Visa requirements for Hungarian citizens

Visa requirements for Hungarian citizens have been considerably relaxed since the end of communism and the removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria in May 1989.

During the communist era, travelling to the West was a long process for Hungarian citizens. The first step was to obtain an invitation, preferably from a relative in the country to be visited, and a promise of full financial support. With such an invitation, and assuming he could get a passport, a Hungarian could travel westwards once a year. However, in the absence of such an invitation, he could travel to the West only once every three years, since the hard currency required for the trip had to be provided by the Hungarian state.^[1] Nonetheless, Hungarian citizens were somewhat privileged compared to their communist neighbours since they were the only Eastern Europeans who were allowed to retain their passport after returning from abroad; all other East European passports had to be returned to the local passport office after each trip, which meant that a person had to apply to regain possession of his passport each time he wanted to travel abroad.^[2] The Communist-era visa restrictions had a detrimental impact on Hungarian artists and musicians since it hindered their ability to travel abroad. As a result, many chose to leave Hungary and settle in the West, such as famed cellist János Starker, who emigrated to the United States in 1948 because it was impossible for him to tour abroad with a Hungarian passport.^[3]

Domestic events in Hungary have had an impact on the visa requirements imposed on Hungarian citizens by Western countries. The Revolution of 1956 and the ensuing repression resulted in the United States deciding to expedite all Hungarian visa requests.^[4] The end of communism in 1989 led to a rapid relaxation of visa restrictions. Visa-free travel for Hungarians was introduced by several countries, including Germany (1990),^[5] Israel (1993),^[6] Canada (1994),^[7] Mexico (1997),^[8] Japan (1997),^[9] and Hong Kong (2002).^[10] The Hungarian government's decade-long efforts to have U.S. visa requirements abolished for Hungarian citizens finally came to fruition on 17 November 2008 when the United States decided to include Hungary in its Visa Waiver Program.^[11] The inclusion of Hungary in the Visa Waiver Program was considered a major event there. Kinga Göncz, the country's then foreign minister, even went as far as to describe it as "a landmark in our relations [with the United States], since the visa waiver was essentially the single unresolved issue."^[12] However, Hungarian President László Sólyom, who had promised upon his election in 2005 never to visit the United States as long as fingerprint requirements were part of U.S. visa procedures, refused to sign the agreement on the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, fearing it would give the United States too much access to Hungary's criminal registry. His refusal did not impact Hungary's inclusion in the program.^[13]

Since Hungary's 2004 accession to the European Union (EU), visa restrictions for Hungarian citizens were further relaxed. Hungarians can now not only travel visa-free to any member state of the EU, but also have a right to settle there. A valid passport or identity card is sufficient for any stay shorter than three months. For periods longer than three months, a residence permit is needed. Hungarians are allowed to settle in any EU country for more than three months if they work or study there, or if they are financially self-sufficient.^[14] By virtue of the agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA), those rights also apply to Hungarians in Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.^[15] The same rights also extend to Hungarians in Switzerland as a result of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons.^[16]

Despite the tremendous increase in the number of visa waiver agreements, there have also been setbacks in recent years. In June 2001, the visa-free travel agreement between Hungary and Russia came to an end, and both countries now require visas of one another's citizens.^[17] In December 2001, Canada decided to end its seven-year-old policy of allowing Hungarian citizens to enter its territory visa-free due to the soaring number of refugee applications from Hungary's Roma community.^[18] Visa requirements were lifted for Hungarians in March 2008 after it became an EU member.^[19] Nevertheless, recent reports indicate that Canada is considering reinstating visas for Hungarians because Hungary has become one of the top three sources of refugee claimants there. Canada already reimposed visa restrictions on Czech citizens in 2009 due to similar reasons.^[20]

A Hungarian ordinary passport, with visa-free access to all of the world's developed countries, is a very convenient travel document by international standards. However, it is not as handy as a Hungarian diplomatic passport, which has even less visa restrictions attached to it. Several countries offer visa-free access to holders of a Hungarian diplomatic passport, but not to ordinary passport holders. This is notably the case with China (since 1992),^[21] Russia (since 2001).^[22] and India (since 2003).^[23] As of July 2009, Hungarian diplomats can enter all G8+5 countries without a visa.^[24] The Hungarian diplomatic passport holds the distinction of being the only travel document in the world granting such visa-free entry to all G8+5 member states.^[a]

Visa-free Travel

Europe

 European Union Freedom of movement (conditions apply) [also with a valid National ID card]^[b][c]

ENG

Africa

Americas

Asia

Oceania

Visa-free for Official and Diplomatic passport holders

In addition, holders of Hungarian official passports may travel visa free to the following countries:^[24]

In addition, holders of Hungarian diplomatic passports may travel visa free to the following countries:^[24]

See also

• Hungarian passport
• Hungarian identity card

Notes

a^ : Of all the G8+5 member states, the People's Republic of China has the most restrictive visa policy with regards to ordinary passport holders, since it grants visa-free access to ordinary passport holders from three countries only: Brunei, Japan and Singapore.^[26] However, all Chinese, Bruneian, Japanese and Singaporean ordinary passport holders require visas to enter Russia.^{[27][28][29][30]} There is thus no ordinary passport which allows visa-free access to all G8+5 countries. As far as diplomatic passports are concerned, China grants visa-free entry to diplomats from 67 countries.^[21] Of those, only diplomats from Brunei, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, San Marino, Slovakia and Slovenia can also enter the United States without a visa due to their countries being included in the Visa Waiver Program.^[31] However, with the exception of Hungary, diplomatic passport holders from all those countries require visas to enter India.^{[32][33][34][35][36][37]} The Hungarian diplomatic passport is thus the only one allowing visa-free access to all G8+5 member states.

b^{1 2 3 4 5} : Unlimited Access.

c^ : Including all French overseas territories.

d^ : Visa issued only in exceptional cases.

e^ : Officially no regulation present, de facto same rules as for Morocco.

f^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8} : Visa free access for official and diplomatic passports.

g^ : Officially no regulation present, de facto same rules as for Israel.

h^ : Visa free access for diplomatic passports.

References

General

• "Visa Waiver Agreements". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary. http://www.mfa.gov.hu/kum/en/bal/consular_services/Entry_of_Foreigners_to_Hungary/visa_exemption/visa_waiver_agreements.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-27. 

Specific