x
This website is using cookies. More info. That's Fine

Residence Permit for the Purpose of Study in Hungary


General Description

On a general basis, a Third-country National has to obtain a residence permit if he/she expects to stay in Hungary more than 90 days within any consecutive 180 days. However, in some cases (e.g., due to being a Family Member of an EEA Citizen) other type(s) of immigration document(s) (a Residence Card) has to be obtained. Please see more details on obtaining a Residence Card for study purpose.

If you intend to participate in an educational program of a public education institution, or if you intend to study the higher education system and your prospective higher education institution in Hungary is a State-recognised Institution of Higher Education or a foreign higher education institution authorised to operate in the territory of Hungary, furthermore, if you are admitted to a full-time education, a preparatory or a training program at one of these Institutions, you have to apply for a Residence Permit for the Purpose of Study. If your prospective higher education institution, your education or your training program does not meet these criteria, you have to obtain a Residence Permit for Other Purpose to stay and study in Hungary for more than 90 days. Please find the list of the State-recognised Higher Education Institutions.

If your primary aim with your Hungarian entry and stay is to study at a Hungarian Higher Educatioin Institute, you have to apply for a Residence Permit of the Purpose of Study.

When can you apply for this residence permit type?

  • If you have third-country nationality only.
  • If you do not enter Hungary with or you do not join to an EEA Citizen to whom you are considered a family member.
  • If you do not work in parallel with your studies, or if you work, it is .
  • If you are holding a Residence Permit for the Purpose of Study, you are allowed to engage in any full-time work during your term-time for maximum twenty-four hours weekly, and outside your term-time for a maximum period of ninety days or sixty-six working days in a year.
  • The education program, in which you intend to participate is one of the following:
  • educational program of a public education institution registered in the public education information;
  • educational program of a State-recognised higher education institution;
  • educational program of a foreign higher education institution with having operational licence in Hungary;
  • the above higher education institutions' preparatory courses.
  • Validity Period

  • at least ,
  • If the duration of your study program is less than one year, the expiry date of your Residence Permit for the Purpose of Study is in line with the termination of your studies.
  • not more than .
  • The legal Hungarian stay and work can be extended by further max. two years by applying for a residence permit extension at least 30 days before the expiry of the current residence permit. Therefore, you can stay and do your research in Hungary for a period longer than two years, however, in order for this, you need to go through a residence permit extension procedure. Please also kindly note that if you leave the territory of Hungary for more than 90 days within any 180-day period when holding a Hungarian reisdence permit, this residence permit cannot be extended but a new reisdence permit application procedure has to be initiated. The main difference between the residence permit extension and the new residence permit application is that if a new residence permit is applied for (i.e., it is not extended), you have to leave the territory of Europe when the current residence permit expires, and submit a new residence permit application at one the appropriate places below. In turn, if the residence permit is extended, the application for the extended residence permit has to be filed in Hungary.

    Place of Application

    The place of the residence permit application may differ based on your citizenship, your habitual residence or the fact whether you apply for a new residence permit (e.g., applying for the first time) or a Hungarian residence permit extension.

    A) if you have citizenship(s) only:
    You have to apply for a "new" residence permit (i.e., technically it cannot be extended) if you do not have a valid Hungarian residence permit, or you have, but it remains valid less than 30 days when you submit your residence permit application.
    Visa-required countries (Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806):
    Afghanistan, Armenia, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Bolivia, Bhutan, Botswana, Belarus, Belize, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Algeria, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, India, Iraq, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Comoros, North Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar/Burma, Mongolia, Mauritania, Maldives, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nepal, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, Suriname, South Sudan, São Tomé and Príncipe, Syria, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Tanzania, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
  • Consulate of Hungary located in the country of your citizenship, or
  • Consulate of Hungary located in the country of your habitual residence.

  • B) if you have citizenship(s):
    You have to apply for a "new" residence permit (i.e., technically it cannot be extended) if you do not have a valid Hungarian residence permit, or you have, but it remains valid less than 30 days when you submit your residence permit application.
    Visa-free countries (Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806):
    Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (only if having biometric passport) Andorra, United Arab Emirates (only if having biometric passport), Antigua and Barbuda, Albania (only if having biometric passport), Argentina, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (only if having biometric passport), Barbados, Brunei, Brazil, Bahamas, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica (only if having biometric passport), Micronesia (only if having biometric passport), Grenada (only if having biometric passport), Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Kiribati (only if having biometric passport), Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Korea, Saint Lucia (only if having biometric passport), Monaco, Moldova (only if having biometric passport), Montenegro (only if having biometric passport), Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Nauru, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Palau, Paraguay, Serbia (only if having biometric passport and excluding holders of Serbian passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate), Solomon Islands, Seychelles, Singapore, San Marino, El Salvador, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine (only if having biometric passport), United States, Uruguay, Holy See, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela, Vanuatu, Samoa, Hong Kong (having passport of Special Administrative Region), Maca (having passport of Special Administrative Region), British nationals (Overseas), British Overseas territories Citizens, British Overseas Citizens, British Protected Persons, British Sibjects, Taiwan.
  • Consulate of Hungary located in the country of your citizenship,
  • Consulate of Hungary located in the country of the your habitual residence, or
  • Immigration Office (official name: National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing), the appropriate directorate is located in the region of the prospective Hungarian accommodation.

