White Card – residency for digital nomads
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Feher Kartya – digitalis nomad tartozkodas as of 2026-08-07[3] NDGAP's Hungarian factsheet title, which uses an en dash. Its Hungarian navigation label is 'Feher Kartya (digitalis nomad)'. |
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| Official name (English) | White Card – residency for digital nomads as of 2026-03-11[6] |
| Legal basis | Not established from a qualifying source NDGAP's factsheet cites no Act, section or decree. The only statutory-looking string on the page is inside a form download path. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-03-11[6] |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EEA as of 2026-03-11[6] Open to third-country nationals only; EEA nationals and their family members hold the right of free movement and residence. Stateless persons qualify as third-country nationals. |
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Permit terms
| Initial duration | 1 year as of 2026-03-11[6] NDGAP: 'Validity period of the document is maximised in 1 year'. |
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| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-03-11[6] |
| Renewal duration | 1 year as of 2026-03-11[6] 'may be extended once for another year'; NDGAP adds that a residence permit can only be extended once for the same purpose. |
| Maximum total duration | 2 years as of 2026-03-11[6] One year plus a single one-year extension. |
| Work rights | none as of 2026-03-11[6] No work rights in Hungary at all. The permit is granted only to a third-country national 'who does not pursue any gainful activity in Hungary and does not hold a share in a Hungarian company', and NDGAP states it 'will withdraw the residence permit if the applicant works for or on behalf of an employer in Hungary or acquires a share in a company in Hungary'. NDGAP also states that during the White Card's validity and after its expiry, no other residence permit may be applied for under another purpose. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | No as of 2026-03-11[6] NDGAP: 'Third-country nationals who are holders of a White Card may not be granted a national residence card.' |
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Requirements
| Minimum income | EUR 3,000 per month measured over 6 months as of 2026-03-11[6] Net. NDGAP: 'The third-country national is considered to have sufficient resources to cover his/her subsistence if the third-country national's monthly legal income is equal to or exceeds EUR 3,000 net for at least 6 months prior to entry', and 'the applicant must have this amount of income throughout the period of stay in Hungary'. Evidenced by a bank statement for the previous 6 months, or a certificate of regular income issued by the employer or the tax authority. Note that the threshold is denominated in euro, not forint, although Hungary's currency is the forint. Single Tier-1 source: no Hungarian mission, EU institutional or other official page states this figure. |
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| Qualifying income basis | employment abroad, own company abroad as of 2026-03-11[2][6] Two limbs only: a verified employment relationship in a country other than Hungary, work performed from Hungary using an advanced digital technology solution; or ownership of a share in a company with verified profit in a country other than Hungary, with the work or the management of the company performed from Hungary by the same means. NDGAP publishes no freelance-with-foreign-clients limb. The Consulate General of Hungary in Los Angeles independently states the same two limbs in its long-stay entry guidance. |
| Local work allowed | No as of 2026-03-11[6] Expressly not. See permit.work_rights. NDGAP additionally bars the White Card to anyone who meets the conditions for guest self-employment, guest investor, employment for the purpose of investment, employment, guest workers, a National Card, a Hungarian Card or a Corporate Card; to holders of a study permit or participants in a short-term supervised traineeship; to posted workers; to asylum applicants and beneficiaries; to persons with tolerated status or suspended expulsion; to holders of an EC residence permit or EU residence card; to intra-corporate transferees; and to those admitted to the EU as highly qualified workers. |
| Minimum remote-working history | 6 months as of 2026-03-11[6] Recorded from the income condition, which requires the qualifying income to have run 'for at least 6 months prior to entry'. NDGAP states no separate tenure condition on the remote arrangement itself, so this is the income window rather than an independent seniority test. |
| Route carries its own tax regime | Not established from a qualifying source |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-03-11[6] Abroad where entry is not visa-exempt and the applicant holds no residence permit; in Hungary during a legal visa-free stay by a person not holding a residence permit. Extensions only in Hungary via Enter Hungary. No separate visa application is needed: the residence-permit application comprises the application for the entry visa, which is a single-entry type D visa authorising a stay of not more than 30 days and valid for 3 months. |
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| Statutory processing time | 21 days as of 2026-03-11[6] Excludes deficiency-remedy periods. Outer deadline: decision as to merits within 30 days of submission – the shortest outer deadline NDGAP publishes on any of the routes in this record. |
| Fees |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-03-11[6] |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | No as of 2026-03-10[1][4][6] NDGAP: family members of a holder or applicant may not be granted a residence permit for family reunification. The single exception is a third-country national child born in Hungary during the permit's validity, who receives a family-reunification permit on notification of the birth. |
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Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
Profile benefits
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Verification
| Sources cited | 6 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 5 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-03-03 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-07 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-11 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] EU Immigration Portal – Hungary, family member
European Commission · international organisation · Tier 2 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [2] Entry for long stay exceeding 90 days
Consulate General of Hungary in Los Angeles (MFA) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 - [3] Tajekoztatok – Hungarian-language factsheet index (official permit designations)
National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (NDGAP/OIF) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-07 · Archived copy - [4] Residence permit for the purpose of family reunification
National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (NDGAP/OIF) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-10 · Accessed 2026-08-07 · Archived copy - [5] Procedural fees
National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (NDGAP/OIF) · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-03 · Accessed 2026-08-07 · Archived copy - [6] White Card – residency for digital nomads
National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (NDGAP/OIF) · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-11 · Accessed 2026-08-07 · Archived copy