Book your appointment with us to take the first step to an EU residency
Detre Varga & Partners LLP. is one of the leading immigration law firms in Hungary.
If you're a foreigner, this is what a hungarian residency has got to offer for you:
- the unlimited right to travel and stay anywhere in the EU
- monthly life expenses from as low as 1.000 EUR / month
- the right to profit from the business tax haven of Hungary
- hungarian tax citizenship with low income taxation, no property taxation at all, and several other tax benefits
- full social security and health care in the whole EU from 300 EUR / month
- Local personal hungarian bank account in USD, EUR and HUF (hungarian forint)
- eligibility for permanent residency after 3 years
- eligibility for citizenship after 8 years
Hungary is not a friend of refugees and immigrants from poor or crisis stricken countries. Therefore, the ratio of refugees and migrants is really low in the country. However, if a foreigner qualifies for a hungarian residency, through performing valuable work or starting a business in the country, the state and the local population is friendly and welcoming, no matter where you're from. Hungary does not share the idea of a caring, social state with the EU. Taxes and social security contributions are kept low, but in times of crisis, you need to count on yourself, have savings and an income that can sustain you. In our 12 years experience, Hungary is ideal for foreigners, who have a monthly average income of at least 3000 EUR per month, from employment, freelancing, remote work or doing business.
Let us explain you the main types of hungarian residence permits that we deal with:
EMPLOYMENT RESIDENCY
Being employed in a local company is the easiest way to a residence permit. One example for that is one of our clients, SBS Kft. (sbskft.hu) which has opened a welding school in Pakistan. We are managing the immigration procedure of welders, that have graduated from the welding school, and receive their residence permit and work permit to our client, the hungarian company. The employer provides them housing, transportation, internet, utilities, and a 2 years contract to establish themselves in Europe. After 2 years of practice of their profession, they become skilled workers sought after in the whole world. On average 3-4 welders per month receive a residence permit, and since the first company hired us, several other companies have turned to us to source their labour force from abroad, because there are very few skilled workers in Hungary, that can fill in positions of the growing industry.
To get an employment residency
- you need to have an employer
- you need a work permit, which shall be requested and received for you by us
- you need some savings, at least equivalent of a few thousand euros
- you need housing, typically provided by the employer
After the first year of employment, you have the opportunity to bring your family with you. If you perform a high value work with a high salary, and you have at least 10.000 EUR savings, you can bring your family right away, without waiting for one year.
BUSINESS RESIDENCY
Hungary offers one of Europes most favourable business environment for foreigners:
- 4,5% corporate profit tax on reinvested profits
- 4,5% corporate profit tax on profits that are not reinvested within 5 years
- 15% income tax on dividend
- 0% tax on dividend paid out to foreign company as a shareholder
- Tax and social security status for company director from 300 EUR per month
- 85 double taxation treaties
- One of Europes lowest real estate prices for companies
- several tax benefits for employing employees
- safe and cheap banking system in several currencies (USD, EUR, HUF)
- company maintenance from 100 EUR / month
A business residency is issued for a period between 1-3 years, depending on several factors. In case of a business residency, you become practically employed in your own company, which means you become eligible for social security and tax residency as well. You can be the shareholder, the CEO and the only employee in your own company.
To obtain a business residency in Hungary, you need this:
- a solid business plan that convinces the Immigration Office that you will be able to sustain yourself and the company (this will be written by us, based on cooperation with you)
- company assets, sufficient at least to start the planned activity (this depends on the planned activity)
- private savings, in amount of at least 10.000 EUR (in any currency)
- english language
- a registered seat for the company (that we can provide)
INVESTMENT RESIDENCY
An investment residency is an ease, because you don't need a work permit, and you don't actually work in a company or elsewhere, you just invest a significant amount of money into the company, and live from it's periodical yields or profit. Hungarian immigration law is pretty flexible, so you can invest in anything, that may earn you enough to sustain yourself continuously. You can buy and lease real property. You can invest into a company, and receive income from your shares. All we need to do, is convince the Immigration authority that this profit will keep arriving to your bank account.
To obtain a business residency in Hungary, you need this:
- a solid investment plan that convinces the Immigration Office that you will be able to sustain yourself afrom your investment (this will be written by us, based on cooperation with you)
- financial assets, sufficient at least to invest into the planned activity or project (this depends on the planned activity)
- private savings, in amount of at least 20.000 EUR (in any currency) beyond the amount you want to inves
RESIDENCY FOR FAMILY MEMBERS
As it's name implies, this is not an independent residency form. It can be linked to any kind of money earning residency (employment, business or investment) if the holder of that residency can look after the family member(s) as well.
We receive many inquiries daily, and we work on a busy schedule. Therefore, we kindly ask you to understand, that we don't have capacity to consult clients for free, and we ask payments in advance, as we have requests from people we didn't know before from all parts of the world. Before booking a consultation, you may read through the most frequently asked questions and answers. If you are ready to get started or still have remaining questions, we'll provide you links to book an appointment to start cooperating with us.
