Has anyone gone through the simplified naturalization precedure?

kanadai25 wrote:

.....though I don't know where to get the English documents translated.  .....and the woman said, "Perfect Hungarian" (and I was only asking about the forms!).  My friends here said she was likely just being rude and they've heard differently. ....

Thanks!!

Yes, she was being rude.  There's an official translation service and you get back certified documents all rubber stamped with seals on it and twiddly ribbons on it.  It's years since I used the official translation office but someone will tell you where the official translation office is. This might be it:www.Offi.hu

My experience with the immigration services in Budapest was they have one "official" translation office that they will except translations from.
My husband did it all for me as he speaks Hungarian and at the time the stress factor was killing us both.
I think doing the paperwork in your home country with the local embassy would save you allot of hassles.
It sounds like it would be easy to do it here in Hungary but it isn't at all.
it is almost like they go out of their way to make it harder then it needs to be.
I was lucky my husband could help me in Hungary with my resident permit, even so we were at the point of either just forgetting the whole thing and going back to the states or ready to hire a lawyer, That's how insane they made to process for me doing the paperwork for a resident permit in Hungary. I should of started it in the US beofre we moved over to HU.
They also charged different prices for translations at the office he was sent to.
My husband had a verbal screaming match once he realized they were charging him more then the man sitting next to him for the exact same service but from different countries. Both were marriage papers, mine from the US and the man's from Romania.
The man was being charged about $15. for the service and we were being charged $150.
it was a very short translation. They whole thing seems dumb anyways because all the info is available for free with the internet, all on record in the US for the public to see.
Aslo it took over 2 weeks for the translations to be finished, they did give my husband back around $50. because of his screaming the last time he was in there. He was ready to call up the local newspapers and let them know about the rip offs in the immigration office. It was clear to see they thought people from what they call 3rd countries are stupid and have money to waste.
This was all just for a 5 year resident permit, getting citizenship may be easier or not, good luck.
My son got HU citizenship around 15 or so years back. All done in the US through our local HU embassy.
They were very helpful not like here in HU.
If you do the paperwork in HU, the immigration will send you to their special translation office. It is not near the immigration office, at 4 years ago it wasn't. Think it was in the 13th district. They seal with sealing wax and stamp everything, wow very pretty for $100. only to be put in a file never to be seen again.
Wow, I do sound bitter, guess I still am burning from that nightmare experience, just another 15  months and I'll have to go through some sort of hassle again with them, can't wait!

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....... It was clear to see they thought people from what they call 3rd countries are stupid and have money to waste.

....They seal with sealing wax and stamp everything, wow very pretty for $100. only to be put in a file never to be seen again....

Yup, happens to me all the time but it's just language and opportunity.  Some of them think they can rip you off.  If I'm with my better half, she does the talking as the price goes up if I open my mouth. It's got somewhat better over the past say, 5 years as price information has become more public (e.g. one can look online for comparison). One still has to be really careful with being conned here.   

The rubber stamping and string and all that BS is ludicrous in this day and age.  We still had to have some of our docs translated even though we're EU and it should have been acceptable in any form.  But it's not just here in HU. British government is one of the worst for ripping people off with paperwork.  Passport costs £72.50 ($110) plus courier charges.  Very expensive!

I know all about prices being doubled or tripled once I open my mouth up in shops. My husband now makes me walk down the st. and wait far away from any shops when he is serious about buying anything. Even in the farmers markets, he goes to the scales and makes sure they didn't short him. Not that he is cheap, he just hates to be seen as a fool.
he has made fusses over a little as 50 forints over priced, but then again, why not speak up, those vendors are well off if they can afford to have a stall in the market in the first place.
We paid for a new clutch and to have it installed in our car. We think they only did an adjustment, kept the new clutch and made us pay for a clutch overall,our clutch was bad again 2 days later. Went back and they guy was all nervous acting and said the person who did the work was out and he didn't know where the old parts were.
Live and learn, at least I was not to blame for that rip off.
What really upsets me as I have never in all my years of working in customer service in the US seen anyone ever rip people off because they were foriegn. I have heard of it sometimes but in general, they will rip off anyone if possible without caring where you come from or if you can afford it or not, equal opportunity scammers in the US, here I feel picked on.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
We paid for a new clutch and to have it installed in our car. We think they only did an adjustment, kept the new clutch and made us pay for a clutch overall,our clutch was bad again 2 days later. Went back and they guy was all nervous acting and said the person who did the work was out and he didn't know where the old parts were.
Live and learn, at least I was not to blame for that rip off....

