Advice needed:) (regarding Hungarian citizenship by naturalization)

Hi Everyone, this is Vute here. I wanted to ask for your advice regarding my situation. I hope someone here can help me or share their experiences:)

I came to Hungary one and a half months before I turned 18 for starting my Higher education studies within the medical field. It was in 2nd week of August of 2017 and I turned 18 in September end.

Now, I read in many places that those people who established residence in Hungary before the legal age can apply for naturalization after 5 years of continuous residence in Hungary. What I would like to ask you all is that do I have a chance for a successful application? Because I feel I meet all the criteria but I am not so sure.

I think if I meet this criteria, this would be great because that much better than waiting 8 years for naturalization.
I come from a 3rd world country and I believe having Hungarian citizenship could help me to advance my career and possibly allow me to work in places I would have previously not been able to.

Thanks for reading this and I hope some of you can advise me on this:)

This topic has been covered so many times, please search the forum and you will find so many answers.

Vute256 wrote:

I read in many places


The only place that matters for information is going to your local Hungarian citizenship and naturalization office and asking there. What you read online (even at a Hungarian Government web site) may be out of date* or at other places simply wrong.

*For example, the forms I downloaded once, pre filled out, and took the local office were wrong, as there were new forms available and the government web site had not be updated with the new forms. So I had to fill out the new forms there at the office. Which was just a bit annoying....

Not sure but believe if you do not have any family roots in Hungary you have to wait out the 8 years before trying to be a citizen.
I've been here a long time now, married for over 4 decades to a HU citizen and the mother of a HU citizen, not even sure I qualify for HU citizenship if I wanted it.
My grandmother was born in former Hungarian lands as well.
8 years and have to speak Hungarian for citizenship from what I know.
They may waver the language test if you qualify with everything else and are over age 60. Also if you are mental they will waver the language test...Funny really.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Not sure but believe if you do not have any family roots in Hungary you have to wait out the 8 years before trying to be a citizen.


The OP may be seeing things like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian … an_citizen

Which give different time frames. For example, the above source says those married to a Hungarian citizen can apply for naturalization after only 3 years.

But.... And this is the important point.... None of the above site claims come with current references or sources. So.... May be wrong. Again, the best up to date source is the local naturalization office. They often speak English there, but that should not matter, as if one is going to try to get Hungarian citizenship by naturalization one will need to speak fluent Hungarian...

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

They may waver the language test if you qualify with everything else and are over age 60..


Another point of question.

I have "read" they will wave the citizen test (ie. a test about Hungarian law and History, which is in Hungarian), but that does not necessarily mean they will wave the interview, which may also be in Hungarian. So being over 60 and not speaking Hungarian *may* not work... Again... Contact the local naturalization office for the latest rules and info.

klsallee wrote:
Marilyn Tassy wrote:

They may waver the language test if you qualify with everything else and are over age 60..


Another point of question.

I have "read" they will wave the citizen test (ie. a test about Hungarian law and History, which is in Hungarian), but that does not necessarily mean they will wave the interview, which may also be in Hungarian. So being over 60 and not speaking Hungarian *may* not work... Again... Contact the local naturalization office for the latest rules and info.


I do know a number of (EU) countries that waiver the tests and interviews etc if the person is married to a citizen of the country they are over 60/65 so it is well worth checking.

SimCityAT wrote:

I do know a number of (EU) countries that waiver the tests and interviews etc if the person is married to a citizen of the country they are over 60/65 so it is well worth checking.


"Knowing"* this is Irrelevant if one of those countries are not Hungary, since this is the Hungarian forum and the OP is asking about citizenship under Hungarian law. What may or may not exist in other country law is not relevant. And you may be confusing the OP.

AGAIN (for the 4th time): The OP should ONLY contact the local naturalization office for the latest rules and info. Comments here are simply not to be trusted.

*Hersey. Prove it: Give links to national law at national government web sites to start (to start only, as that info may not be current and up to date).

klsallee wrote:
SimCityAT wrote:

I do know a number of (EU) countries that waiver the tests and interviews etc if the person is married to a citizen of the country they are over 60/65 so it is well worth checking.


"Knowing"* this is Irrelevant if one of those countries are not Hungary, since this is the Hungarian forum and the OP is asking about citizenship under Hungarian law. What may or may not exist in other country law is not relevant. And you may be confusing the OP.

AGAIN (for the 4th time): The OP should ONLY contact the local naturalization office for the latest rules and info. Comments here are simply not to be trusted.

*Hersey. Prove it: Give links to national law at national government web sites to start (to start only, as that info may not be current and up to date).


As I said it is worth CHECKING as things change all the time and as you said yourself items are sometimes not updated even on the government websites.

To be honest, I have tried a lot but these are murky legal waters and sometimes even at the local government office, they are not sure.

Some say that time during my education is considered invalid, some say not. The thing is, there is no one particular department/office I could find regarding my problem. I would just go and talk to them if I know who is the "know it all" in these cases.

I think I might just have to lawyer up to know if I have a successful chance of an application. But did you know that just for a consultation with the immigration lawyer, I'd have to cough up 40,000 HUF per hour? That's honestly not a small amount by any means.

I sometimes just feel so hopeless.

Thanks for your reply but I couldn't find any topic pertaining particularly to my scenario. There are other variations but those cases differ from this quite a bit  :(

Trust me, at least I'm sure that you definitely are eligible for the HU citizenship. But I guess you'd have to do the language exam, that sucks a bit.
But you don't need all this since you already have a US citizenship, I assume. Which is great, to be frank.

"I came to Hungary one and a half months before I turned 18 for starting my Higher education studies within the medical field."

Did you actually get a "lakcimkartya" saying that you have your residency ("Lakohely") in HU?

I am totally confused. Do you  have relations that are Hungarian?
If not, then you might just wish to look online at the Hungarian imimgrations  site and see where exactly you  fall.
Hungary is not an easy place to get citizenship, they still have sort of high standards for everyone with a claim.
It is a bit nice really that they hold high standards for this claim.
Personally, I have been married and "dealt" with my Hungarian husband since 1975 and have a grandmother who was born in Hungary but even so, I still believe by not speaking Hungarian I have no claim to citizenship. I am happy they allow me in as a perm resident.
Education in Hungary has nothing to do with citizenship.
I may be old school but sort  of believe if you have no blood ties to Hungary, why are you here?
Blood ties meaning, marriage , children or family roots to the country.
One reason we all love Hungary is they still have their own culture and we do not wish it to be watered down.
I know I seem rude but I am 50% Ruysn, people who never had their own country, I know how easy it is to lose it all., Also 1/8th Mohawk, OK so where do they live and who cares about them?