Hungary
Residency route coverage
| Route family | Routes | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Investment |
| Routes recorded |
| Remote work | Routes recorded | |
| Passive income | No routes recorded | No qualifying route as of 2026-03-03[14][15] Hungary has no retirement, pensioner or other passive-income residence permit. The immigration authority's published set of residence purposes for third-country nationals, given both in its factsheet navigation and on its national residence card page, contains none. No official source says in terms that no such route exists, so this finding rests on that set being complete. |
| Entrepreneur | Routes recorded | |
| Work |
| Routes recorded |
| Study | Routes recorded Three routes. NDGAP publishes the student mobility residence permit and the student mobility certificate under the same factsheet as the study permit; they are recorded inside hu-study rather than as separate routes, because NDGAP does not present them as independent instruments. NDGAP's published criteria list for the student mobility residence permit is empty on the page itself. | |
| Family | Routes recorded |
Country facts
Identity
| Local name | Magyarorszag |
|---|---|
| ISO code | HUN |
| Region | Europe |
| Currency | HUF as of 2026-01-31[3][9] EU country profile records the currency as the Hungarian Forint (HUF); NAV's 2026 personal-income-tax guideline states all figures in HUF. |
| Official languages | hu as of 2026-08-07[1][3] EU country profile lists Hungarian as the official EU language of Hungary; Act LV of 1993 s.4(1)e) requires the naturalisation civics test to be taken in the Hungarian language. |
Memberships
| Memberships |
|
|---|
Permanent residence
| Qualifying years | 3 as of 2026-03-03[12][15] |
|---|---|
| Language requirement | Not established from a qualifying source The national residence card requires a Hungarian cultural knowledge exam taken in written form in the Hungarian language, but neither NDGAP page states a language level, nor whether a language proficiency requirement exists independently of the cultural exam. |
| Integration requirement | Yes as of 2026-03-03[12][15] For applications for a national residence card or an EU residence card submitted on or after 1 January 2025, NDGAP assesses compliance with the conditions of social coexistence and the applicant must pass a Hungarian cultural knowledge exam (written, in Hungarian, in Budapest; fee HUF 20,000 per sitting; three failures bar further applications). Statutory exemptions: prior successful completion in another aliens policing procedure, applicants under 14, persons under guardianship by final court judgment, and applicants for a national residence card issued in the national interest. |
| Income requirement | Not established from a qualifying source Housing and subsistence must be guaranteed and evidenced, but no figure or index-linked threshold is published on the NDGAP national residence card page. |
| Absence rules |
|
Citizenship
| Years to naturalisation | 8 as of 2025-06-30[1][5] Act LV of 1993 s.4(1)a): continuous residence in Hungary for the eight years preceding the application. Preferential periods (not the country default) are 5 years for persons born or settled in Hungary as minors and stateless persons, and 3 years for spouses of Hungarian citizens, parents of Hungarian minor children, refugees and adults adopted as minors by a Hungarian citizen. |
|---|---|
| of which on permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source Act LV of 1993 s.23(1) deems a non-citizen to reside in Hungary from the date of registration of address provided he has domicile; the Government's nationality guidance states that holding a document entitling the applicant to permanent residence is a prerequisite. No separate minimum number of years on permanent-residence status was located. |
| Dual citizenship | Not established from a qualifying source Act LV of 1993 s.2(2) provides that a Hungarian citizen who is simultaneously a citizen of another State is considered a Hungarian citizen for the purposes of Hungarian law, and s.4(1) as retrieved lists no renunciation condition; neither source states a general permission or prohibition in terms, so this is recorded as unknown rather than inferred. |
| Language requirement | required, level unspecified as of 2025-06-30[1][5] Act LV of 1993 s.4(1)e): proof of having passed a basic civics knowledge test in the Hungarian language, or exemption under the Act together with demonstrated knowledge of Hungarian. No CEFR level is stated. |
| Citizenship test required | Yes as of 2025-06-30[1][5] Basic civics/constitutional knowledge examination in Hungarian. The Government's guidance lists exemptions: incapacitated persons and persons of partial capacity, applicants aged 65 or over, graduates of Hungarian-language educational institutions, and persons certified unable to sit the exam on health grounds. |
Tax
| Tax-residency day threshold | 183 as of 2026-07-24[10][16] Days of presence in Hungary in the given calendar year, counting the day of entry and the day of exit each as a whole day. Act CXVII of 1995 on Personal Income Tax s.3 point 2(b), consolidated text in force from 24 July 2026: 'az a termeszetes szemely, aki … a szabad mozgashoz es a harom honapot meghalado tartozkodashoz valo jogat az adott naptari evben – a ki- es beutazas napjat is egesz napnak tekintve – legalabb 183 napig Magyarorszag teruleten gyakorolja'. The same section applies a 183-day test to third-country nationals with long-term residence entitlement, in the negative ('less than 183 days in any 12-month period'), and treats a stay of not more than 183 days in any 12-month period as temporary. CORROBORATION CAVEAT: NAV Information Booklet 22.1 independently confirms that s.3 point 2 of the PIT Act is the operative residency provision, but does not reproduce the day count; njt.hu, the state's own consolidated-law database, is client-rendered and returned an empty body. The figure therefore rests on one source. Flagged in notes/hu.md. |
|---|---|
| Other tax-residency triggers | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-07-24[10][16] |
| Headline income tax rate | 15% as of 2026-01-31[9][11] Percent. NAV: 'The rate of the personal income tax is 15 percent.' Separate rates apply outside the consolidated base, including a 9 percent income tax rate for the self-employed on entrepreneurial income. |