What I do is mark the affected parts in some way, like with a permanent marker pen or take photographs beforehand so you can see what changed.  We've had bad workmanship but Mrs Fluffy is fairly good at sticking the boot in verbally and we've had things repaired "under warranty" after complaining. People are concerned with reputation more these days than they were in the past.  In small villages, word soon gets around.

Thanks for that!  Since all of the documents I need are currently back home in Canada, I might try at the embassy there first and if they don't do translations, I'll do it here (with a friend to help me, just in case!).  I got my residency permit without any hassle, but I was accompanied by a co-worker and had gathered a lot of stuff together beforehand so they'd have nothing to question me on.

This thread has been very helpful, thank you all.

I was wondering if anyone could offer some more answers??

I am Australian by birth. My dad was born in Budapest and his family immigrated to Oz in 1957.

From reading this thread I'm how confused about the process to get citizenship.

Due to being Hungarian by direct descent do I need to go the simplified citizenship route or is there another option?

And if so are there language requirements involved in that route also?

I've tried contacting our embassy direct here and it's like pulling teeth trying to get any information from them.

Thank you

The general rule is that the child of a Hungarian citizen is also a Hungarian citizen by birth, regardless of birthplace.

You would thus have to confirm that your father was a Hungarian citizen at the time of your birth.

If so, you would apply at the consulate/embassy for issuance of a Hungarian Citizenship Certificate. Technically, this is not actually a naturalization procedure, since it simply recognizes the citizenship you had since birth (though nonetheless some loosely call it a type of naturalization). You would, of course, need to provide proof of your father's Hungarian citizenship, and marriage and birth certificates showing your descent from him, translated and apostilled if not issued in Hungary. There's no language test under this procedure.

The consulate/embassy would send your application for a citizenship certificate to Budapest for processing.

(As to the earlier poster who's considering a do-it-yourself translation, I believe the translations need to be certified by a qualified translator.)

Not sure if you meant me as the earlier poster - but by 'do it here with a friend to help me', I just meant have them officially translated at the office in Budapest, but have a friend to help me find all the details involved in the process. 

zif wrote:

The general rule is that the child of a Hungarian citizen is also a Hungarian citizen by birth, regardless of birthplace.

You would thus have to confirm that your father was a Hungarian citizen at the time of your birth.

If so, you would apply at the consulate/embassy for issuance of a Hungarian Citizenship Certificate. Technically, this is not actually a naturalization procedure, since it simply recognizes the citizenship you had since birth (though nonetheless some loosely call it a type of naturalization). You would, of course, need to provide proof of your father's Hungarian citizenship, and marriage and birth certificates showing your descent from him, translated and apostilled if not issued in Hungary. There's no language test under this procedure.

The consulate/embassy would send your application for a citizenship certificate to Budapest for processing.

(As to the earlier poster who's considering a do-it-yourself translation, I believe the translations need to be certified by a qualified translator.)

This is actually what is tripping me up, personally. My mother and I would like to apply for citizenship, but are unsure of the route to take. We were both born in the US. My grandmother was born in Hungary in 1930 and was forced to leave in 1957. She was clearly a Hungarian citizen based on all documentation in my possession. My grandfather was also but his documents would not be possible to gather. Ethnic Hungarian names and all that nice stuff on paper. There is plenty of paperwork in the US (birth certificate, baptism) that could be translated into Hungarian proving the relationship. I also have her birth certificate from 1930 but I'm not sending that in under any circumstances, so I'm waiting for a copy from Hungary at the moment. However, the naturalization procedure doesn't feel like the right way to go about it. In this case, would applying for a citizenship certificate be more appropriate? Thank you.

