Information notice for persons entitled to a visa-free stay
I. Rules for
residence under general, Schengen rules
Third-country nationals’ short-term stay in Hungary
is defined as a planned stay in Hungary not exceeding 90 days within any 180‑day
period.
A national of a third country listed in Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2018/1806
of the European Parliament and of the Council as exempt from visa requirements may legally enter Hungary and the
Schengen Member States and stay not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period.
You can find the list of Schengen
Member States at the following link, among others:
In case of a stay in Hungary exceeding 30 days but not
reaching 90 days, after entering Hungary, the client is required to report
their place of accommodation to the immigration authority via the Enter Hungary
electronic application platform (https://enterhungary.gov.hu/eh/?en), and on this basis, the Directorate-General will
issue a certificate on place of accommodation
electronically alongside their work permit.
If you intend
to undertake work during this period, please be advised to read the
following:
Please be
informed that during this period, third-country nationals have the opportunity
to submit an application for a residence
permit in person or via the Enter Hungary electronic platform (https://enterhungary.gov.hu/eh/?en).
If you are a visa-exempt national and your residence permit expires, your right to a stay in Hungary not exceeding 90 days within a 180-day period will be renewed from the date of expiry. However, please note that during this period you can only stay in Hungary as a tourist; the information notice available via the following link provides guidance regarding your employment https://oif.gov.hu/factsheets/information-for-employers-regarding-the-short-term-employment-of-third-country-nationals-in-hungary.
II. Additional
30 or 90-day stay in Hungary available on a bilateral basis
If you are a national of one of the following third countries, you are entitled to stay in
Hungary for an additional 30 or 90 days after your 90-day visa-free stay in the
Schengen Area has expired, or after you have previously stayed in a Member
State of the European Union or a State of the Schengen Area with a residence
permit and its validity has expired, provided that you comply with the detailed
rules regarding previous stay as set out in this information notice:
– Andorra
(90 days)
– Argentina
(90 days)
– Brazil (90
days)
– Canada (90
days)
– Chile (90 days)
– Costa Rica
(90 days)
– Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (90 days)
– Israel (90
days)
– Japan (90 days)
– Macau Special
Administrative Region (90 days)
– Malaysia
(90 days)
– Mexico (90
days)
– New
Zealand (90 days)
– Panama (90
days)
– Paraguay
(90 days)
– San Marino
(30 days)
– Singapore
(30 days)
– South Korea
(90 days)
– United
States of America (90 days)
– Uruguay
(90 days)
– Venezuela
(90 days)
Please note
that the bilateral agreements between Hungary and the abovementioned countries are
valid only between the two contracting countries.
Based on the above, the benefit of an additional 30 or 90 days of stay available under the bilateral agreement is not valid in the territory of other Member States of the European Union and the States of the Schengen Area, as these countries are not contracting parties to the abovementioned bilateral agreements.
Please be informed that according to the bilateral agreements, the conditions for staying in Hungary not
exceeding 30 or 90 days after a visa-free stay are:
– At the time of your entry into Hungary, you have not yet stayed in
another State of the Schengen Area for the 90 days available for visa-free stay
within the six-month period from your first entry into the Schengen Area;
– you will not enter the territory of another Schengen Member State during
your stay in Hungary under the bilateral agreement on visa exemption; and that
– you will leave the Schengen Area from the territory of Hungary on the
last day of the 90 days under the bilateral agreement.
You do not need to leave the Schengen Area in advance to start a further 30
or 90-day stay in Hungary based on a bilateral agreement.
If you have spent 90 days in the Schengen Area and have already left, but
your country has a bilateral agreement with Hungary, you are allowed to enter the
territory of Hungary for another 90 days based on the agreement. In this case,
the requirements of entry are that you can only enter the Schengen Area via
Hungary, and you can only stay in Hungary during this period (you cannot enter
another Schengen Member State), and you can only leave the Schengen Area from
Hungary.
It is clear from the wording of the Schengen Agreement that during the
period of stay not exceeding 30 or 90 days according to the bilateral
agreement, you may not travel to another
State of the Schengen Area and must leave the Schengen Area directly from
Hungary, because otherwise, appearing in another Member State (even
transiting by air) may entail the risk of being detained by the authorities of
the other member state – for an overstay –, in case you do not have a right of
residence in the other member state.
In addition, please be advised that you are only entitled to an additional
30 or 90 days of residence in Hungary based on a bilateral agreement if your
previous stay was based on the right to visa-free stay, or if you resided in
the Schengen Area with a residence permit in the past and your stay was not
terminated due to the withdrawal of your residence permit.
As a result of the above, upon the
expiry of the validity period of the residence permit, you are allowed to stay
in Hungary for a further 30 or 90 days, but in the event of the withdrawal of
the permit, you are not entitled to this benefit, since the decision of
withdrawal must be followed by a decision of expulsion under the law of the
European Union. Therefore, if your residence permit previously issued by any
Member State is withdrawn by the respective Member State, you are not entitled
to enter Hungary, but must immediately leave the territory of the Member States
of the European Union and States of the Schengen Area – including the territory
of Hungary.
Considering that the additional stay not exceeding 30 or 90 days under
bilateral agreements primarily serves the development of cultural relations,
this period cannot be used for activities that can be carried out only as a
holder of a residence permit, e.g., pursuing studies, being employed, engaging
in gainful activities, etc.
It is recommended that when utilizing the benefit under the bilateral
agreement, you always carry your valid passport (or, if you entered the
Schengen Area with a previous passport, that passport as well), and – if you had
one – your expired residence permit issued by any Member State, in order to be
able to prove your legal residence in Hungary during a check by the police
forces and later when leaving the Schengen Area.
Furthermore, please be informed that the
bilateral agreement allows for further stay immediately after the visa-free
stay in the Schengen Area; therefore, the benefits under the bilateral agreements
cannot be accumulated in case another Member State of the European Union or
another State of the Schengen Area also has a bilateral agreement with your
country. Thus, you cannot use the bilateral agreements of different Member
States one after the other in order to spend an even longer period of time in
the territory of the European Union or the States of the Schengen Area without
holding a residence permit.
