Hungary Digital Nomad Visa

Hungary's White Card (Fehér Kártya) is a residence permit for remote workers from outside the EU. Under Section 62 of Act XC of 2023, the holder either works for an employer outside Hungary or owns a profitable business abroad, and does that work from Hungary using digital technology.

The card runs for up to 1 year and can be extended once, for a total of 2 years. The main test is income: €3,000 a month net, earned in each of the six months before applying and throughout the stay.

It suits a remote worker who wants a base in Hungary for one or two years. It does not suit families, anyone who wants to work for Hungarian clients or anyone planning to settle: the card gives no route to a national residence card.

• Nationality: third-country nationals, meaning people without EU, EEA or Swiss free-movement rights.
• Remote work abroad: an employment relationship with an employer outside Hungary, or ownership of a profitable business outside Hungary, carried out from Hungary online.
• Income: €3,000 a month in net lawful income in every one of the six months before the application, and every month during the stay, under Section 52(4) of Decree 35/2024.
• Work for Hungarian employers or clients: No. The permit rests on the foreign job or business, and the holder must report the end of that job to the immigration authority.

No official source sets a separate savings requirement. Figures quoted elsewhere for savings are not in the decree, which states only the income test.

Applicants prove the purpose of the stay, the income test, accommodation in Hungary and health cover. The immigration authority's own checklist on Enter Hungary governs the exact documents, and it can change. In practice the file covers:

• a valid passport and the completed application form
• a statement from the foreign employer describing the job and the remote-work arrangement, or documents showing the applicant's ownership of the foreign business and its profit
• bank statements or income certificates covering the six months before the application
• proof of accommodation in Hungary, such as a lease or a paid booking
• health insurance valid in Hungary

Documents in other languages may need a certified translation; the authority states which ones when it asks for them.

Fees are set by Decree 10/2024 of the Interior Ministry. There is no separate White Card fee; the general residence permit fees apply.

• At a consulate abroad: €110, which covers the permit and the entry visa.
• Online in Hungary through Enter Hungary: HUF 26,000.
• In person in Hungary: HUF 39,000.
• Extension: HUF 26,000.

Health insurance, accommodation and any translations are extra and depend on the provider.

At a Hungarian consulate abroad, or in Hungary through the immigration authority electronic system (Enter Hungary) or in person at a regional directorate of the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing. No other residence permit can be requested inside Hungary while holding a White Card or after it ends.

1. Choose the channel: a Hungarian consulate abroad, or, for visa-exempt nationals lawfully in Hungary, the Enter Hungary online system or a regional directorate in person.
2. Submit the application with the documents and pay the fee for that channel.
3. Wait for the decision. The authority must decide within 30 days of filing, under Decree 35/2024, and may extend that once in exceptional cases.

Because no other residence permit can be requested inside Hungary while holding a White Card, anyone planning a longer stay on another basis applies for that permit from abroad.

The White Card is issued for up to 1 year.

Extension: Can be extended once, for up to one more year, only for the same purpose. The income test applies again at extension. The longest possible stay is 2 years.

Family: No. No residence right can be based on a White Card holder, so a partner or child needs a status of their own, such as their own White Card.

Long-term residence: No. White Card holders cannot get a national residence card and time on the card does not count toward one.

No official source sets a special tax rule for White Card holders, so Hungary's general personal income tax rules apply. Residency follows a layered test in the Personal Income Tax Act: a permanent home only in Hungary, then the center of vital interests, then habitual abode. The explicit 183 days count in a calendar year, with arrival and departure days counted in full, is written for EEA nationals.

A White Card holder who keeps a home and family abroad may stay non-resident; one whose life centers on Hungary may not. Where a tax treaty exists between Hungary and the home country, it decides which country taxes the income. The national tax authority (NAV) confirms individual cases.