Hungary Hungary — entry & visa requirements

Visa-free for listed biometric passports, 90 days

Max stay: 90 days in any 180-day period

Short answer

If you hold a biometric passport from a country on the EU visa-exempt list, you can visit Hungary for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. Everyone else must apply at a Hungarian mission in the country where they legally reside. Your passport must be valid for at least three months beyond departure and must have been issued within the last 10 years. No visa fee is stated in our archive.

Max stay

90 days in any 180-day period[1]

Passport type

Biometric passport required for visa-free entry[1]

Passport validity

3 months beyond departure, issued within last 10 years[1]

Suspended

Visa-free travel on diplomatic, service and official passports until 6 March 2027[1]

Sparse archive — being expandedMuch of the archived text concerns apostilles and consular legalisation rather than obtaining a visitor visa, so visa fees, forms and processing times for short-stay applicants are not stated; the authority's 90-day maximum is consistent with the sources, which add that it means 90 days in any 180-day period.

Who can enter visa-free

Hungary grants visa-free entry for up to 90 days to holders of biometric passports from the countries and territories listed in Annex II of EU Regulation 2018/1806, and to recognised refugees and stateless persons whose travel document comes from one of those countries. Everyone else needs a visa, lodged at a Hungarian foreign mission in the country where they legally reside. Visa-free travel on diplomatic, service and official passports is currently suspended.

Holders of biometric passports from the listed countries may enter Hungary visa-free for up to 90 days.[1]
The 90-day visa exemption applies only to holders of biometric passports.[1]
Recognised refugees and stateless persons are exempt if their travel document was issued by a country listed in Annex II of Regulation (EU) 2018/1806.[1]
In any other case a visa is required and must be lodged at a Hungarian mission where you legally reside.[1]
Your travel document must be valid at least three months beyond departure and issued within the previous 10 years.[1]

Not included in this section: Left out the link to the EU list of recognised travel documents and the passport-type abbreviation key (OP, D, S, ID, SP, OFP).

Visa-exempt by stay length

The archived table records a single visa-exempt tier of up to 90 days. Any longer stay needs a visa or residence permit, and the 90 days always mean a maximum of 90 days within any 180-day period.

Visa-free entry is capped at 90 days; a longer stay requires a visa or residence permit.[1]
The 90 days always refer to a maximum period of stay in any 180-day period.[1]

Not included in this section: Left out the extract's unexplained count column.

Duration of stay

Schengen short-stay rules apply only to stays not exceeding 90 days; longer stays fall under national law and require a visa or residence permit. The European Commission's short-stay calculator is the reference tool for checking your own days.

Schengen regulations apply only to a stay not exceeding 90 days; longer stays follow the national law of the member state.[5]
For a stay exceeding 90 days a visa or residence permit is needed.[1]
The 90 days always count as a maximum stay in any 180-day period.[1]
The European Commission publishes a short-stay calculator to check how many days you may still use.[1]

Not included in this section: Left out the bare 'short term stay / long term stay' headings, which carry no further detail.

General information

The consular site points travellers to practical border information, the EU's new Entry/Exit System and ETIAS, and Hungary's aliens authority for residence permits. It also records that Germany has partially represented Hungary for certain visa applicants since October 2009.

Hungarian border opening hours and expected waiting times are published through the Border-Info service.[9]
The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) and ETIAS introduce new requirements for travel to Europe.[9]
Residence permits are handled by the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing.[9]
Since 1 October 2009 Germany has partially represented Hungary for certain categories of visa applicants.[10]

Not included in this section: Left out the generic 'information on general rules of border crossing' label, which carries no substance.

Required documents

The archived material here concerns document legalisation rather than the file for a short-stay visa. It states that since 1 January 2013 every traveller, including children, must hold their own travel document, and that many common public documents no longer need an apostille inside the EU. No checklist for a visitor visa application appears in these sources.