Are you or your mother planning on moving to Hungary to live from the US?
Maybe you want to work in the EU?
So many people seem to want to get Hungarian citizenship lately.
My son got his around 15 years ago, now he has dual citizenship HU and US.
His father did all the leg work for him, got him his HU passport too.
it was our son's romantic dream to be a HU citizen as a teenager.
He actually came to HU, got married here and lived in HU for over a year straight.
He realized as soon as he ran out of money that working in HU was not an option for him.
he and his wife moved back to the US, got divorced and he has not set foot in HU since then.
His ex even stole his passport and he has never replaced it.
hate to say it but unless you plan on working or living in HU it really is hardly worth the trouble to get citizenship.
My husband was born in HU we live here now but also have woke up from our romantic dream and plan on returning to the US as soon as we can unload our property.
It is a beautiful country but now that it is part of the EU it has problems that it never had before.
prices are high, wages are low and taxes and red tape are insane.
If given a choice my "hard core Hungarian" husband would keep his US citizenship over his HU.
The Hungary of 1930 no longer is alive. People over here are just as money hungry, crazy and fast paced as in the west.
My son has now married a lady from Japan, he would give up both his HU and his US citizenship to become a Japanese national. Guess he is still living a romantic dream.
My husband says he no longer sees anything special about being a HU citizen. You can bring over into HU personal household items and a car duty free one time and you can vote. Other then that there aren't too many perks about being a citizen over just being a resident.
My father was born in present day Poland, my relations still live there and traced the family tree to a small area in the SE going back to 1770's. I have no interest in becoming a Polish citizen over being a US citizen. I loved seeing Poland, very nice, clean fresh but nothing there for me, only broken dreams and graves.
It would be different perhaps if we were younger and had big dreams in Hungary or Poland but these places sadly are not for go getters, nothing to get here that has not already been taken.Most young people in these places are moving away asap after they finish school.

Well written, Marilyn.  Great points and I agree.
I agree with many of your points. EU citizenship is a pain anywhere in Eastern Europe.   The time.  BS. Money wasted in Slovakia and Hungary... The hell with it.  Tried once and refused.  Enough.
Will enjoy my Cad Germ dual and the hell with the 3rd citz.
Entering my 50s.  No kids.  No responsibility. I doubt Eastern EU aside from vacation will excite me at this point in my life.

Nice to know I am not alone in my thoughts.
I used to enjoy Hungary so much when I knew I was only staying for the best 6 months of the year and also when we had a ton of mad money from working in the US.
Living here on my husbands retirement is ok, we can actually save every month by living in HU but the cost on my mind is not worth it.
I just turned 60, of course we all age if we are so lucky but aging over here so far is not what I expected. I am a young looking and acting 60 year old and there is no place for that over here.
makes me feel very isolated and odd.
I now sort of know why my father who was born in Poland in 1921 never spoke much about the "old country". He out right refused to teach us Polish or Ruysin he's mother language. He and his family went through heck to get to the US and for me to toss that off would be a crime against them.
I think I might be allot happier moving home to age, our only child lives there and expect for a few HU/US friends we have known for years there is no one holding us here in HU any longer, they all have passed on in my husband's family.
Suppose I would rather be one of those silly old ladies in Las Vegas wearing gold lame shirts then trying to age here where it is not common to see old ladies wearing blue jeans and actually enjoying themselves, not going to the graveyard or church every day. No fun to age any where but in a strange land it is even harder.
Our Hu friends who were born here in Budapest have just come back from 6 weeks in the US. It is going to be interesting to get their new and fresh point of view. In their case however, they both are HU and both speak HU plus they have family still living here. A total different experience for them even though they lived in the US for 40 some years.
in any case both my husband and I agree that we should move back to Hawaii as the 3rd time will be the charm.

Pepsitruck, you and your mother might qualify for "naturalization" by issuance of a citizenship certificate. The problem is that Hungarian citizenship rules have frequently changed over time, and whether your mother, for example, was born a Hungarian citizen would depend on the law in effect at the time of her birth. It can be difficult to trace back these laws and apply them in particular cases. A Hungarian immigration lawyer could probably advise you on your particular situation if you don't want to simply apply for the certificate and await the answer. Of course you can also talk to the embassy/consulate staff, but they are not always aware of the fine print in old laws that might cause a problem in a particular case. Ultimately it's the experts on citizenship issues in the Budapest bureaucracy who make the decisions.

