As you have all travelled to Hungary, it means you had been successfully accepted to this university and made another successful application to the Immigration Office.
Most of you are 3rd country nationals which means your original residence is not in the Member States of the European Union or in the European Economic Area (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein).
According to the law each 3rd country national who prefers to stay in Hungary for more than 90 days within a 180 day period needs to apply for a residence permit. You will all get a residence permit card that allows you to stay here legally for the period of your studies.
After arriving to Hungary, you still have some tasks, as all of you who gave in the application at a consulate need to come to the Immigration Office for taking their biometric data that means we take your fingerprints and take a photo. We need this because your residence permit card is biometric. So once your biometric data have been taken we send them to Budapest where they produce the cards and send them to the university so you can collect them later. Producing the card usually takes 10-15 days. You don’t need to worry until that as you all have your D visa in your passport which is valid for 30 days after entering Hungary. Although sometimes the residence permit card is not ready and your 30 day visa expires, in this case you need to come to the Immigration Office with a passport photo and we make a temporary residence permit for you.
After that the only thing you need to concentrate on is your studies.
When your residence permit card is about to expire – it means at least 30 days before it expires - and you still have some semesters left, you shall come to the Immigration Office and make an extension. The fee charged for the extension of a residence permit is HUF 10,000 - payable by bank card or by yellow cheque supplied by us. There is an exception though for the students who owe the STIPENDIUM HUNGARICUM or HUNGARY HELPS scholarship as their procedure is free of the administrative service fee.
A successful extension
First, you fill in the application form – which is a general form – and Appendix 14 that shows your purpose of study. What is very important: you can ask your residence permit for not longer than a 2 year period. So even if you fill it in with a 3 year period, we cannot give it to you for more than 2 years. Also, we cannot give it to you longer as your study/scholarship lasts. While filling in the form it’s not compulsory to put an end date as we always give out the residence permits for as long as it can be.
For the extension you need to attach the followings:
From everyone:
- certificate of student status
- bank account statement regarding the last 3 months
- if your address hasn’t changed the copy of the accommodation registration card, if it has changed, a new registration card and a rental contract.
If you are a student with Stipendium Hungaricum or Hungary Helps scholarship, the letter of award
If you need to pay educational fees or dormitory fees because you don’t owe a scholarship you shall provide a certificate about paying issued by the university, and also a comprehensive health insurance, proof of savings on bank account
About the procedure:
It takes 15 days if everything in your file is all right.
During the process, the immigration office may request further documents, apart from the compulsory ones, and may take further procedural steps as well. The administrative time limit shall not include the length of time between the time you receive the notice until the time you need to send in the missing documents. After the application is submitted you shall be able to attach documents by way of post or by e-mail. In case you don’t send the missing documents in the given time we have to terminate your case according to the law and you shall give in a new application. Although that might cause some complications.
So, once again the validity period of a residence permit issued for the purpose of study should be given for maximum of 2 years or until the end of your studies. The validity period of a residence permit may not exceed the validity period of your passport.
Unfortunately there are cases when we have to refuse an application. In case of refusal, you can make an appeal within 8 days of delivery at the Immigration Office. If the applicant introduces any new evidence in the appeal, of which he/she was aware before the decision was adopted, or if the appeal is lodged without showing cause, the Office shall dismiss the appeal without any examination. The administrative service fee for the appeal is HUF 5,500, payable by bank card or by yellow cheque supplied by us.
Some reasons that make us refuse your residence permit extension:
- if you have given false information or untrue facts in the interest of obtaining the right of residence, or misled the authority in respect of the purpose of residence;
- if you suffer from any disease that is considered to constitute a threat to public health, and refuses to submit to the appropriate compulsory medical treatment;
- if you are unable to meet the conditions set out by law;
- if you failed to report the particulars of a genuine place of accommodation in Hungary.
- if you don’t obtain the certificate within one and half times the period of time fixed for basic academic and examination requirements.
Other useful things to know:
- You with a valid residence permit have the right of entry without a visa and the right of residence in the territory of Schengen Member States not exceeding ninety days within a one hundred and eighty day period.
You can have a job while you are studying. During your term-time for maximum twenty-four hours weekly, and outside your term-time for a maximum period of ninety days or sixty-six working days in a year.
- You shall carry the accommodation registration card on you at all times. It’s best if you put it in your wallet or passport. When you change your location or your address you shall notify the Immigration office within three days.
- You have to report in writing without delay to the immigration authority if your passport or residence permit is lost, stolen or destroyed.