How long does a residency procedure last?
The law says between 21 days and 70 days, but in practice, the immigration office -just like anywhere else in Europe- does not care about the deadline at all. We can say, that within 3 months, 90% of all cases end with a decision.
Can I access informations directly from the Immigration office in english?
Yes, their website is http://bmbah.hu
Don't take everything you read there for granted, because they stick to the text of the law, and they don't share all their know-how and their real practice with you. To get some technical and simple information it is definitely useful to browse their site.
Can I submit my application in Hungary instead of travelling back to my home country? I have read on the Immigration Offices website...
Though in theory you can ask for their approval to submit your residency request in Hungary, they rarely accept, and you only waste a couple weeks of your time. Instead of wasting it, book a consultation with us, and we will tell you, if you have the chance to get the approval of the Immigration Office to submit your residency request in Hungary. It depends on your case, and even the degree of the immigration office being busy and overloaded with work at that moment.
How much income do I need to have a chance?
The immigration office does not care about the number you write on the application form. What matters, is the maths, if you can sustain yourself from that amount or not. We do skilled workers, that earn relatively low salary, but they have a 100% success rate, because they live and work outside Budapest, and have very low living costs. But we saw rejections, that came to us for legal remedy, being rejected with 1.500 EUR income, because that amount of money was not sufficient for the expenses that they themselves declared or betrayed in the procedure. As a general rule of thumb, we can say, that under 1.000 EUR you have a hard time to sustain yourself in Budapest. In case of favourable conditions, you may get a residency with a salary of 500 EUR too, but the chances deteriorate as you go below 1.000 EUR.
How much savings do I need?
As a foreigner you're recommended to have an amount of money saved, that would be sufficient to sustain you for at least 6 months if you don't earn. So the amount of savings depend on your monthly expenses.
How much lawyers fees do I pay?
There is no standardized fee. Immigration is a high value legal service, which makes it impossible to set up a "one price fits all" pricing. After a personal consulting that you can book here we'll give you a price quotation that is acceptable for both you and us.
Do I need to pay the lawyers fees if my residency request gets rejected?
If you work with us, you'll need to deposit the lawyers fees in advance, to give us a security, that you'll pay in the end. We've done thousands of cases, and we've seen people changing their minds to an other country, being invited to the U.S. or getting married and staying in their home countries. Until we can select clients, that understand this, we will work with clients, that deposit the lawyers fees in the beginning. If the residency procedure fails finally because of a reason, that is our responsibility, you get full refund, but if it fails because of you, or a reason for which we're not responsible, you don't get refund.
Can I live/work anywhere in the EU?
With a residence permit of any EU country you’re as free to move, live, work anywhere in the EU as a local citizen. This does not mean you can slice döner in Germany one week, and give massages in France the other week, and work in construction the following week. As an employee or a dependant worker, you need to work at your workplace. However, as a freelancer, self employed or a company owner, you may live and work anywhere in the EU, and for anyone. This is granted by a hungarian residence permit.
Is it an advantage if I get married?
We do not deal with this cathegory, but in the early days, dr. Varga had many cases. Clients got married paying a decent amount of money for the fake marriage, they have got their residency, and later inspection has proven that the marriage was fake. They came to us for legal remedy, court appeal, and they usually lost in 1-2 years. For refugees, or immigrants with very bad conditions this may seem like the only way, but chance of failure and a 5 years ban from the EU are really high. For almost 6 years we have not dealt with even court appeals in such cases. If you've got the financial means to get a business residency, don't consider taking a detour through marriage, even if you get married. Because of abuses in the past, the Immigration Office would make your life more complicated than a business residency. On the contrary, if you marry a rich woman or man, and have nothing else to contribute, and the marriage is real, and you know each other wel enough to pass a 3 hours quiz about each other, than go for the marriage residency, as the only option.
Do I need a residency at all, or will a visa do it?
To get started, you need to understand the difference between a visa and a residency. Visas are issued in a formal procedure, where there is usually no legal remedy, and there is not even always much sense or logic in the outcome. A visa allows you to travel to the EU for a short period, that is not more than 90 days. Once that expires, even if you have entered the EU legally, you become illegal, as you are -with popular term- „overstaying”, that is staying longer than your visa allows.
A permanent settlement permit is a one level higher residency document that means that you stay in Hungary permanently, and you regard Hungary as your principal place of living, taxation and social security. Permament residency is issued for a longer period, that can be 5-10 years, and prolongation is even easier than that of a residence permit. Unfortunately, getting it however is much more difficult than a residence permit.
In order to keep certain groups of migrants out, they put obstacles in the way of simple people, that can’t even be considered immigrants at all, and that just want to learn, work, do business in the EU. On average, more than half of applicants will not do in Hungary what they actually say they would do, which makes the authorities understandably suspicious.
Can a rejection be turned into a positive decision?
Have you got rejected? It’s time to get things under control.