In the state of the national health emergency, declared to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) - in order to protect the citizens of foreign countries, legally residing in Hungary - the Government of Hungary in it’s Goverment Decree 85/2020. (5th of April) ordered the automatic prolongation of the documents entitling to reside in Hungary as follows.
Under Section 6 of the Government Decree, the period of validity of residence permits, establishment permits and immigration permits issued under Act I and II of 2007 (regulating the entry and residence of foreign citizens) shall be automatically extended until the 45th day after the end of the emergency, with the exception of short-stay entry visas and a visas entitling the holder to obtain a residence permit.
In the light of the above, residence permits expiring on or after the 6th of April 2020 - during the period of the health emergency - do not require an application for an extension, their validity is automatically extended until the 45th day after the end of the emergency. The application for an extension of the aforementioned documents must be submitted to the customer service office of the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (hereinafter: NDAP) by the 15th day after the end of the emergency.
The above special regulation does not apply to residence permits expired before the 6th of April 2020. Requests for extension that are already submitted will not be affected by the special regulations, they will be assessed according to the general rules.
Illustrating the special regulations by examples.
In the event for example that if the national health emergency were terminated on the 1st of July 2020:
In case that the conditions on the basis of which the residence permit is issued change in the meantime (eg. in case of an intention to continue the studies at another institution, to to stay in Hungary for work purposes, etc.), a new permit shall be applied for. In these cases applications can only be submitted electronically via the EnterHungary platform, for more information please visit www.oif.gov.hu.
We call to attention that leaving Hungary during the time of the health emergency is not recommended, given that the entry to the country is limited and re-entry cannot be guaranteed even with holding a valid residence permit.
We would also like to inform you that the NDAP only intends to handle face-to-face client requests in the course of the health emergency in duly justified cases, at a pre-arranged time. Should you have any further questions regarding the special procedures, you can request information from the Regional Directorate of the NDAP by phone at +36-62-549-140 or by e-mail at dar@oif.gov.hu.