Hungary Golden Visa

Hungary's guest investor residence permit, often called its golden visa, gives a long residence permit to people from outside the EU who make one of two qualifying investments. It rests on Sections 16 and 22 of Act XC of 2023.

• Investment units worth at least €250,000 in a real estate fund registered by the Hungarian National Bank, held for at least five years.
• A cash donation of at least €1,000,000 to a higher education institution run by a public interest trust, for education, research or the arts.

The permit runs for up to 10 years and can be renewed once. Unlike the White Card, it allows work in Hungary without restriction and covers family members. A direct purchase of residential property is not a qualifying route.

• Nationality: third-country nationals without EU, EEA or Swiss free-movement rights.
• Investment: one of the two routes: €250,000 in qualifying real estate fund units, or a €1,000,000 donation. Applicants either hold the investment already or make it while the guest investor visa is valid.
• Holding period: fund units must be held directly and continuously for at least five years.
• General conditions: a valid passport, accommodation in Hungary and no public order or security grounds for refusal.

The file differs between the visa and the permit stage, and the immigration authority's checklist on Enter Hungary governs the exact documents. The core items are:

• a valid passport and the application form
• proof of the investment: a certificate of the fund units or of the donation, or, at the visa stage, a statement of which investment will be made and proof of the funds to make it
• proof of accommodation in Hungary

• Guest investor visa: €110, per Decree 10/2024 of the Interior Ministry.
• Residence permit in Hungary: HUF 26,000 online or HUF 39,000 in person, the general permit fees under the same decree.
• Investment: €250,000 in fund units, which stay the investor's asset, or a €1,000,000 donation, which does not come back.

Fund management charges, legal fees and translations are extra and vary by provider.

Guest investor visa at a Hungarian consulate, then the residence permit in Hungary. Nationals of visa-exempt countries lawfully in Hungary can apply for the permit directly.

1. Apply for the guest investor visa at a Hungarian consulate. It is a multiple-entry visa valid for 6 months.
2. Make the investment while the visa is valid, if it is not already in place.
3. Apply for the residence permit in Hungary, online through Enter Hungary or in person.

No official processing time for the guest investor permit was confirmed in the sources checked.

The guest investor permit is issued for up to 10 years and may run past the passport's expiry date.

Renewal: Renewable once, for the same purpose, for up to ten more years, provided the investment conditions are still met. The 90-days-in-180 presence rule that applies to other permit renewals does not apply. The longest possible stay on the permit is 20 years.

Work: Yes. Holders may be employed, self-employed or company directors in Hungary, and so may family members on the linked permit.

Family: Yes. Family members as defined in the Act get a linked family residence permit.

Long-term residence: Possible: guest investors are not on the list of permits barred from the national residence card, which needs at least three years of lawful, uninterrupted residence in Hungary.

The guest investor permit carries no special tax regime. Hungary's general rules decide residency through 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 183 days count in a calendar year is written for EEA nationals.

Holders who spend little time in Hungary and keep their home elsewhere may stay non-resident. Where a tax treaty applies, it decides which country taxes which income, and the national tax authority (NAV) confirms individual cases.