Since 1 January 2013 EU citizens, including children, must each hold their own individual travel document to visit Hungary.[3]
EU rules allow Member States to issue only individual travel documents, so one person holds one document.[3]
Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 abolished the apostille requirement for common public documents such as birth, marriage and criminal record certificates within the EU.[2]
Some documents need intermediate legalisation by a body that varies with the document type before an apostille or diplomatic legalisation is issued.[2]
Depending on who issued them, documents for use abroad are legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice or the Hungarian Chamber of Civil Law Notaries.[2]

Not included in this section: Left out detailed apostille procedures, notary-chamber contact pages and internal signature registers, as these concern legalising documents for use abroad rather than visitor visas.

How to apply

The process described in the archived official sources is the consular legalisation procedure, not a short-stay visa application. It involves booking an appointment online, completing a form on the konzinfostart portal, printing and signing it, and attending in person in Budapest. No step-by-step visitor visa application process appears in these sources.

Online booking is a two-step process: the appointment is finalised only after you confirm it through the link sent to your e-mail.[2]
Applicants complete the request form on the konzinfostart portal, which creates a PDF with a QR code.[2]
The form must be printed, signed and presented in person, otherwise the request is rejected.[2]
In-person submission takes place at Nagy Imre tér 4, 1027 Budapest, by appointment only.[2]
Complete applications are processed in a maximum of 8 days; otherwise processing can take up to 60 days.[2]

Not included in this section: Left out building-access rules and late-arrival cancellation for the legalisation office.

Fees

The only amount stated in our archive is the consular legalisation fee of 5,500 HUF per signature, payable by card in person or by bank transfer. EU Visa Facilitation Agreements with certain third countries can reduce visa fees and speed up handling, but no visitor visa fee is given in these sources.

Consular legalisation costs 5,500 HUF per signature and must be paid by card.[2]
The fee can also be transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs account, quoting your surname in the notice box.[2]
EU Visa Facilitation Agreements with certain third countries can reduce the visa fee and provide multiple-entry visas for specific applicants and shorter processing.[4]
Even under a facilitation agreement the applicant must still satisfy all entry conditions for the visa to be issued.[4]

Not included in this section: Left out the full bank account number, IBAN and SWIFT code for the transfer.

Official downloads

4 documents · grouped by how they are used4 files as ZIP ≈1.4 MB

Four short PDF questionnaires are attached, all listed as four pages. Three are filed under English, Spanish and French filenames and one is described as covering long-stay rather than visitor categories.

PDF

ENvizumkerdoiv20240628 0

English-language visa application questionnaire to be filled in and submitted with the application.

RequiredApplication form4 pp430 KBenENvizumkerdoiv20240628_0.pdf

[11]
PDF

ESvizumkerdoiv20240628 0

The same four-page visa questionnaire filed under the ES filename; use it when that locale version is requested.

RequiredApplication form4 pp338 KBenESvizumkerdoiv20240628_0.pdf

[12]
PDF

FRvizumkerdoiv20240628 0

The same four-page visa questionnaire filed under the FR filename; use it when that locale version is requested.

RequiredApplication form4 pp406 KBenFRvizumkerdoiv20240628_0.pdf

[13]
PDF

HUvizumkerdoiv20240628 0

Four-page questionnaire filed for the HU locale, described as covering long-stay, work or study categories, so it is normally not needed for a visitor visa.

BackgroundOther4 pp242 KBenHUvizumkerdoiv20240628_0.pdf

[14]

Official sources

40 citations · 10 unique pages · 1 official domains

The archived pages are Hungarian consular sources that are detailed on legalising documents for use abroad but thin on short-stay visa applications, fees and border procedure.

Numbers match the markers in the text above; click a marker to jump here. Groups are collapsed by domain - click a heading to expand. A source cited more than once keeps a single number.

konzuliszolgalat.kormany.hu10 URLs · cited 40 times

Popularity rank #34 (score 22.68). This page was written by an AI from the official material listed above and adds no facts from outside it; visa rules change, so always confirm on the official portal before you apply.