male1963

Hi all,

After moving to Hungary very recently I am very confused about the Hungarian Residence Card. Firstly, is the Address Card the same thing as the Residence Card ?

Secondly, I have been to a local office in my home town to ask about acquiring a Residence Card and they said I had to get in touch with the Immigration Office (whose website fails to allow any useful links to actually be clicked !).

So... how do I actually get a Residence Card ???

On this same issue, will the Residence Card application process ask about my financial ability to live in Hungary? I ask because I have no job currently and initially I will be living off the proceeds of selling my house in the UK. In a few months I will begin to look into official employment but I believe that I need a Residence Card pretty soon to make other things easier.

Many thanks for taking the time to read my questions.

Male1963

riahun

Hi again

I think the residence card is what you get at the Immigration Office, in your case I think it is in Szekesfehervar but I'll try to find it on the internet if you want. Once you have that card, you will get your address card automatically in the post within 2 weeks.

You'll have to take your passport, house papers and bank statements to prove you have sufficient funds to support yourself. They either need to see you have an income every month or enough money in the bank to live on for a while. They won't ask about employment as long as you have enough money in the bank.

Hope this helps.


Ria

male1963

Many thanks for your reply Ria. It's great to receive the exact information that I needed!

I will get this sorted out now, thanks again

Regards
Male1963

Rural Hungary

Perhaps it was different as we are a family or maybe the woman we dealt with was simply being pedantic, either way, Zalagerszeg office asked us about employment! We had a reasonable sum in our savings and regular monthly amounts entering the account and yet she asked for further information on where the monthly income was from, it ended up being such an ordeal that when she started discussing the equivalent of family allowance, we said no thanks. We tried at both the aforementioned office and the Nagykanizsa immigration office, without success, to get a definitive answer on the amount of funds required for residency. If you could find this out Ria, I am sure it would be extremely useful for future users as there must be an actual figure - per family member - per year of intended stay. Would be great if you could, thanks.

anonimouse

I found it an easy process and only €3, maybe it depends on your office. The guy just photo copied bank statements and my pension providers details finance wise and issued a card there and then.

The problem on the website I found (which I have now lost) there were many different types of forms you could download (don't bother) and the info is contradictory.

Best get an idea online but deal with the office.

Rural Hungary

Hmmm but whether online or offline, we could not get a definitive answer regarding financial requirements. It must be there somewhere as I'm sure they don't just pluck them out of thin air.

Perhaps it was us traipsing in with our tribe behind us, probably rattled her as we do tend to get looks of "are you mad" when telling Hungarians we live here with our children. British families seem to be a novelty here!

male1963

Hi Rural Hungary,

Your reply highlights my own fears that even with money in my bank account it still depends on the all important question: "how much money is enough money ?". I have a great fear of doing things officially here in Hungary in case I just open a can of worms and my application for a residency card gets rejected! I have already bought a house here and to be rejected would be a total nightmare.

So yes, could some kind soul please find out somehow what amount of savings is deemed to be "enough" savings please?

I would like to thank everyone for replying and I have to admit that I was a little surprised that I couldn't find much information regarding the residence card since it seems to be such an important card to have. I actually wondered if lots of people had tried to obtain one and then had decided to ignore it completely since getting a "no" from Immigration would be a disaster.

Thank you once again all.
Male1963

Rural Hungary

Hi, I wouldn't worry as I am sure it won't be much for a single person and you should only have to provide proof of funding for 12 months whilst seeking employment. It would be useful to know the official figures though.

Not sure about people being turned down for residency but I know many expats don't bother to apply for residency, it suits there personal situation not to do so.

riahun

Hello again


I just got off the phone with the Immigration Office in Szekesfehervar. Their link is here by the way:

http://www.dimo.hu/hu/cegek/14495/Be...Szekesfehervar

For information, ring 0622 510 755 as the number on their website is for reception.

