worldwide_willie

Fellow William, I am one of the Americans who has twice passed the language component and has all the required proof but has been rejected twice. With no explanation. It is a very subjective process. In my case, a very unfair and mysterious one. ... Read More

I am going through the simplified naturalization process for the second time. I originally applied in Budapest in the spring of 2019, passing my interview and submitting a clean paper trail to my grandfather, who was born in Hungary in 1885. Without ... Read More

Hi. I am also on that FB group..it is wildly active! Do documents from Hungary need to be certified? I just submitted a signed letter from my grandfather's family's church with all the dates and names. I went to the village myself and ... Read More

How true. I will always love certain Hungarian foods and bands, cherish my memories of 8 trips to Hungary, and, of course, not lose contact with my relatives there. I should have said "Hungarian citizen" because unfortunately that honor ... Read More

To all of you that posted recently about my case, THANKS! The decisions definitely are made in a centralized office in Budapest, not at the district office or consulate where you apply. And, yes, my grandfather's baptism records stated the ... Read More

@Atom Heart, This is a beautiful 42-page document that you have offered up! It is definitely a mother lode of information. I wonder if the government plans on releasing an updated version, as the total number of new citizens has grown by roughly ... Read More

@Klsallee Rest assured that I was not looking for a wayward Chicago alderman type to put in my pocket. I became friends with the two government officials at Hungarian social events in the US, in the case of the higher ranked one having no idea who ... Read More

@Mr. Fluffy: The article I mentioned (and that 95% figure) can be found here: https://www.politico.eu/article/viktor-orban-courts-voters-in-transylvania-romania-hungarian-election-2018/ Here are links to two other interesting articles: ... Read More

I do remember seeing a stat that Hungarians outside of Hungary vote for Fidesz in landslide numbers (in Hungary’s 2014 election, over 95 percent of votes cast by non-domestic citizens went to Fidesz, according to Politico.eu). I am certain ... Read More

Mr. and Mrs. Fluffy, Maybe in the political sense, yes. All the folks in the mysteriously rejected pile I know are American professionals, folks with plenty of university studies and no interest in mooching off the Hungarian benefits gravy train ... Read More

I have posted here a few times. I passed my interview and submitted my documents in Budapest in the spring of 2019. In December, I learned that my application for simplified naturalization had been rejected, with no explanation given. I was told I ... Read More

No, you are definitely allowed to take someone. I did for moral support and also to get feedback on what I had answered well and poorly. Your Hungarian friend cannot help you with the interview and is supposed to remain silent. Read More

I do remember the woman who interviewed me struck my Hungarian tutor (who accompanied me to the interview) as being very odd and nervous. She just took my papers, typed a lot of things in, and then asked me to write a few sentences. She did not ask ... Read More

Zif, My Hungarian was much better when I interviewed in April. I was very comfortable explaining my family history as I practiced that for months. I am by no mean fluent in everyday Hungarian. (Not for lack of trying; I learned Spanish and ... Read More

Zif, My interview in Budapest was not as difficult as I expected. I came prepared to talk about my family history, my wife, my hopes/dreams/plans, etc. in Hungarian but I spent almost all my type watching the woman behind the counter type in the ... Read More

That is correct. I submitted all my US documents like that in April when I interviewed in Budapest. By the way, this seems to be a small group. I suggest you join Hungarian Citizenship Journey on Facebook. Read More

I will be in Hungary, mostly Budapest, during all on April. If anyone wants to get together for a beer, let me know! After talking to someone that just applied for simplified naturalization in Budapest, I have decided to try locally. I understand ... Read More

I also believe it varies from one Hungarian consulate to another in the US. I went into one just to get a feel for the ground rules (with an appointment) and spent 30 minutes chatting informally (in English) at a table with the friendly consul, who ... Read More

Hi again. I have been taking Italki classes with two native Hungarian speakers via Skype. I plan on continuing for another two months and then spending a month in Budapest in classes four hours a day and maybe taking a local tutor on in addition. We ... Read More

I did enjoy my week in Hungary, even if it was cold and rainy every day but one. I was able to visit the village church where my grandfather and great-grandmother were baptized. The priest found handwritten mention of them in the yellowing pages ... Read More

Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Fluffy. I am now in Budapest. If one thing impresses me, it is the dependability of public transportation here. Wow! Read More

I apologize for asking so many questions but I have one a week before arriving in Hungary and I want to be sure to do everything correctly. My grandfather left Hungary in 1900 but he and his parents were all born in a small village outside of ... Read More

Zif, I am 100% sure that I am underestimating the difficulty! I am only beginning to decipher the basics of Hungarian grammar. Hungarian appears to be the Rubik cube of languages. Read More

Thanks for the link, Zif! I do not see this as meaning that my wife (who has no Hungarian DNA) and I can apply at the same time for simplified naturalization (which I might have misinterpreted you as saying...sorry!). I believe I have to earn my ... Read More

Zif, Can you explain what "the special two-fer rule for spouses under Simplified Naturalization" from 2013 is? I have not been able to find anything about this, possibly because "two-fer" does not translate well into ... Read More

Thanks, Jesperss. I know Zif mentioned a "2 for 1" citizenship process but I imagine that would possibly only be the case if my wife studied Hungarian with me and we each demonstrated basic fluency at the consulate. (And who know what ... Read More

Zif, The Consul told me that she would recommend at least two options for official translations into Hungarian, one being a woman in Cleveland. She did say that I could not just ask a bilingual friend to do the work. She did not offer to have the ... Read More

I enjoyed my visit to the Hungarian consulate and was received in a very personable way by all staff. They do not handle that many simplified naturalizations (two a month) so this will be exciting for both sides. I have gathered some of the ... Read More

Thanks again, Zif. I found lots of new documents there. I imagine I need to get more legible copies in Hungary and have them certified locally. Read More

Zif, Many thanks. That makes a lot of sense and was pretty much what I feared. I have an appointment at the Hungarian consulate in DC this week to see what guidance they can give me. (I have questions about just how much paperwork to submit and ... Read More

First of all, thanks to all who have come before me on this thread. I have read most of the pages and they provide lots of great information as well as leave others feeling they are not alone when embarking on this journey. I have visited Hungary ... Read More