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EU Blue Card 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 working purpose.

EU Blue Card is a special residence permit type for highly-qualified Third-country Nationals. On a general basis, it is issued for a period between one-four years (based on the supporting documents enclosed) but in some given situations, it can be applied for a shorter validity-period as well.

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 the legal relationship between you and your Hungarian organisation .
  • Your prospective gross salary amount will be more than HUF 658,200 (circa EUR 1.700). In this salary amount can be lower.
  • In the following job positions the minimum gross salary amount to have an EU Blue Card is HUF 526,560:

    1. General practitioner (general doctor) - FEOR 2211
    2. Pharmacist, specialized pharmacist - FEOR 2214
    3. Optometrist - FEOR 2222
    4. Dietician and nutrition adviser - FEOR 2223
    5. Physiotherapist - FEOR 2224
    6. District nurse - FEOR 2225
    7. Ambulance officer - FEOR 2226
    8. Nursing professional (with higher education qualification) - FEOR 2231
    9. Midwifery professional (with higher education qualification) - FEOR 2232
    FEOR: Hungarian Standard classification of Occupation

  • If you can prove your entitlement for a Residence Permit for the Purpose of Intra-corporate Transfer, you have to apply for that residence permit type, instead of EU Blue Card.
  • If you are assigned from an organisation seated in an EEA country or in Switzerland to an organisation seated in Hungary, you cannot apply for an EU Blue Card. In this case, please choose an alternative residence permit.
  • Validity Period

  • at least ,
  • On a general basis the minimum duration period of an EU Blue Card is one year. However, if the employment relationship would be concluded for a period less than one year, the EU BLue Card has to be issued for the duration of this employment period plus three months.
  • not more than .
  • The longest applicable validity period depends on many circumstances. The most important of theese are that the validity of the issued EU Blue Card cannot exceed the validity period of your passport and the termination date of your employment contract or assignment letter. The legal Hungarian stay and work by having an EU Blue Card can be extended by further four years by applying for an EU Blue Card extension at least 30 days before the expiry of the current EU Blue Card. Therefore, you can stay and work in Hungary for a period longer than four years, however, in order for this, you need to go through an EU Blue Card 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 an EU Blue Card, this EU Blue Card cannot be extended but a new EU Blue Card application procedure has to be initiated. The main difference between the EU Blue Card extension and the new EU Blue Card application is that if a new EU Blue Card is applied for (i.e., the previous one is not extended), you have to leave the territory of Europe when the current EU Blue Card expires, and submit a new EU Blue Card application at one of the appropriate places below. In turn, if the residence permit is extended, the application for the extended EU Blue Card has to be filed in Hungary.

    Place of Application

    The place of the EU Blue Card 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 residence permit extension.

    A) if you have citizenship(s) only:
    You have to apply for a "new" EU Blue Card (i.e., technically it cannot be extended) if you do not have a valid Hungarian residence permit/EU Blue Card, 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" EU Blue Card (i.e., technically it cannot be extended) if you do not have a valid Hungarian residence permit/EU Blue Card, 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 your habitual residence, or
  • Immigration Office (official name: National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing), the competent directorate is located in the region of your prospective Hungarian accommodation.

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

  • D) EU Blue Card Application, if your Employer qualifies as a :
    Your Employer is a Preferred Employer if it is seated in Hungary and...
  • has a valid strategic partnership agreement with the Hungarian Government. List of these employers:
  • if you are Ukranian or Serbian citizen and you are employed in a specific job position enlisted by the Ministry of Finance. List of these job positions:
  • your Employer impleents an investment project of preferential status for national economy considerations.
  • you are employed in the framework of an Intra-corporate Transfer. If this is the case, EU Blue Card is not the applicable permit type for you, please see Residence Permit for the Purpose of Intra-corporste Transfer instead.
  • a Preferred Employer can file the EU Blue Card application on behalf of you online.
  • if the Preferred Employer does not file the EU Blue Card application on behalf of you, the EU Blue Card has to be filed by you at one of the above-mentioned places.
  • Application Fee

  • in case of new EU Blue Card 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 are exempt to pay the above-mentioned application fees.

    Time period of decision-making:

  • not more than 60 days if your Employer is a Preferred Employer (see description on Preferred Employer above).
  • not more than 90 days if your Employer is not a Preferred Employer.
  • Rights

  • Work in Hungary at that Hungarian Employer which the residence permit was applied for.
  • Change your Hungarian employer after two years by keeping the same EU Blue Card. Changing a Hungarian employer can be made only one time without applying for another residence permit or EU Blue Card.
  • Stay in another Schengen country up to 90 days within any 180 days period of time without obtaining a C-type Schengen visa (your passport and this issued residence permit is required when staying in this other Schengen country).
  • Study at a Hungarian higher education institute even in a state-funded program.
  • Work as a in parallel with the employment (if this is not prohibited by the Employer).
  • 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.
  • The report has to be made towards 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).
  • Inform the Immigration Office about the birth of your child, if he/she was born in the territory of Hungary and having third-country nationality only.
  • Report the termination of the employment to the Immigration Office within five days.
  • Report the start of the employment to the Immigration Office within five days.
  • Report the intention of changing the Hungarian Employer in the first two years having the EU Blue Card or if changing the Hungarian Employer for the second time. The report has to be made to the Immigration Office, which results the obigation of another EU Blue Card or Residence Permit application.
  • 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 EU Blue Card to the Immigration Office within eight days, if it becomes invalid.



  • Services & Pricing

    EU Blue Card (your obligation)

    Service Title:
    Obtaining EU Blue Card

    We offer in this service:
  • compile a list of all the documents required for the application,
  • review the application documents,
  • assist in preparing 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 Employee, we provide discount from our standard price of EUR 1,200*.

    *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 (your Employer's obligation)

    Your Hungarian Employer has to notify the Immigration Office on the start or the lack of the start of your work, or if your authorised work has been cancelled before its original termination date. We help your Hungarian Employer calrify what types of notifications have to be made and also assist in fulfilling those notifications. Please see for further details: Notifications as Employer'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).

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