - I don't see a huge difference in prices (except for the beer, which is a bonus).

Thanks for your advice guys

Food and drink costs - depends on exchange rate and whether you will buy your favourite UK brand or Hungarian. Guinness is £2 per can/bottle. Currently we're staying with mother-in-law so there's three of us, plus our dog and mother-in-law cat which we are paying towards so not been able to do a proper weekly comparison but overall I think costs are less. Depends on the branded food you buy. Hungarian beers alot cheaper around 70-80 pence. Whisky about the same but depends which one. Surprisingly, Monkey Shoulder is cheaper here than UK (airport prices???).
Property - prices are increasing due to government supporting families with children.
Sorry supper ready so got to go. Will try add more later.

FenTiger Apr 12th 2021 5:02 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Cars - it's often been mentioned second-hand cars are expensive. I looked into getting a second-hand car to start off with but with high kilometres on the clock comparing to UK I thought incredibly expensive. Insurance is cheaper.
Driving licence - it was easy to switch to HU. Simple fitness to drive check up with local doctor then head into town to local council office to change. Received within a week. In between they give you a piece of paper in case you get stopped by the rendorseg. You need to check eligibility to change from UK to HU now UK is no longer in EU. I keep coming across different rules but most are for UK residents who moved here before 31.12.2020.

wolfi Apr 12th 2021 6:17 pm

Re: Moving to Hungary
 
Re costs:
Since the wages are just a fraction of UK or German wages (I am German with English family connections ...) everything "work related" is cheaper, like food and drink in a restaurant, the calculation is different.
Before Covid I would get a pint of local beer for not much more than 1.50 €.
An example:
When I bought my holiday home and had some work done around 20 years ago I asked my friends in Germany (a builder, an electrician, a carpenter and other handymen ...) about costs of rebuilding, having new wires,new windows etc.
They told me a simple rule: In Germany you take the cost for the materials and add twice that amount for work ...
Then I found that in Hungary you take the cost for the materials and add half of that for the work.
So we put in some features which would just have not been worth the extra cost in Germany.
Imho that hasn't changed too much.


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