As to the original documents you hold, the embassy/consulate should be able to make certified copies you can submit with your application, then immediately return the originals back to you.

Hi -- I'm American of Hungarian descent. My grandfather was born in Budapest of two Hungarian parents. They all left as a family before Trianon/1920 and the consulate in NYC assures me I qualify for simplified naturalization (fyi for Marilyn Tassy). I've spent ages tracking documents and think I'll have all the paperwork compiled reasonably soon. But I don't speak Hungarian (yet), need to learn for simplified naturalization, and am very nervous about the language requirement.

I'm generally good at languages but Hungarian intimidates me and it sounds like they're tightening the rules quite a bit. I'm afraid to apply too soon and get rejected for insufficient language ability, but I don't want to delay the application longer than necessary. (I can keep learning Hungarian after I apply to get more functionality.) If anyone has advice on what level of Hungarian they actually mean when they say "have a basic conversation" I'd love some practical guidance.

I'm also curious which consulate gave the impression that you have to write the CV in front of them and if anyone has info on that. (I'm probably applying through New York. Anyone have experience with the NYC consulate?)

Thanks for all the helpful posts on this thread, and thanks for any other info/perspective you can provide me. The experiences people are reporting with this process are making me very nervous.

Thanks so much!

I was told about the CV in-person writing requirement at a very small consulate (not NY) that's probably never actually handled a simplified naturalization application.

As to language level, think of the sort of basic questions anyone going through your application and CV might ask:

"When did your grandparents leave Hungary for America?"

"After your naturalization, would you move to Hungary?"

And things you might say:

"My father could only speak English, since my grandparents did not teach him Hungarian at home."

"I've visited Hungary once, in 2013, to see my grandparents' birthplace."

In any event, this is the level I'm aiming at. But of course any particular official can make the language requirement easier or harder, so it's impossible to predict very precisely.

There have been a couple of reports here of applicants who encountered problems on the language requirement months after a seemingly successful interview. That's been puzzling me, and one thought is the possibility that the interview is taped and forwarded with your application to Budapest. I don't know if this is the case, but it would explain what happened to those applicants.

Thanks so much zif, especially for clearing up the part about writing the CV in front of them. That makes sense that they may not have an accurate understanding of the process at that consulate. I get the impression the NYC consulate does a lot of these, especially since they travel. I'm hoping "Went to Budapest to see my grandfather's birthplace" is the level they want.

Has anyone who got called back to re-interview gone through the experience and have perspective about what they wanted? Kacsa27, I'm particularly interested in your experience since you were called back by NYC, which is where I'm probably going to apply. Would you be willing to tell us what happened? Were they re-testing your language ability or was it something else?

Thanks so much to everyone for your help! This is hugely important to me and I appreciate your input and perspective.

There are so few reports of success getting through the simplified naturalization process that it was encouraging to come across this report of 11 people who were naturalized on March 29, 2015 in Minnesota:

https://www.facebook.com/HonoraryConsul … yMinnesota (scroll down a bit)

I tried for my last time with the MOI in Bratislava and having a Slovak mother but being born between 1949-1969, stubborn Slovaks will not give me citizenship despite 3 years of perm res there, unless I take the HELL road of naturalization.  So, I will attempt Hungarian again this summer in Ottawa.
Has anyone used the Embassy in Ottawa?  Impressions?  Problems?
I will have basic Hungarian and since all my docs were returned, will use them again for application.
If I fail again, I will give up.  5 years of this running around for Slovakia and less so for Hungary has made me tired. 

Sorry to hear about what your going through. I hope it works out for you and you get your paperwork soon.

