Travelling outside of Hungary

TRAVELLING OUTSIDE OF HUNGARY

Once the resident permit is in hand, one of the first questions our clients ask; how can I travel?
According to the Hungarian Immigration Act (in compliance with EU regulations) with a valid Hungarian residence permit you can travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days within a 180-day period.

AS A PERMANENTRESIDENT…

To upgrade your immigration status from temporary residence permit to a permanent residence permit, the Hungarian Immigration Act requires that you spend a certain amount of uninterrupted time in Hungary holding certain temporary residence permits.

National Residence Card
For the National Residence Card, the law requires a continuous stay of 3 years.
According to the law, leaving the territory of Hungary for periods of less than 4 months at a time shall not be considered an interruption of residence in Hungary, if the total duration of the person’s stays abroad do not exceed 270 days in the 3 years preceding the submissionof the application. However, the national residence card may be revoked by the Immigration Office, if the third-country national has left the territory of Hungary for more than six months.

EU Residence Card
For an EU Residence Card the law requires a continuous stay of 5 years.
According to the law, the following shall not be considered an interruption of residence in Hungary in relation to the period of time required to obtain an EU Residence Card:
a) in the case of residence with an EU Blue Card, leaving the country for periods of less than 6 months at a time, provided that the total duration of stays abroad does not exceed 300 days in 5 years, or b) in
the case of residence with an EU Blue Card, leaving the territory of the Member States of the European Union for a period of less than 12 months at a time, provided that the total duration of stays abroad does not exceed 18 months in any 5-year period.
However, the immigration office will revoke the EU residence card if the third-country national has left the territory of the Member States of the European Union for more than 12 months.

But what if you want to leave the Schengen Area and forlonger than 90 days? Here is what you need to consider.

AS A TEMPORARY RESIDENT…

In terms of temporary residence, there is no general rule with regards to how much time you may spend abroad while holding a temporary residence permit in Hungary.

A residence permit is a person’s (a third country national’s) permission to stay more than 90-days within a 180-day period (for a specified purpose). It is a right and not obligation. However, if you decide to leave Hungary, the purpose of your residence may be affected, which may lead to the invalidation or withdrawal of your residence permit.

So if you are residing in Hungary with a work-related residence permit (residence permit for employment purposes, Hungarian Card or EU Blue Card), if you don’t turn up for work and you lose your job, you will also lose your right to stay in Hungary. By losing your job, your employment relationship is terminated, which will no longer serve as your legal title to stay in Hungary. If you lose your title, you lose your permit. Similarly, if you are on a residence permit for study purposes but you spend too much time abroad and you don’t progress in your studies, and your student status is terminated by the school/university, you will also lose your title, and thus lose your residence permit. In these cases, your residence permit will be withdrawn by the Hungarian Immigration Office. These legal sanctions are not directly linked to the time you spend abroad in the Immigration Act, but rather to fulfilling the conditions of your residence, which may be indirectly affected by time.

However, the Hungarian Immigration Act does explicitly govern time spent abroad in the case of a White Card. According to law, the immigration office shall revoke the White Card, if the third-country national has left the territory of Hungary for a period exceeding 90 days.

If you are still unsure or due to some emergency or extraordinary circumstances you had to elave Hungary for longer than the above specified periods, do not hesitate to contact us!