Firstly they want to know the purpose of your stay. Are you here alone or with family? If you are seeking employment, you will have to have at least half a million forints in your account for them to approve you. That is if you are on your own. She actually said they never approved anyone UNDER 500000 Fts in their bank account. As you will be staying here indefinitely, that's the figure she stated. The more the better obviously. She said they are looking at 28500Fts (~£90!!!) per month as that's the minimum pension within the EU. Can you believe that??? Who can live on that for a month??? Anyway, this is good news to you.

She said you will need to bring your passport, EU medical card, proof of purchase for your house, a revenue stamp of 1000Fts (you can buy it at any post office, it's called : illeték bélyeg) and a bank statement that's not older than 30 days.

If you don't have az EU medical card - we didn't, you can just sign a form to say you will pay for any health issues on your own. Again, if you have enough money in your account, they won't worry.

Szekesfehervar Office is open Mon-Thu 8.30-12, 1-4 and on Friday they are open 8.30-12. I didn't see it on their website so asked them on the phone.

Hope this helps. I've been through all this with my partner and my in-laws so I know how stressful it can be. But now I know what they do so I can help others. It's only fair, we got a lot of help on this website too.

Ria

riahun

Forgot to say you'll need to ask for a registration card (I think this is what others call a residency card) and also tell them you want a Hungarian address card.

riahun

Hiya Rural

Some people don't apply for residency? How can they get away with it? This is the only way they can get an address card and unless they have an address still back in the UK, I don't know how that would work. I expect they spend so long here and then go back the the UK every year?

riahun

Hmmm, that really WAS easy. In Kaposvar they photocopied the house contract, bank statements, passports and there were forms and forms and forms to fill out. The forms were in Hungarian and German so I had to fill them all out for all 3 people. It took me a good 30-40 minutes then they told us to come back 2 hours later and then we got our registration cards. After that it was about 2 weeks and we received the address cards in the post.

If you don't speak German or Hungarian, don't worry, they will help you, it will just take a bit longer. They say it's usually 1 hour per person to get it sorted.

Rural Hungary

Again, this must be office dependant as we know people who have had to prove they had valid Health insurance. Once resident here, your EU health card from the UK is no longer valid so I can't understand why they would accept that. I honestly think most of them are making it up as they go along!

Well if they go back it is only for a holiday whilst some haven't been back since I have been here. I know of two separate couples that have each been here for over 4 years and none of them are registered. I suppose if you aren't employed or depending on state health insurance or other benefits, they would never know. If you have income from property in the UK or Spain (as many do) or business interests outside of Hungary, it may be beneficial not to be registered in Hungary.

riahun

Hi Rural

Regarding the EU medical card, when we were in Kaposvar, they asked for it and my partner's just expired. My in-laws didn't even had them with them but the clerk wasn't worried at all. As I said they all just had to sign a form to take full responsibility for their medical needs and that was that.

After you have your Hungarian address card, you can go to the Health Office and ask for a "taj" card. My in-laws were all right and after the forms (S1 I think) were sent off, they got their cards in the post. Steve is on a private pension so he is not covered here by NHS, that's why they wanted him to prove his address for the past year - no idea why this is important though. We still haven't heard back so it's in the process but once we get the forms through, he can pay for his medical card ~5000 Fts a month and he is covered here. However, if you need to pay for your medical, you will need a tax identification number first. That's no big deal, just ask a form from the tax office, fill it out, send a copy of your passport, address card and registration card and they'll send your tax number back to your address.

The problem is everything is tied to something else. You need medical, so you need a tax number and for that you need an address card but to get an address card you need to register with the Immigration Office first...

Never mind, one day it'll come to an end.

male1963

Hi all,

Firstly, a huge thank you to Ria for finding out SO much information! I posted my original question and expected 'some' information but have been delighted with the vast amount of feedback. Thank you to everyone and thank you also Rural Hungary for your PM.

I will be going to the Immigration office tomorrow and now I feel a lot more confident about my visit, so thank you everyone.

I will let you know how that visit goes

Take care all and thank you again, you have all been great

Regards
male1963
p.s. thanks also for all your replies on my "Bank Account" posting