Did everything work out for you?
I remember you had issues and no answers. 
I remember you wrote about your son.  I was in Japan for over half my life.  Hope he is doing well there.
Love to hear your update on citz as well as your lifestyle in HU.  Has it improved?  Saw this the other day.  Hmmm. Is it going to be evenmore difficult?

http://www.politics.hu/20150521/demonst … -budapest/

I think most of the serious issues in Hungary with immigration have to do with illegals entering Hungary.
In your case, it should not be so hard, you have a legit claim.
Perhaps speaking to a immigration lawyer could speed things up for you, they cost but just to ask a few questions and how much they would charge for services might be worth it.
My son still lives in the US but wants to move to Japan later, see how things go. He has a good job in Vegas as a casino manager but is very tired of doing that job. 10 years in the same place is not fun anymore for him.
I know here in Budapest at the immigration office they have many lawyers sort of around, some were working with large groups of Chinese people, had stacks of files in their hands, got let in before us "regular" people who were on our own dealing with that crazy office.
I think you are out of Hungary at the moment and that option of hiring a lawyer by walking into immigration might not be for you.
3 years is a very long time to try, just seems like someone is not doing what they should be for you.
Are your long term plans to move to Hungary?
I am good until next summer with my resident visa, not sure what is going to happen by then here in Hungary. It is very nice to have a small flat here and live on the cheap but then again we miss the US at times and not really willing to travel so far any longer like we used to. We used to go back and forth every 6 months to 18 months. No longer enjoy air travel and all that comes with moving so often.
Might just decide to sell out here in HU and try the US again, not fun to get older and know you can't make too many more crazy moves in your life because of the health stress and money it takes to move so often and start again.

I hear you.  The Golden Years are basically years but no gold...
You seemed like the perfect candidate for citizenship but these days I agree with you.  It is who you know and how much you can pay.
The Chinese are clearly trying for citizenship by investment.  I will try and find a good lawyer and would hope some on this blog would state some of the questions they were asked at their interviews to "test" their language ability.

Here is an interesting recent article for all:

http://nomadcapitalist.com/2015/05/20/h … vestment/?

offi.hu

every translation is different. but you don't have to think negative because when you done it everything will be ok.  no matter how moody the person are there and rude.hehe. well it is monatized like in most country
the government accepts only one translation agency
at the website :
offi.hu/attested_translation#inquiry_hiteles_forditasjumpHere

"More positively, applicants over 65 or below 18, applicants with physical or mental disabilities, and applicants who attended a Hungarian language primary or secondary school or university either in Hungary or in another state are exempt from the exam requirement"

Hungarian Citizenship

But that's in a discussion of the traditional naturalization route, which requires a written test, not the Simplified Naturalization procedure. Look at the context:

"In Hungary, applicants for naturalisation must pass an exam on the constitution, Hungarian history and Hungarian literature (civic knowledge). More positively, applicants over 65 or below 18, applicants with physical or mental disabilities, and applicants who attended a Hungarian language primary or secondary school or university either in Hungary or in another state are exempt from the exam requirement."

And you can't go the traditional route based solely on ancestors who were Hungarian citizens.

(I was aware of this age exempton in the traditional procedure, which is why I asked the consul whether there was a similar exemption under Simplified Naturalization, but when I saw your other post I thought perhaps the rules had since changed.)

I don't know about this simplified naturalisation procedure but I believe there's another route and that's by being married to (or being the parent) of a Hungarian citizen.  That might help Marilyn (if she really wants to become a Hungarian).  There's no problem with dual nationality in Hungary.

I think the conditions for this citizenship are not so onerous, something like 3 years of marriage and/or the child. I have no idea about the language requirements in this case. Some web sites I've read suggest the language requirement will be dropped at some point.

I myself stopped looking at this route because I'm already an EU citizen (of the UK) and I do not need the residence permit paperwork to live here.  It might change if the UK leaves the EU hence my ongoing interest in this subject.

Hello Zif,
I keep hearing different stories about age as well as language requirements and this is my second attempt!
Different consulates/embassies offer different ideas.
2 days ago I received:

"We would like to draw your attention to the fact that when applying for Hungarian citizenship in the simplified naturalization procedure, one of the basic legal requirements is to understand and communicate in Hungarian language on a sufficient level, to be able to present the application for naturalization independently, without external assistance, and to answer the questions asked by the officer independently, in short sentences. In case your command of Hungarian language does not reach the sufficient level, you can't expect a positive decision.

