Arrived. What to do next?

romaniac wrote:

Denmark and Hungary are both members of the Schengen zone, so there wouldn't be passport control upon arrival.  Don't be concerned about that.  I'm sure you went through passport control upon arrival in CPH from LAX

The OP said he was already in baggage claim. That is after passport control. And passport control can certainly different for EEA nationals and third party nationals: I have to show my passport on flights even between EU countries, as I watch EEA nationals in another line just walk quickly past the checkpoint flashing their national id card (I can not use my permanent resident card -- I asked once). Of course, I only fly in and out of Vienna; what happens at the Budapest airports, I do not know.

jdatbs wrote:

I am reading that we are supposed to apply for an address card at the local city hall. But I'm seeing conflicting versions, that first I have to get a residence permit before I apply for an address card, then others say no, the two aren't connected, just go get the address card.

You get two different answers because there are two different protocols which differ for EEA nationals and non EEA nationals. So EEA nationals will telly you their experience, which will differ for someone from outside the EEA.

Also do consider the address card is not legally mandated. The paperwork you filed for your residency is your official residence paperwork, and you do need to keep a copy for residency confirmation and update it as needed by law. EEA nationals normally get their address card automatically when they apply for residence. Non EEA nationals do not, and they have to apply for the address card separately.

You of course "need" an address card to do any official office business in Hungary as a resident - such as setup water or power to your house, get a resident bank account, etc. If you do not need to do any of that yet, you do not need an address card. And since you do not have residency yet officially, you are still legally a tourist anyway. As a tourist, you can still, for example, setup a bank account in Hungary without being a resident with an address card, but that account just comes with different rights and obligations.

Personally, I only applied for my address card after I got confirmation for residency. No point in dealing with more offices in case my application was rejected, was my way of thinking.

jdatbs wrote:

Applications for residence cards still pending, but consul in Los Angeles said if we needed to go, it wouldn't be a problem.

FWIIW: Too many times in Hungary someone said to me "it wouldn't be a problem" and it later most certainly was. Long ago I learned not to trust that statement here, mainly because there is no consequence for the person who says, but maybe a lot of consequences for the person being told.

klsallee wrote:

romaniac wrote:

Denmark and Hungary are both members of the Schengen zone, so there wouldn't be passport control upon arrival.  Don't be concerned about that.  I'm sure you went through passport control upon arrival in CPH from LAX

The OP said he was already in baggage claim. That is after passport control. And passport control can certainly different for EEA nationals and third party nationals: I have to show my passport on flights even between EU countries, as I watch EEA nationals in another line just walk quickly past the checkpoint flashing their national id card (I can not use my permanent resident card -- I asked once). Of course, I only fly in and out of Vienna; what happens at the Budapest airports, I do not know.

Depends where you are going. 

If you are exiting or entering the Schengen area (EU external border), then passports are required for everyone but if you are Schengen to Schengen on a flight, then the only places they normally check your passport is at check in and boarding.  In Budapest, you walk straight out after getting off an inbound Schengen plane and out through the blue lane.   They can also tell that you've not come inter-EU from your bag labels.  Inter-EU has green stripe up the sides.  Should be a blue (EU) stripe to keep the EU colours.   They can still stop you at Customs as they want even inter-EU.

Passport checks are only for security and possibly visas - e.g. you are the person who checked the bag in and your name matches the boarding card so you've boarded with your checked bags.  They also check you've got the correct visa if required. On the other hand one should not be in the Schengen area without the right visa (or not need one etc).

If you check in online (and also if not), your passport will be scanned and used in the API (Advanced Passenger Information) system so they know who you are anyway.   They can also follow you around on security cameras using facial recognition.

fluffy2560 wrote:

If you are exiting or entering the Schengen area (EU external border), then passports are required for everyone but if you are Schengen to Schengen on a flight, then the only places they normally check your passport is at check in and boarding.  In Budapest, you walk straight out after getting off an inbound Schengen plane and out through the blue lane.

Like I said, I do not know about Budapest. It is a rather small airport. Last fully intra-EU flight I took from Brussels to Vienna was last summer. And the arrival gate is quite a long walk to baggage claim. And there was indeed a passport check between the two locations, and below the sign "Non EU Passport Holders" (that includes me). Maybe the hub also serviced non-EU flights. I do not know. But in any case, I have never been to any airport where baggage claim was before passport control, if passport control is done. Of course, I have not been to all the airports on the planet either.

FeliciaOni wrote:

About the address card! Ugh. That was the 1 serious issue we had the first time with our permit. We could NOT get our residence permit approved without the address card! So at for us it was extremely important! The office we went had stacks of those blank ones they just did not tell us who should sign it. Long story short you fill it out and have your landlord sign it. They did not explain that to us so we did not know in fact they lied and told us that the rental company has to sign it which we did then they refused that, then they told us the owner, once gain that was a lie so that was refused, then we had the landlord sign it which was correct but when we turned it in the woman working there was not stamping it. By this time it was the 3rd visit so i knew how it was supposed to work so i had get a different worker force her to stamp it which he did and finelly it was done. But you get it from immigration and only immigration can stamp it and make it legal. And they would not approve the residence permit without that being done.

It is just a piece of paper.

That sounds rather like the official document for proof of housing. And, yes you need that to get residency. The address card is laminated and looks like this:

FeliciaOni wrote:

i asked at immigration and they told us only EU citizens or those married to them get the plastic card

That is possible. I have one. But my wife is Hungarian, so my having one may also be biased by that.

Sorry OP, I might have given you yet a third answer. 

Side note: I am frequently asked for my address card at government offices and at the bank. Go figure.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

If you are exiting or entering the Schengen area (EU external border), then passports are required for everyone but if you are Schengen to Schengen on a flight, then the only places they normally check your passport is at check in and boarding.  In Budapest, you walk straight out after getting off an inbound Schengen plane and out through the blue lane.

Like I said, I do not know about Budapest. It is a rather small airport. Last fully intra-EU flight I took from Brussels to Vienna was last summer. And the arrival gate is quite a long walk to baggage claim. And there was indeed a passport check between the two locations, and below the sign "Non EU Passport Holders" (that includes me).

Been a long time since I was at Vienna Airport - at least 8 years - but I never saw anything like that way back then. Never seen anything like that anywhere in the Schengen'ised EU.  Maybe you were just unlucky your plane arrived the non-Schengen area.  In any case, you could probably have just walked through, no-one would have asked you (probably).  In Budapest, there are just some transit gates that open automatically.  Never seen any immigration police there but I have seen Customs agents - checking on the bags very occasionally.

BTW, you think Budapest is a small airport! Vienna Airport way back in the 1990s was dreadful.  You could not even use a credit card there.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Never seen anything like that anywhere in the Schengen'ised EU.  Maybe you were just unlucky your plane arrived the non-Schengen area.

I am always asked for my passport. But I also normally fly in from outside the EU, and connecting flights may have different rules. My only intra-EU flight was the one last summer which is my only fully within EU example, and I had to flash my passport.

fluffy2560 wrote:

In any case, you could probably have just walked through, no-one would have asked you (probably)

Oh.... I don't think so. EEA passengers on my flight were in the other line flashing their ID cards.

If that is not normal, than maybe the flight was routed to an outside EU international terminal for some reason.