Registering a birth in Hungary

David wrote:

Hi,

About to have a baby or already had children? Let's share your experience about the paperworks for registering a birth in Hungary.

What are the formalities to obtain a birth certificate?

What is the procedure to follow if both parents are of the same nationality or for a mixed couple?

Thank you in advance for participating,

David

Speaking from 4 years ago....

As far as I remember, the hospital should send the birth details to the local government automatically, then you get an address card and birth certificate in the post. You need to name the baby there and then at the time of birth. There's no waiting period allowed so be prepared with names!

You can also go to the local government almost immediately and they will give you the docs if you have the right paperwork from the hospital and you can argue  effectively (but they don't like it) for the paperwork there and then. You might need to do that if you need to apply for a passport for the baby quickly.

You have to take your passport(s) if not Hungarian and your nationality will be recorded on the birth certificate.

The birth certificates is now internationalised A4, so it has Hungarian, English and French on it. It's acceptable as a legal document in any EU country.

@fluffy2560- thanks for the sharing of information

great timing!!

We just had our first baby 1st Sept, and we are just filling out the UK registration forms ....

So, the baby's details SHOULD be taken by the Hospital in Hungary [somebody comes round & does it when you are in the ward]
However, if the name chosen is NOT on the 'approved' list, you can have an unapproved name, provided one or other parent is NOT Hungarian - in our case, my wife is Hungarian by birth, I am/was a lifetime UK resident - although we emigrated here, finally, in Feb 2013 - the person that comes round needs to know this detail - in Szombathely Hospital they didn't, and wouldn't take the details because of that, so we had to go in to the relevant office & register her ourselves - only took about 20 minutes, then next door to get her lakszimkartya [address card], again only about 20 minutes.....
They DO like their admin over here, though, don't they - and you HAVE to go in to the relevant office[s], you can't do stuff over the internet ... so, we have been in & out of Szombathely hundreds of times since Feb getting everything in order, before her birth & since .....

Further, we have just filled in the UK registration documentation [which IS available on the interworld webnet], as we are both UK citizens - that too requires a trip, only this time to the British Embassy in Budapest - a TAD further afield!! We are thinking we will make a trip of it & go on the historic steamtrain trip [Nov 22nd, i believe??] whilst we are 'in town'.
And, no doubt, Ikea will be on the 'must visit' list too

In the meantime, I'm trying to get the roof on our house before the snow re-appears!! We spent last winter in Vietnam, where we spent Xmas day on the beach in 33deg C !!!

Feel free to get back to me if you want some more info, or if we can help ....

Toby, Klaudia & Katie

Angolhapsi wrote:

....as we are both UK citizens - that too requires a trip, only this time to the British Embassy in Budapest - a TAD further afield!! ...

I wouldn't bother with the consular birth certificate because it is stupidly expensive. The Hungarian birth certificate is absolutely legal documentation in all EU countries.

I used the HU birth certificate to get a passport for our baby and it was not even questioned by Embassy staff (we had one of the last passports issued by the Embassy before the FCO idiots outsourced it to Dusseldorf)

The only reason to have a consular birth certificate is to make sure the birth is registered in the UK, and not only retained in the Embassy records (which apparently, remains in the Embassy and is not sent to London).

The UK Passport is a 'ticket to travel' and allows free access & entry to so many places that would otherwise demand a Visa if travelling on the Hungarian passport, so the UK Passport is a necessity, and, strictly, her right, sadly - until the rest of the world accepts Hungary as an equal - I have family in the USA, and whilst we were living in the UK, she was refused entry to the USA without a visa, AND they refused her visa as she was not residing in Hungary / the following year, once her UK passport had been gained, no visa required ...... go figure !!

Angolhapsi wrote:

The UK Passport is a 'ticket to travel' and allows free access & entry to so many places that would otherwise demand a Visa if travelling on the Hungarian passport!!

Maybe so, but this is not what I said.

It is not necessary to have total rip off consular birth certificate to obtain a British passport, the Hungarian version birth certificate is equally acceptable to the British authorities.

Also, it's not a universal truth that visa free travel is equally obtained. You might find it's worth having both HU and UK passports for your child because sometimes visas are cheaper on the Hungarian passport than the British one. Also, some countries do not need visas for HU citizens but they do for UK ones.

BTW, visa issuing staff anywhere in any country can often be persuaded to hand out a visa even if you are not a resident. Just say that you live here part of the year. Worked for me numerous times including a couple of weeks ago. The only place I couldn't persuade them was in a Nigerian Embassy but they are known to be awkward.

I am Hungarian, but my husband isn't. We lived and got married abroad and moved to Hungary only a month before my due date. This meant, our wedding wasn't yet localised. (If you are both foreigners, this is not an issue, only if one of you is Hungarian) After I gave birth, they came to the hospital and wanted to take the baby's detail. First of all, according to them I was still unmarried, so coudn'T register my son with my husband's surname. Also, the name we have chosen was not on the approved name list, which is OK as long as one of the parent is not Hungarian. Again, as I was "unmarried" they would have needed a document from the father, saying that he admits that he is the father. (Apasági Nyilatkozat) My husband needed to get this through the embassy but woud have taken too long. Besides, according to them he was already married (to me) so didn't see the need to issue this document. Catch 22... We ended up waiting for the registration of our wedding, which took 3 month and registered the baby only after... So in mixed marriages, make sure you do have a Hungarian wedding certificate!

Ildy wrote:

.... Again, as I was "unmarried" they would have needed a document from the father, saying that he admits that he is the father. (Apasági Nyilatkozat) My husband needed to get this through the embassy but woud have taken too long. Besides, according to them he was already married (to me) so didn't see the need to issue this document....

Yes, I had forgot about this. 

However, all I had to do was sign a paper at the registrar's office (local government) agreeing I was the father.

I didn't need anything else at all, not even produce a marriage certificate and I certainly didn't go to the Embassy for anything at all.  My nationality was however noted on the birth certificate(s).

Hi everyone out there
My dad is Hungarian but I was born and married in Australia - my daughter would like to travel in Europe.  She has an Australian Passport - do I need to register my birth and marriage in Hungary and also my daughters birth for her to obtain a Hungarian Passport to make travelling there easier?  What are the implications if I do this - are there any national laws we will be subject to?