| Income tax structure | flat as of 2026-01-31[9][11] A single 15 percent rate applies to the consolidated tax base regardless of income level; there is no local personal income tax supplementing the central one. |
| Net-wealth tax | Not established from a qualifying source Still unknown after a dedicated search of NAV's English and Hungarian estates, kormany.hu, njt.hu and EU institutional sources. No Tier-1 source states either that Hungary levies or that it does not levy a recurring annual net wealth tax on individuals. Secondary sources assert its absence; those are not usable here, and absence from NAV's list of personal-income-tax categories is not a statement about wealth tax. Deliberately left unknown rather than inferred. |
| Inheritance or estate tax | Yes as of 2026-02-02[8] Inheritance duty under Act XCIII of 1990 on Duties. NAV: general rate 18 percent; 9 percent on the acquisition of residential property; inheritance of a motor vehicle or trailer at twice the duty charged on a quid pro quo transfer. Exempt: lineal relatives including by adoption, the spouse, and siblings including half-siblings and adoptive siblings where at least one parent or adoptive parent is the same. A stepchild, foster child, step-parent or step-child is exempt on HUF 20,000,000 of the net value of the inherited share. Duty applies to all inheritance located in Hungary without exception, and to movable estate abroad inherited by a Hungarian citizen, a non-Hungarian citizen residing in Hungary or a domestic-registered legal entity where no corresponding duty is payable in the state where the estate is situated. Single Tier-1 source: no second official publisher of the duties regime was located. |
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Changes
Recent changes
| 2025-01-01 | For applications for a national residence card or an EU residence card submitted on or after 1 January 2025, NDGAP assesses compliance with the conditions of social coexistence and applicants must pass a Hungarian cultural knowledge exam (written, in Hungarian, in Budapest; HUF 20,000 per sitting).[12][15] |
|---|---|
| 2026-01-01 | The statutory monthly minimum wage rose to HUF 322,800 and the guaranteed wage minimum to HUF 373,200 with effect from 1 January 2026, by Government Decree 426/2025. (XII. 23.), which repealed Government Decree 394/2024. (XII. 12.).[6][7] |
| 2026-01-01 | The minimum monthly remuneration required for an EU Blue Card rose from HUF 883,671 to HUF 1,001,048, and from HUF 706,937 to HUF 800,838 for nine listed healthcare occupations. NDGAP states the 2026 amount applies to the salaries of all holders of a valid EU Blue Card in 2026, including issuance and extension cases initiated in 2025 but decided in 2026, and advises holders whose salary will not reach it to contact NDGAP about changing the purpose of residence. The amounts are set by the Minister for National Economy under s.3(1)-(2) of NGM Decree 44/2011. (XII. 16.) and announced in Hivatalos Ertesito 2025/49. Affects: EU Blue Card[4][13] |
Verification
| Sources cited | 16 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 15 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2025-06-30 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-07 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-11 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Act LV of 1993 on Hungarian citizenship (English translation, as in force on 30 June 2025)
Nemzeti Jogszabalytar (National Legislation Database) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2025-06-30 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [2] Agreement on the European Economic Area, consolidated text (CELEX 21994A0103(01))
EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [3] Hungary – EU country
European Union (Directorate-General for Communication) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [4] Hivatalos Ertesito 2025/49 – communication of the Minister for National Economy on the 2026 level of the minimum wage payable to third-country nationals employed with an EU Blue Card under s.3(1)-(2) of NGM Decree 44/2011. (XII. 16.)
Magyar Kozlony Lap- es Konyvkiado (official gazette publisher) · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2025-10-30 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [5] The acquisition of Hungarian nationality – with the exception of simplified naturalisation
Government of Hungary (human rights portal, emberijogok.kormany.hu) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 · Archived copy - [6] 426/2025. (XII. 23.) Korm. rendelet a kotelezo legkisebb munkaber (minimalber) es a garantalt berminimum megallapitasarol – Magyar Kozlony 2025. evi 157. szam
Magyar Kozlony (Hungarian Official Gazette), Ministry of Justice · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2025-12-23 · Accessed 2026-08-07 · Archived copy - [7] A Kormany rendelete a kotelezo legkisebb munkaber (minimalber) es a garantalt berminimum megallapitasarol – normaszoveg
Government of Hungary, Ministry for National Economy (Nemzetgazdasagi Miniszterium) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2025-12-12 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [11] Hungary: Taxing Wages 2026
OECD · international organisation · Tier 2 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [12] Hungarian cultural knowledge exam
National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (NDGAP/OIF) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-03 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [13] EU Blue Card
National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (NDGAP/OIF) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-03 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [14] Residence permit for guest investor
National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (NDGAP/OIF) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-03 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [15] National Residence Card
National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (NDGAP/OIF) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-03 · Accessed 2026-08-07 · Archived copy - [16] Act CXVII of 1995 on Personal Income Tax – consolidated text in force 24 July 2026
Hatalyos Jogszabalyok Gyujtemenye (net.jogtar.hu) consolidated-law service · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-24 · Accessed 2026-08-07 · Archived copy