Registration, banking and utilities in Budapest

Registering as an EEA citizen

An EEA citizen — the EU states plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein — staying more than 90 days in any 180 must report their residence no later than the 93rd day after entry. The application goes in at the customer service desk of the OIF regional directorate covering your Hungarian address, or electronically through Enter Hungary. The fee is HUF 1,000, paid by bank card or bank transfer. If the conditions are proved the registration certificate is issued on the spot, posted to you rather than collected, and it is then valid indefinitely alongside a valid passport or national ID card.

• Take a valid passport or ID card and proof of purpose: an employment contract, a declaration naming the company with its registry and tax numbers, a sole-trader registration number, evidence of genuine job-seeking, or a school or university enrolment certificate.
• Take proof of sufficient resources and documentary proof of health insurance covering the whole stay.
• An application filed through Enter Hungary only counts as having reached the authority if it contains your facial image.

The address card falls out of the same procedure

Your first Hungarian address is declared inside the registration-certificate procedure, so nothing has to be done at a counter beforehand. The immigration authority notifies the population register, and Budapest Főváros Kormányhivatala issues the lakcímkártya and posts it to you. Address can be proved with a lease, a title deed, or another credible document, and OIF will tell you which it accepts for your situation. Every later change of address is reported at any district office (járási hivatal), not only the one covering the new address — ask there what deadline runs from the day you move, and do it straight away.

• Since 1 February 2025 a separate fee is charged for issuing and posting the lakcímkártya to people establishing a first Hungarian address this way. Ask OIF for the current amount when you apply.
• DÁP (Digitális Állampolgárság) is the government's digital administration platform and app, bundling social-insurance certificates, driving-licence, property and tax matters and marriage registration behind one login, on 1818 in Hungary or +36 1 550 1858 from abroad. Confirm whether a foreign resident can register for it before you plan around it.

The tax number

The adóazonosító jel is issued by NAV, and you apply for it in person at a NAV customer service office or by post. You must show ID — a national ID card, driving licence or passport — and the lakcímkártya, and a postal application needs copies of both attached. NAV renumbers its forms every year, so take the current form number and the processing time from nav.gov.hu or NAV's customer line before you go rather than from an older guide.

• Ask NAV what a replacement adókártya costs before you need one. Reissues are free in some circumstances and carry an administrative service fee in others, and the fee is set by decree rather than by the office.
• A NAV certificate of the tax number does the card's job while you wait for it.

Third-country arrivals

What you pay depends on where and how you apply. A residence permit applied for inside Hungary costs HUF 39,000 in person or HUF 26,000 through Enter Hungary, an extension HUF 26,000, and an application at a Hungarian consulate EUR 110. An EU Blue Card is HUF 39,000 in person or HUF 26,000 via Enter Hungary, a national, temporary or EU residence card HUF 26,000, replacing or exchanging a permit document HUF 20,000, and an appeal HUF 47,000. At a regional directorate the fee must be paid by bank card.

• Accommodation is reported to the OIF regional directorate with a title deed, a lease, proof of booked and paid accommodation, or a notarised undertaking of accommodation from a qualifying resident family member.
• A change of accommodation is reported within three days, electronically through Enter Hungary. You receive a szálláshely igazolás, which must be kept and carried.
• Holders of an EU Blue Card, ICT, study, research, traineeship, volunteering or job-search permit are exempt from attaching those documents. Someone in commercial accommodation reports it if the stay runs beyond 30 days from entry.

The White Card, and its ceiling

The Fehér Kártya is the digital-nomad residence permit for third-country nationals employed by, or owning a profitable stake in, a business outside Hungary and working remotely from here. You must prove lawful income of at least EUR 3,000 net a month for the six months before entry, and keep it throughout the stay. Administration time is 21 days, with a decision within 30 days of application. It is a dead end by design, so take it as a stay rather than as a start.

• Valid for at most one year and extendable once by at most one year.
• Revoked if you work for a Hungarian employer or acquire a stake in a Hungarian company.
• You cannot apply for a residence permit on any other ground from inside Hungary during or after it, family members cannot get a family-reunification permit, and holders cannot obtain a national residence card.

In order

1. 1Sign the lease first — it is the address proof the whole chain runs on.
2. 2File the OIF registration before the 93rd day after entry, at the regional directorate for your address or through Enter Hungary.
3. 3Bring passport or ID, proof of purpose, proof of resources and proof of health insurance for the whole stay.
4. 4Pay the HUF 1,000 fee, and ask what the separate lakcímkártya issue and posting fee now costs.
5. 5Wait for the registration certificate and the lakcímkártya to arrive by post; neither is collected at a counter.
6. 6Apply to NAV in person or by post with ID and the lakcímkártya, on the form nav.gov.hu currently lists.
7. 7Open the bank account and start work once the tax number exists.
8. 8Sort the TAJ number — if you are employed and not belföldi, your employer requests it before employment begins.
9. 9Report any later move at any járási hivatal, and ask what deadline runs from the day you move.