Hungary

Hungary has two residence routes that matter to nomads, and they suit very different people.

• Remote workers with foreign income: the White Card covers work for an employer or own business outside Hungary. It needs €3,000 a month net and lasts up to 2 years with one extension. It allows no work for Hungarian clients, no family members and no path to long-term residence.
• Investors: the guest investor permit needs €250,000 in a registered real estate fund or a €1,000,000 university donation. It lasts up to 10 years, covers family, allows any work in Hungary and can count toward a national residence card.

Families and anyone who wants to settle look past the White Card: its holders cannot get a national residence card, and no one can base a residence right on it.

Visits without a permit

Hungary is in the Schengen area, so nationals of visa-exempt countries can stay 90 days in any 180-day period. That allowance is shared across all Schengen countries, and days on a residence permit do not count toward it.

The EU's Entry/Exit System has registered short-stay visitors at external borders since Oct. 12, 2025, taking fingerprints and a facial image. On ETIAS, the travel authorization planned for visa-exempt visitors, the official position is this: Not yet operating and no official start date. The EU says it will announce the date several months before launch. The earlier official target, the last quarter of 2026, was removed from the official ETIAS website on July 14-17, 2026.

Hungary uses the forint (HUF), not the euro, so costs for someone paid in euros or dollars move with the exchange rate. In Numbeo's crowd-sourced prices, a single person's monthly spending excluding rent was about HUF 245,000 in Debrecen and Szeged and HUF 275,000 in Budapest.

Each total adds the average one-bedroom rent, outside the center and in it, to Numbeo's estimate of a single person's other monthly costs. The figures are averages of user reports, not official statistics.

At the ECB reference rate of Sept. 24, 2026, Budapest's range is roughly $1,520 to $1,730 a month, and Debrecen and Szeged come in about 20% to 25% lower. Anyone who meets the White Card's income test, €3,000 a month, earns well above every total in the table.

• Budapest: the capital and the obvious base, with the largest international community, the widest choice of coworking spaces and flights across Europe. It is also the most expensive city in the country.
• Debrecen: Hungary's second city, a university town in the east with rents well below the capital's in Numbeo's data and a slower pace.
• Szeged: a university city in the south, the cheapest of the three for rent, suited to remote workers who want quiet and low costs.

Budapest suits a first stay; the smaller cities suit a second one, once a nomad knows the country and wants to cut costs.

Hungary's fixed broadband is among the fastest in Europe: the Speedtest Global Index for August 2026 put the median fixed speed at about 393 Mbps and the median mobile speed at about 169 Mbps.

Coworking spaces cluster in central Budapest, with day passes and monthly desks, while Debrecen and Szeged have fewer. Many cafes in Budapest's inner districts are used as workspaces.

Visitors with a SIM from another EU country roam at home prices on periodic trips, but roaming rules do not cover permanent use, so a long stay calls for a Hungarian plan.

Hungary decides tax residency with a layered test in the Personal Income Tax Act. A third-country national is resident when their only permanent home is in Hungary; failing that, when their center of vital interests is there; failing that, when their habitual abode is there. The explicit 183 days count in a calendar year, with arrival and departure days counted in full, is written for EEA nationals.

What nomads should check

• No official source sets a special tax rule for White Card holders or guest investors, so the general rules apply to both.
• A White Card holder's income comes from abroad by design. Whether Hungary taxes it depends on residency under the test above and on any tax treaty with the country where the employer or business sits.
• The national tax authority (NAV) gives rulings on individual cases, and a local tax adviser can confirm the position before a long stay starts.

• Money: prices are in forints. Cards work widely in the cities, and paying in forints rather than accepting a conversion at the till avoids a poor exchange rate.
• Permits online: most residence permit steps run through Enter Hungary, the immigration authority's online system, so setting up an account before arrival saves time.
• Health insurance: both residence permits require health cover valid in Hungary. Checking that a policy covers routine care, not just emergencies, avoids surprises.
• Phone and data: a Hungarian prepaid SIM or eSIM from one of the national operators gives a local number for banking and delivery apps.
• Emergencies: 112 reaches police, fire and ambulance services free of charge, as everywhere in the EU.
• Language: official forms and letters are in Hungarian, so a translation app or a translator helps with paperwork.