What do I do if I lose my Hungarian residence permit?

Lost, damaged, destroyed, or stolen residence permit

Your Hungarian residence permit lets you stay in Hungary and travel visa-free in the Schengen zone. If you lose it or it becomes otherwise unusable, you will need to get a new residence permit one as soon as possible.

This will include two main steps:

1. Report the problem to the Immigration Office
2. Apply for a replacement

Once you have reported the problem, you will receive a temporary residence permit, which you can use until you get your new residence permit.

Please note: the temporary residence permit is only valid within Hungary. You cannot use it to visit other countries, not even in the Schengen zone. Of course, there is no border check within the zone, but you are required to keep your valid residence permit on your person, and if you cannot present it while in another country (because you lost it previously), you risk getting expelled.

Get your residence permit replaced

You can start the process of getting your Hungarian residence permit replaced either online or in person. In either case, expect to pay a fee.

• To do it online: go to the EnterHungary portal, log in, and find the option for getting your residence permit replaced. You will be required to visit the immigration office in person later (for biometric data registration).
• To do it in person: go to the immigration office operating in the jurisdiction of your Hungarian address
• To do it abroad: if you are not in Hungary, go to the Hungarian consulate operating nearest to you.

To get a replacement, you can find the relevant form here, under “okmány pótlása” (meaning “replacing your document”). After submission, you will get the replacement residence permit in a few weeks. Until then, you can use the temporary residence permit issued to you on this occasion.

Do you still have your passport?

If you still have your passport, you will be able to request a replacement when you report the loss of your Hungarian residence permit.

If you do not have your passport either (maybe because you kept it together with your Hungarian residence permit and you lost them together), you cannot apply for a replacement residence permit right away. However, you should still report the loss of your permit and get your temporary residence permit as soon as possible.

You will need to get a new passport before you can apply for a replacement residence permit. For this, contact the consulate of your home country for the details. Once you have a new passport, you can get back to getting your replacement residence permit.

Was your permit stolen?

If your Hungarian residence permit was stolen, you should report this to the police, and you should get a written report of the incident. When you apply for the replacement residence permit, you will need to submit the police report together with the application form.

About Helpers Hungary

Helpers offers business and immigration related assistance to foreigners living, working, and doing business in Hungary. Currently we do not provide personal assistance with individual cases like the above, but we hope our expertise accumulated over 20 years in this business can help even those who are not our clients.

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