Important update for “employment based” and “guest worker” residence permits in Hungary 2025

New rules for employment based and guest worker residency

While residency for “employment purposes” and for “guest workers” might seem very broad terms in everyday language, in fact they both refer to very specific legal categories in the system of Hungarian residence permits as defined by the new immigration law of 2024. The new rules are relevant only in the case of these two types of residence permits.

Moreover, the new rules apply only to new applications, submitted after January 1, 2025. If you have submitted an application for a new permit or for an extension in these categories, and you have paid the relevant fee by December 31, your application will be considered in line with the rules in force until the end of 2024.

Guest worker residency

Guest worker residency is available only to strategic partners of the Hungarian government or labor rental agencies licensed specifically for the employment of guest workers. This type of residence permit can only be obtained for certain types of positions (manual labor), and for nationals of a handful of countries (read more here).

With the new regulation, the list of countries has been shortened to just Georgia and Armenia. Probably more countries will be added as the Hungarian government agrees on additional conditions with the rest of the countries originally on their list. You can read more about this here.

Residency for employment purposes

The residence permit for employment purposes is normally the most generic type of work permit in Hungary, available to third-country nationals who are not eligible for other types of residence permits that might offer better perks. The scope of this permit will be seriously limited now due to the new regulation.

While this basic employment based residence permit has been available to all third-country nationals until the end of 2024, new applications will be possible only to citizens of countries that have an agreement with the Hungarian government about how to manage expiring permits. More precisely, countries should have an office in Hungary that can guarantee that if a permit holder does not comply with Hungarian and EU immigration law, they will leave Hungary and return home.

Since this is a brand new rule, the list of countries whose citizens can apply for the residence permit for employment purposes is not yet available. It will probably be published soon, and will be extended gradually, as the Hungarian government finalizes agreements with more and more countries. If you were meaning to submit an application in this category, it might be better to wait for an official announcement that your country is still eligible, or consider if another type of residency might be in fact available to you.

Watch this space for updates!

The Helpers Team will keep an eye on developments, and we will let you know as soon as new countries are added to the list. Follow us on Facebook to never miss an update. Alternatively, you would prefer a monthly digest, you can sign up for our newsletter below.