Residency renewal in Hungary

If you are non-EU national living, working, or operating a business in Hungary, you most probably have a temporary residence permit. As a result, residency renewal every few years is an essential, though routine part of your stay in Hungary.

Temporary residency revisited

Temporary residency means you have to renew your residency from time to time, usually after one or two years from receiving it. On this occasion your status is reevaluated: the Immigration Office checks whether you still fulfil the conditions on which your residency was granted in the first place.

E.g. if you got residency as a student, you are still studying; or if you got residency as a business owner, your business is still up and running.

To prove that the original conditions are still met, you will need to prepare various documents to be submitted for inspection.

E.g. if you are a student, you will be surely asked to present proof that you are enrolled; if you are a business owner, a new business plan and previous contracts will be among the documents required.

Renew your residency in time

The deadline for residency renewal application is 30 calendar days before the residency expires. But watch out! This is just the last day you are still allowed to submit the renewal application. If you miss that, the procedure will not be a renewal, but a regular, “new” application, which is a bit different and might be more inconvenient.

To make sure you have enough time to collect all documents, start working on your residency renewal at least 60 days before your residency expires. If you have a work permit as well, it might be worth starting even 90 days before expiry, so you can safely submit everything on time.

Pro tip: When you receive your residence permit, set a calendar alert for yourself on your phone to signal 90 days before expiry. These days smartphone calendars are linked to either your email or google or social media account, this way they will not forget your date even if you change your phone in the coming years.

Ask for help from an expert

Since Hungarian officials rarely speak English, it is more convenient if you ask for expert help with your residency renewal. An expert assistant will be able to tell you which documents to collect, where to find each, and how much time it usually takes to obtain them. They will help you prepare the files for submission – and even lodges an appeal for you if your application is rejected for any reason.

Of course, expert assistance has its price, but in exchange you can rest assured that everything’s going to turn out just fine.

• Residency Renewal Package for business owners: EUR 1,000 (+VAT). It includes a revision and update of the previous business plan, which is an essential document if the basis of your stay is operating a successful business.
• Residency Renewal with Work Permit: EUR 900 (+VAT). If your stay in Hungary is based on your employment, you will also need a work permit with your residency renewal.
• Residency Renewal for spouse: EUR 600 (+VAT). If your stay in Hungary is based on the stay of your spouse, the family unification procedure will continue to allow you to stay.
• Residency Renewal for minor child: EUR 300 (+VAT). If you have minor children (under 18 years of age), they will also need their residency renewed in the family unification procedure.
• Switch to student visa: from EUR 850 (+VAT). If your child is passing 18 years, they can stay in Hungary if they switch to a student resident permit from one based on family unification.
• Residency Renewal for “other reasons”: EUR 600 (+VAT). If you stay in Hungary for any other reason (e.g. you have decided to retire here, you do not perform any gainful activity in Hungary, nor you have a close relative living here), you will still need to renew your residency.

Asking for expert help makes any situation easier. Our Dorka Szabó (dorka.szabo@helpers.hu) will take care of everything. Call her in the office on weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm on +36.1.317.8570, or drop her an email.

Take your residency renewal in your own hands in due time!

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