🇭🇺 Hungary — Work & Study Visas, Wages & Jobs
Last verified 2026-09-26 · 5/7 visa categories confirmed from official sources
Work Visas
EU Blue Card
For highly qualified non-EU workers with a relevant tertiary qualification (or, for IT specialists/executives, 3+ years' relevant experience) and a minimum 1-year employment contract. Intra-EU mobility applicants can use a faster 30-day track.
Threshold/salary: 2026: standard HUF 1,001,048/month gross (~€2,565); shortage-occupation roles (doctors, pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, dieticians) HUF 800,838/month (~€2,050)
Duration: Up to 4 years, renewable, capped at passport validity
National work visa/permit
Combined single work-and-residence permit for third-country nationals; employer must generally show the role could not be filled by a Hungarian/EEA worker. Since 1 Jan 2025, employment-purpose entries are only approved for nationalities listed in Annex 1 of Government Decree 450/2024. A separate Guest Worker Programme/National Card exists for bilateral-agreement countries (manufacturing, construction, food-processing).
Job Seeker Visa
Not a general job-seeker visa for outside applicants — only available to those who already held a Hungarian residence permit for studies/research, completed that purpose, and whose intended job/business matches their study/research level. Must apply at least 15 days before the study/research permit expires.
Digital Nomad VisaUnconfirmed figure — verify before relying on it
Exists — Hungary's "White Card" (introduced 2022) for third-country nationals working remotely for a non-Hungarian employer or running a foreign-registered business; local Hungarian employment is not permitted under this category.
Threshold/salary: Reported ~€3,000/month (secondary sources, not confirmed directly on oif.gov.hu)
Duration: 1 year, extendable once for another year
Study Visas
Student Permit
Residence permit for full-time study at a state-recognised Hungarian (or accredited foreign-run) higher-education institution. Requires an admission/enrolment agreement, proof tuition is paid, and comprehensive health insurance.
Post-Study Job Search PermitUnconfirmed figure — verify before relying on it
Job-searching residence permit for a maximum of 9 months, non-extendable, for non-EEA graduates of a Hungarian higher-education institution. Must apply at least 15 days before the study permit expires and register with the Employment Centre; converts to an employment residence permit if a job is secured.
Duration: 9 months, non-extendable
Researcher/PhD Permit
Hosting-agreement scheme under EU Directive 2016/801 for researchers (and family members) via an approved research organisation, including long-term and short-term intra-EU researcher-mobility permits.
Wages & Earning Potential
- Statutory minimum wage: 322800 HUF/month (effective 2026-01-01) — source
- Guaranteed Minimum Wage: 373200 HUF/month (effective 2026-01-01) — source
Top Employers
| Company | Industry |
|---|---|
| OTP Bank | Banking / Financial Services |
| MOL Group Careers portal is a JS-rendered SPA; automated fetch could not render listings directly, but the domain is confirmed official | Oil & Gas / Energy |
| Gedeon Richter (Richter Gedeon) | Pharmaceuticals |
| Wizz Air | Aviation / Airline |
| Magyar Telekom Majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom but operates as a distinct Hungarian entity | Telecommunications |
| Audi Hungaria Volkswagen Group subsidiary, Győr — one of the largest engine plants in the world | Automotive Manufacturing |
| Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Kecskemét plant, 4,500+ employees | Automotive Manufacturing |
| Magyar Suzuki Esztergom, sole European Suzuki factory; careers portal primarily in Hungarian | Automotive Manufacturing |
| Bosch Hungary | Engineering / Manufacturing / IT |
| Tesco Hungary UK-headquartered, large retail + growing tech/shared-services hub in Budapest | Retail |
Second/Extra Job Rules for Existing Permit-Holders
Standard work permit — no
Residence is tied to a specific employer/job — a second job with a different employer is generally not permitted.
EU Blue Card — conditional
Holder may change employer without a new application after at least 1 year in Hungary (must report job changes). Taking on an additional (second) job requires applying to extend/amend the EU Blue Card via Enter Hungary, regardless of tenure.
Sources & Open Questions
Every figure above is sourced from the official links inline. The items below are things our research could not confirm from an official source as of 2026-09-26 — treat them as open questions, not settled facts.
- Immigration DB: Exact administrative fee amounts (HUF) for employment residence permits, EU Blue Card, and student permits were not retrieved — OIF factsheets point to a separate fee schedule.
- Immigration DB: Exact processing time for the standard employment residence permit not confirmed (only Blue Card and student-permit timelines have specific day-counts).
- Immigration DB: Precise minimum proof-of-funds figure for the student permit not officially confirmed (OIF states 'sufficient resources' without a fixed HUF number; ~HUF 200,000/month is a secondary-source estimate).
- Immigration DB: The '9-month' post-study job-search duration is well corroborated across secondary sources but was not re-confirmed by directly re-fetching the specific OIF factsheet.
- Immigration DB: White Card (digital nomad) income threshold (~€3,000/month) and fees (~€110) are from secondary/aggregator sites, not directly confirmed against oif.gov.hu or enterhungary.gov.hu.
- Immigration DB: Hungarian Blue Card family reunification specifics not detailed in the fetched factsheet.
- Immigration DB: Which country covers Sri Lanka for Hungarian consular/visa purposes is unconfirmed; the Abuja, Nigeria embassy was not confirmed directly from a Hungarian government source.
- Immigration DB: Foreign qualification-recognition process and fees (Oktatási Hivatal) — general existence confirmed, procedural detail not retrieved.
- Immigration DB: Enter Hungary's own official page could not be fetched (returned empty content); its described role is inferred from OIF factsheet cross-references.
- Wage DB: Primary njt.hu/Magyar Közlöny gazette text of Government Decree No. 426/2025 (XII. 23.) was not directly fetched — figures corroborated by multiple payroll-advisory sources only.
- Wage DB: Whether 'full-time work up to 90 days a year outside the school term' requires notification to immigration authorities, or is automatic, was not explicitly confirmed.
- Wage DB: No official confirmation of whether third-country national students can access Hungary's BPO/shared-service-center job market in Budapest without additional restrictions.
- Wage DB — IMPORTANT (tax): Under-25 income tax exemption does NOT apply to non-EEA nationals since Jan 2025 (confirmed) — full personal income tax applies regardless of age. This is a material take-home-pay difference for this site's audience versus EU/EEA peers.
- Wage DB: No official cap found on combined weekly hours across two jobs for Blue Card holders taking a second job.
- Wage DB: No specific data found on Glovo/Bolt Food operating in Hungary, or on warehouse/fulfillment (e.g., Amazon) employment for students.
This guide is part of Route Europa's 29-country Schengen database, compiled 2026-09-26. See all countries →
Pay, pensions and visas — compared
Take-home pay: a gross salary of €60,000 leaves about €39,900 a year (€3,325 a month, 66.5% kept) for a single employee in Hungary — confidence: high.