Every case is different so the consul will let you know at your consultation with him what kind of documents you have to obtain. The original birth and marriage certificates are always required.
All the forms are in Hungarian and you have to be able to fill them out. The simplified naturalization application is free of charge.
If you have a child younger than 18 year you can submit your claim together. This application process takes approximately a year or more."

Regarding age I was told 60 for Simplified Naturalization and saw a document which I will try and dig up from the web.
Sorry, my brain has been smoking from all the different info with Slovak and Hungarian law.

Only thing I have learned so far is that language requirements are more strict and that I should have done this in 2011 as now (since 2013) language bar has gone way up and as the Embassy staff wrote me:

"Let me also consult with my Ministry with regard to the language question as this seems to be taken much more strictly due to some abuses, mostly in neighbouring countries to Hungary. "

Lovely staff but after dealing with changes despite being blood from Slovak Ministry, I needed time away as the requirements were sickening.  My grandparents were born in the Kingdom of Hungary and only the borders moved and being poor farmers they had to stay put or lose it all.  So my blood is Hungarian and I will study hard.

Thanks Fluffy for the nice remarks.
However the HU immigration dept. had given me 90 days to leave HU before I finally got a 5 year resident permit to stay.
Been married to a Hungarian citizen for nearly 40 years, his entire family has been in Hungary since before St. Istvan.
Our son is a citizen who married another Hungarian , we own property in HU, have income from the US and not looking to take away any HU jobs. They still gave me notice to leave HU.
Guess it depends on the mood of the social worker you get when you go in to immigration services.
It is ok now and we are thinking of leaving HU for good soon. Perhaps even before my next app. is due with INS.
In our case as older people, I have little interest in being a citizen of anywhere, just want some peace.
No plans on ever working inside the EU so really all I ever was after was a way to live in my husband's country of birth with him in our hard earned property.

Thinking of packing it up and going to the Islands.

Hey, I'm wondering if anyone knows if there's any unspoken requirement for ethnicity for simplified naturalization.

My grandmother's parents moved to the US from small villages in Maramaros, which are both in modern day Ukraine, and their families had been in those villages for as long as anyone in the family remembers. I've even been able to trace both back at least two more generations in each village. The only wrinkle is that they were Jews. They considered themselves to be Hungarian, spoke the language, were citizens, and the succession of Czechoslovakia was supposedly the reason that my great grandmother left, but I also know that many contemporary Hungarians (and even many now) would say they weren't really Hungarian. So I'm kind of concerned about how antisemitism might affect my chances.

I know that as far as the letter of the law goes I should be fine, but my family's name wasn't Hungarian and I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for someone at the office to deny the application for some bullshit reason. I'm really not trying to bring up a potentially flame-war starting topic, I'm just trying to gauge it's worth my time to get my Hungarian up to snuff and worth the money to collect all relevant documents and have them translated. Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

