As of 1 January 2025, significant changes have been introduced in relation to the employment of third-country nationals in Hungary, which will change the general rules on the entry and residence of third-country nationals in Act XC of 2023 Hungary (Btátv.) and its implementing regulation. In addition, Government Decree 450/2024 (23.XII.) on the employment of guest workers in Hungary and Decree 51/2024 (23.XII.) of the Ministry of National Economy on the total number of residence permits and guest worker residence permits that can be issued in Hungary for employment purposes per year entered into force.
The new rules concern, among other things, quotas and country lists for guest workers and holders of residence permits for employment purposes, public order fines and social coexistence requirements, including the regulation of cultural exams.
New, narrower list of countries, which also applies to residence permits for employment purposes
As of 1 January, the previous country list for residence permits for foreign workers was repealed. A significant change is that the new ‘list’ now covers not only applicants for a residence permit for guest workers, but also applicants for a residence permit for employment purposes who are typically own-account workers (i.e. not temporary agency workers). Only Georgia and Armenia are included in the new list, but a development on 9 January 2025 will (still) allow workers from the Philippines. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is entitled to add to the list set out in the Annex to Government Decree 450/2024 (23.12.2024) in the Official Gazette at any time if the country concerned meets the conditions set out in the Government Decree.
As a reminder, the list in force before 1 January included significantly more countries: in addition to Georgia and the Philippines, nationals of the Republic of Indonesia, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Colombia were also eligible to apply for a residence permit (but Armenia was not included). A new “list” will be open to countries with which Hungary has a readmission agreement or which have an organisation or office on its territory that is recognised by the state and which takes responsibility for ensuring that, in the event of a third-country national’s breaching Hungarian or EU law, the person concerned leaves Hungary and returns to the country of origin.
Having considered the above, the question rightly arises as to how the three (currently) authorised non-national workers can come to Hungary to work from now on. On the one hand, the possibility of applying for a national card will continue to exist for nationals of countries specified in a separate government decree. The countries currently authorised for the national card are Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of North Macedonia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Moldova, the Republic of Montenegro, the Russian Federation, Serbia and Ukraine. On the other hand, the Hungarian card and the EU Blue Card are open to highly qualified workers, provided they meet the legal conditions.
What are the changes affecting public order fines?
Based on the current legislation, the immigration authority imposes a public order fine on the employer or host organisation under the Btátv. in the event of breach of the obligations laid down in the Residence Act, such as: failure to verify the validity of the residence permit when the third-country national enters employment, failure to keep a copy of the residence permit during the period of employment, failure to notify the start of employment, and failure to notify the employer of the non-employment or the termination of employment within the time limit. The competent authority may impose a public order fine in proportion to the number of persons employed and the extent, repetition and number of infringements. However, the provision that the amount of the public order fine must be proportionate to the number of third-country nationals employed has been removed from the Btátv. The legislator has probably only clarified a contradiction, as the implementing regulation of the Btátátv. has always and will continue to stipulate that the amount of the public order fine must be proportional to the number of persons employed. On the basis of the previous legal texts, it was therefore not clear whether the total number of employees or only the number of employed third-country nationals had to be taken into account. As we understand it, the change has made it clear that when imposing a public order fine, the competent authority will take into account the total number of persons employed, without separately assessing the proportion of employed third-country nationals.
The amendment also allows employers to request payment in instalments of public order fines if they are not at fault and can demonstrate that they will be able to meet the obligation in the future. A further condition for the granting of an instalment payment is that the payment difficulty is temporary and that the employer has not previously been subject to a public order fine.
Significant reduction in the number of licences that can be issued
The NGM (Ministry for the National Economy) has set the quota for the number of guest worker permits that can be issued at 35,000 for the year 2025 (including guest worker residence permits and employment-related residence permits together), which is significantly lower than the number that would be justified by the KSH (Hungarian Central Statistical Office) data: based on the number of vacancies, the number could have been as high as 71,000, taking into account the data for the previous four quarters. In comparison, it is noteworthy that in 2024 the quota for guest workers in Hungary was 65 000. As we have read in several articles, the ‘legislator’ is monitoring the demand and will adjust the quota if necessary.
Conditions for social coexistence
In the case of a longer period of indefinite residence in Hungary (which means the right of residence corresponding to the previous settlement category), the conditions of social cohabitation must also be examined. This is reflected in the detailed rules of the cultural examination. The cultural test will have to be passed by applicants for a national residence card or an EU residence card for the purpose of long-term (indefinite) residence. The aim of the test is to provide applicants with evidence of a thorough knowledge of Hungarian society and culture. This obligation does not apply to those who have already passed the test in other aliens’ procedures. The examination is written in Hungarian. Applicants will be notified of at least four sessions per month. If the applicant fails the exam three times, his/her application will be rejected.