Starting from 2012, Hungary has a program where businessmen who want to immigrate to Europe can obtain a Hungarian permanent resident permit by investing EUR 250,000 into Hungarian government bonds, often also referred to as Hungarian residency bonds. The program is sometimes also called Hungarian investment citizenship program. However, residency and citizenship are not the same.
With your Hungarian permanent resident permit, you can immigrate to Hungary, which lies in the centre of Europe. As Hungary is a member state of the European Union and of the Schengen visa zone, you will be able to travel, do business or enter employment freely within the EU – without a visa or further difficult paperwork. You will also be able apply for a visa to the UK, Canada and the USA.
If you have Hungarian citizenship, in addition to all the above, you can travel with a Hungarian passport, and you will be able to travel to the UK, Canada and the USA without a visa.
You can easily get a Hungarian permanent resident permit if you apply for the Hungarian residency bond program, invest EUR 250,000 into residency bonds for five years, and pay the EUR 40,000 government processing fee. You can bring your family too. At the end of the five-year period, you get back the EUR 250K, but you can keep your permanent resident permit for good.
At the moment, you can apply for Hungarian citizenship if you have a permanent resident permit for at least 3 years; however, an expedited citizenship option for residency bond holders will most likely become available before the end of 2014. This way, the first step toward citizenship can be a good investment – hence the name: Hungarian investment citizenship program.
However, you do not necessarily need citizenship: you can move freely within the Schengen area with your permanent resident permit too, while it is still relatively easy to get visa to other countries as well.
For more information, please click here, or send a letter to relocation expert Mo Shaban to mo@helpers.hu. You may also call our office on +36.1.317.8570. We would be happy to answer all your questions.
UPDATE: with 1 January 2015, the face value of the investment has been increased to EUR 300,000.
UPDATE November 2023: A new Hungarian investment residency program has just been announced to replace the old scheme. Click here to learn more.
Contact us
If you are a U.S. citizen, you can easily move to the EU and gain visa-free access to the Schengen zone. Become a resident or a citizen of Hungary, which is a member of the European Union, and take advantage of your new privileges.
Read More
The first investment fund has received its license for the Hungarian Golden Visa Program, and applicants may proceed with the investment.
Read More
© 2004 – 2019