I can't imagine why being Jewish would have anything to do with Hungarian citizenship.
It is hard to understand the immigration process if you don't read or speak Hungarian, even if you do understand it's still very hard.
I am not sure about getting citizenship through a grandparent, there has to be other posters with more knowledge about that.
My father was born in Poland and I suppose if I really was interested in finding out more about getting a Polish passport I could do it.
I have little interest in going that route however, living in Hungary right now with my HU husband with a resident permit.
No interest to work in HU but I think I could still work here with just a resident permit if I wanted to.
In my case, I am better off getting a part-time job in the US then working full time in HU. My work skills are of better use in the US. Worked as both a hairdresser and then later as a Vegas games dealer, more people skills, of little use to me in HU as I don't speak Hungarian.
I know 2 years ago I visited the village and surrounding area where my father was born in 1921.This is near Gorlice, Poland
My grandmother was born there and also my great grandparents on my father's side. All born around that area for hundresds of years with only my one grandfather born in the middle of all that movement in the US in 1889.
In Poland I met a distant cousins from the US that speaks Polish, Ruysin  and his hobby is doing research on family trees.
Both sides of grandparents all lived for hundreds of years in the same area. Some even married cousins or they are related within a generation or two on both sides, sort of creepy really.( Like hillbilles who marry their first cousins)
At our huge family reunion of Ruysin/Lemko Poles I met a man and his partner from the UK.
My cousin was helping the man get info on his family in the area near Gorlice, Poland to try and make a land claim.
The man was Jewish/ Gypsy and also Gay and part of our small ethnic group of Slavs called. Ruysin or in Polish Lemko.
Seems you might want to find either a lawyer to help you out or perhaps someone who does geneology.
The man was making a serious land claim and trying to get citizenship although he was born in the UK.
His mother witnessed her family being shot by Nazi's in 1939 when they moved into our Rusyn lands in SE Poland. She escaped to the UK where this man was later born. They were both Gypsy and Jewish so the Nazi's murdered everyone in her family they could find.
My cousin was going into every public record around to help this man.My cousin is American and lives in the US but goes to Poland several times a year to help people find their roots, some he charges and family he helps for free.
He gave me a long list of relations going back to that village and area from 1776.
Church records were a huge help in his studies.
I met a very old lady at our family reunion, related to me on my grandmothers side. She was 91 and remembered the Nazi's coming in. I asked her about my family, my grandfather's surname was used. She told me that she thought everyone with my last name left in 1939. I found that odd since we were not Jewish but I know the Nazi's cleared everyone out to either the Ukraine or large cities in Poland when they invaded and took our village over.
No one there with my exact last name but I found records myself  in a local museum, 3 family members were officials in the Ruysin "Axle Grease" trade.Going back to the early 1880's, seems the Ruysin people discovered a way to make the best axle grease for carts and carriages and they traveled all over Europe selling their grease.
I have family members in my tree that were Hungarian and Ruysin.Met a second cousin born in HU who now lives in the UK with her HU husband, her mother still lives in Budapest and was an English teacher, they are both doctors in the UK. Funny to find some people with "real" brains in my family tree after all, we in the US were allot more lazy with schooling.
A researcher can help you allot, just 2 1/2 years ago I wasn't even totally clear if I was half Polish or half Ukrainian, found out I am neither.
Once you get a little more info it all seems to flow and become more clear.
Not even sure why my father in the US refused to talk much about his family in the "Old country". that older generation never liked to bring up the past much, being poor and coming on a ship to the US must of gave them a complex and they never wanted to bring it up in conversations.
Good luck, I am 100% sure that being Jewish as nothing to do with getting citizenship.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.... I am 100% sure that being Jewish as nothing to do with getting citizenship.

Does it ask anywhere in the forms about religion?

fluffy2560 wrote:

Does it ask anywhere in the forms about religion?

Not that I know of, but some records do list it, and their surnames are obviously yiddish.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.... I am 100% sure that being Jewish as nothing to do with getting citizenship.

Thanks for this. It's encouraging to hear that my fears are most likely misplaced from someone actually on the ground in Hungary.

You are welcome although I don't think I was all that much real help.
I have heard that religious organizations have really good records of births, deaths, marriages etc.
I had a Jewish friend here in Hungary, actually several of Jewish friends and they said their religion kept really good records.

I had a Jewish friend born in Serbia that got Hungarian citizenship with help from records from her religious leaders.
Her entire family moved to HU from Serbia. They all did speak Hungarian however if that is an issue, not sure about that.
I know my previous post was sort of long and "out there" but just wanted to share how easy things fall into place once you get a break or two. Never even heard of Ruysin people a couple years back, just my luck to be part of another minority, bad enough to be part Mohawk but not enough to claim it.
No wonder I always feel like an outsider, 3/4 of me is a strange mix that no one has heard of...
In my case I was messing around looking for the roots of my maiden surname when Ancestory.com came up. Found a 3 to 4 year old message from a second cousin in Conn. Wrote her and then it all fell into place. She waited so long for anyone to read her message, just all about the timing.

tangentc wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Does it ask anywhere in the forms about religion?

Not that I know of, but some records do list it, and their surnames are obviously yiddish.

I'm not sure the "apparently Yiddish" names mean much around here. 

My other half has a family name which on first glance sounds very Jewish but it's just a corruption of the German name of a Hungarian town in Serbia and is not remotely Jewish at all as far as I know.