  • C) (irrespectively whether you have visa-free or visa-required citizenship):
    Residence permit extension means another residence permit application in Hungary if you have a Hungarian residence permit that remains valid at least 30 days counted from the date of the residence permit extension. Please kindly note that if you left the territory of Hungary for more than 90 days within any 180-day period when holding a Hungarian reisdence permit, this residence permit cannot be extended but a new reisdence permit application procedure has to be initiated. I.e. has to leave the territory of the EU and Schengen countries and apply for the new residence permit at one of the above-mentioned places.
  • Immigration Office (the appropriate directorate is located in the region of the prospective Hungarian accommodation).
  • Application Fee

  • in case of new residence permit application at one of the Consulate of Hungary.
  • At some Consulates, this amount has to be paid in local currency, in USD or in EUR. The method of the payment might also be different: by bank transfer upfront, by credit card or in cash at the place of the application.
  • HUF 24 000, in case of a new residence permit application, when the application takes place in Hungary and initiated via the online application platform of the immigration authority. If the application is submitted without using the online application platform, i.e., all the documents are submitted in the Immigration Office in original, the application fee is HUF 39 000.
  • HUF 23 000, in case of a residence permit extension that is initiated via the online application platform of the immigration authority. If the application is submitted without using the online application platform, i.e., all the documents are submitted in the Immigration Office in original, the application fee is HUF 35 000.

  • Citizens of Ukraine and Belarus are exempt to pay the above-mentioned application fees.

    Time period of decision-making:

  • not more than 70 days
  • Rights:

  • Study in Hungary.
  • Stay in other Schengen country up to 90 days within any 180-day period without obtaining a C-type Schengen visa (your passport and this issued residence permit is required when staying in this Schengen country).
  • Work in Hungary in parallel with your studies.
  • In order to be a Private Entrepreneur, separate registration has to be made at the Government Office (i.e. this is not related to the Immigration Office) after ther residence permit is applied.

    Obligations:

  • within three days (counted from the first day being in Hungary) and any further Hungarian address change.
  • The report has to be made in the Immigration Office on a prescribed form. This form has to be signed by your accommodation provider as well (if the Hungarian accommodation is not an own propoerty).
  • Report the birth of your child to the Immigration Office, if he/she was born in the territory of Hungary and has third-country nationality only.
  • Notify the Immigration Office if your Passport or your Residence Permit is stolen, lost or destroyed.
  • Inform the Immigration Office if your Passport or your Residence Permit that was believed to be lost (and this fact was reported to the Immigration Office) was finally found.
  • Hand in your Residence Permit to the Immigration Office within eight days, if it becomes invalid.



  • Services & Pricing

    Residence Permit for the Purpose of Study (your obligation)

    Service Title:
    Obtaining Residence Permit for the Purpose of Study

    We offer in this service:
  • compile a list of all the documents required for the application,
  • review the application documents,
  • assist in the preparation of the application package,
  • give guidance in booking an appointment at the Consulate of Hungary or at the Immigration Office to initiate the application procedure,
  • send the application package to you for submission at the Consulate of Hungary or accompany you to the Immigration Office to file the application, if the application takes place in Hungary.

  • Pricing:

    In case of more than one Student, we provide discount from our standard price of EUR 800*.

    *The above-mentioned fees do not include value added tax and reasonable additional costs, such as costs of posting or courier services (if any).

    Notifications (Higher Education Institute's obligation)

    Your Higher Education Institute has to notify the Immigration Office on the start, cancellation, ending or pausing the student status. Notification also has to be made if a third-country national Student does not fulfil his/her registration obligation into the study program. We help your Higher Education Institute ti clarify what types of notifications have to be made and also assist in fulfilling those notifications. Please see for further details: Notifications as Higher Education Institute's obligation.

    Deregistration (your obligation)

    You have to fulfill a deregistratioin process if your residence permit becomes invalid (i.e., it expires, or you give up your Hungarian stay earlier than the residence permit's expiry date, or the conditions underlying the issuance of your residence permit has ceased to exist). As part of this process, your residence permit has to be handed over to the competent directorate of the Immigration Office. In case of a residence permit extension, the old residence permit has to be handed over to the Immigration Office at the same time, when the new one is collected (in this case our deregistration service below is not necessary).

    We help your meet this deregistration requirement according to the description below.


    Service Title:
    Completing Immigration Deregistration

    We offer in this service:
  • collect the information required for the deregistration,
  • prepare the deregistration letter,
  • deliver the deregistration letter and your residence permit to the competent directorate of the Immigration Office.

  • Pricing:

    In case of more than one deregistration, we provide discount from our standard price of EUR 50*.

    The above-mentioned fees do not include value added tax and reasonable additional costs, such as costs of posting or courier services (if any).

    Posts for Students


    Our Insights, Perspectives and Thinkings that might be interesting for Students:

    ©