Hungary digital nomad visa (White Card)
Hungary's White Card lets you live there for up to two years while working for an employer abroad or your own foreign company. You need EUR 3,000 a month after tax, and visa-free nationalities can apply from inside Hungary.
At a glance
- The visa
- White Card
- What you need
- About $3,370 a month (EUR 3,000 a month); in pounds, about £2,530 a month
- What counts as proof
- Net income for at least six months before entry, from bank statements or payslips, kept up for the whole stay.
- Who can apply
- Employees of a company abroad: yes. Freelancers: unclear (the rules name employees and owners of a profitable company abroad. A freelancer without a company has no stated route). Owners of a company abroad: yes.
- How long
- One year, renewable once: two years at most
- Without a visa
- British and American visitors: 90 days in any 180 across Schengen
- EU, EEA and Swiss citizens
- Need no visa: they can live and work there anyway.
The catch. Nobody can join you on it, and owning even a share in a Hungarian company gets it withdrawn.
See where you stand against Hungary and every other country. Check your income
How to apply
- From abroad, apply at a Hungarian embassy or consulate in your country of nationality or where you normally live. No separate visa application is needed.
- From inside Hungary, if you can visit visa-free (as Americans, Britons and Singaporeans can), apply online through Enter Hungary or at the regional immigration office while you're there legally.
- If you're approved abroad, you get a single-entry visa to go and collect the card. Enter within three months or the approval lapses.
- Your fingerprints are taken, and the card comes by post.
Fees and timing
- At an embassy
- EUR 110.
- In Hungary
- HUF 26,000 online, or HUF 39,000 in person.
- Extension
- HUF 26,000.
- How long it takes
- A decision within 30 days.
The documents
The main items. Your consulate's own checklist is the one that counts, so check it before you start.
- Application form and one photo
- Passport valid at least three months beyond the stay
- Your employer's statement of the remote-work arrangement; owners show papers for a profitable company abroad
- Six months of bank statements, or an income certificate, showing EUR 3,000 a month after tax
- Somewhere to stay: a lease, a host's statement, or a paid booking
- Health insurance
- A return ticket, or the money for one
Health insurance
You need comprehensive cover. The immigration office doesn't set a minimum.
Nomad policies differ on cover limits, excess and whether they're accepted for a visa. Compare nomad health insurance
Family, renewing and tax
- Family
- Family members can't join you on it. The only exception is a child born in Hungary while you hold the card.
- Renewing
- Once, for one more year, online from inside Hungary, between 90 and 30 days before it expires, having spent at least 90 of the last 180 days there. You can't move on to any other residence permit from it.
- What it leads to
- Nowhere: holders may not be granted a national residence card
- Tax
- 183 days in a calendar year, or sooner if your only home or your centre of vital interests is in Hungary. Then a flat 15 per cent