That is interesting, my maiden surname is  taken from the  bible, funny since we are so non religious (my parents never pushed religion on us either) It comes from the Ruysn meaning of "Son of Paul" so totally religious in meaning.
The surname was Pawlak, my teachers in the US always called me "Pollack' guess they couldn't understand languages very well.Or they were out right racists.
I thought it was very odd that the older relation told me that all those with my surname left the area in 1939.
I know many moved to Warsaw and to the Ukraine only one second cousin was detained by a Nazi' officer into forced labor on a small farm he had in Poland. When my cousin was finanlly let go after the war, he returned to Kunkowa, Poland to find the family home burnt to the ground and everyone gone. Thinking they were all dead he moved to Australia and raised a family. In the mid 1980's the Red Cross contacted him and said his mother was still living in Poland. He took his kids and got on the first plane to Poland to visit her. Just in time since she passed away 2 weeks later.No a big tale really, in Hungary and in eastern Europe every family has almost the same sad tale.

fluffy2560 wrote:

tangentc wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Does it ask anywhere in the forms about religion?

Not that I know of, but some records do list it, and their surnames are obviously yiddish.

I'm not sure the "apparently Yiddish" names mean much around here. 

My other half has a family name which on first glance sounds very Jewish but it's just a corruption of the German name of a Hungarian town in Serbia and is not remotely Jewish at all as far as I know.

I suppose that happens, but my great great grandfather was named Moses Slomowics (Solomon), for example. Can't get much more Jewish than Moses Solomon, haha.

tangentc wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

tangentc wrote:

Not that I know of, but some records do list it, and their surnames are obviously yiddish.

I'm not sure the "apparently Yiddish" names mean much around here. 

My other half has a family name which on first glance sounds very Jewish but it's just a corruption of the German name of a Hungarian town in Serbia and is not remotely Jewish at all as far as I know.

I suppose that happens, but my great great grandfather was named Moses Slomowics (Solomon), for example. Can't get much more Jewish than Moses Solomon, haha.

Oy vay, sounds like it......I guess submit your application and see what happens.   Mazel tov about that!

Actually there's another complication I just remembered. People of German origin tended to change their names after the Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed.  Ethnic Germans Hungarian'ised their names. I believe the Schwabians also did the same.  I think it was mainly in the nationalist atmosphere of the time rather than anything specific like oppression athough maybe that played a part.  My SO's family on the mother's side Hungarian'ised their German names.  Furthermore, Mrs Fluffy told me her great grandmother (who she still can remember) actually spoke German and mixed it up with Hungarian. So it doesn't take too long (generations) really for one's origins to become lost in the morass of history. Just one or two or three generations and links to the motherland start to fall away.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Actually there's another complication I just remembered. People of German origin tended to change their names after the Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed.  Ethnic Germans Hungarian'ised their names. I believe the Schwabians also did the same.  I think it was mainly in the nationalist atmosphere of the time rather than anything specific like oppression athough maybe that played a part.  My SO's family on the mother's side Hungarian'ised their German names.  Furthermore, Mrs Fluffy told me her great grandmother (who she still can remember) actually spoke German and mixed it up with Hungarian. So it doesn't take too long (generations) really for one's origins to become lost in the morass of history. Just one or two or three generations and links to the motherland start to fall away.

This is an interesting point. My grandparents (and great-grandparents) were registered at their birth with hungarianised first names (their family names always remained in their German form). The hungarianised names were simply the equivalent of their German names, eg. János was used for Johann. I believe this was done due to the pressure placed on non-Hungarians to prove their loyalty to the Kingdom. Interestingly they never referred to each other using the Hungarian versions of their names, always rather preferring the German forms.

I have to disagree with your point about ones origins being quickly lost. As far as I've found, my ancestors were all ethnic Germans, and resided in the Kingdom of Hungary since at least the 1600's. My grandparents and great-grandparents were expelled in 1946, their mother tongue was German and Hungarian was only learnt in school, not at home. The German dialect spoken by them is an extremely old variant, reminiscent of the Bavarian farmers who settled in the area some hundreds of years earlier. Over these many years, the dialect has been exceptionally well conserved.

The culture of Germans in Hungary was not only conserved, but flourished for most of their history. It wasn't until the late-1800's that ethnic Germans in Hungary began to lose elements of their culture, due to pressures placed on them by the Hungarian government.