Greater attention is required for maintaining the option for renewing the Hungarian residence permit

As of 1 January 2019, new Hungarian legislation came into force that affects third-country nationals with residence permits in Hungary who wish to apply for an extension. The regulation states that an extension can only be authorized if the third country national’s physical presence has exceeded 90 days within any 180 days period before the date the extension is applied for.

We have requested guidance from the immigration authority on the interpretation of the regulation in order to clarify the exact conditions for applying it. The authority confirmed that if the third-country national with a residence permit has not been physically in Hungary at least 90 days within one 180-day period of residence, then the application for extension will be rejected.

As a consequence, if a third-country national does not meet this requirement, a request for a new residence permit application can be submitted (instead of a request for the renewal of the current residence permit) to ensure continuation of his/her long-term stay in Hungary.

The question arises: what is significant about the difference between renewal or new application as regards procedure? Mainly, a request for residence permit renewal can be submitted without interrupting the Hungarian residence, as opposed to submitting a new application: for the latter, the applicant must leave the Schengen area at the latest upon the expiration of the current residence permit. The place where the new application must be submitted after leaving the Schengen area depends on the individual’s citizenship: citizens of third countries who need a visa to enter the Schengen area (e.g.: Russia, China, India) can submit their new applications – as a general rule – outside Hungary at the responsible consular office. Those third country nationals, who can enter the country without a visa based on their citizenship (e.g. US-, Canadian-, Australian citizens) can proceed with submitting a new application in Hungary when they return to the country.

Summarising the above, it is worth tracking the number of days one spends outside Hungary as well as considering this period in the light of the above.

Should you have any questions in relation the above, please contact your regular contact person or Dénes Megyesi (e-mail: denes.megyesi@hu.pwc.com) and Kata Magyar (e-mail: kata.magyar@hu.pwc.com).