Police visits on behalf of the Hungarian Immigration Office – Is this normal?

The Immigration Office can request police visits

During your Hungarian residency application, you might have noticed that the signature of administrators at the Immigration Office often includes a military-looking rank. This is because the Immigration Office is in fact a department of the Police, and many administrators have a police rank. This is more obvious from the full name of the office: National Directorate General for Aliens Policing (Országos Idegenrendészeti Főigazgatóság, OIF). As such, police officers can act as agents of the Immigration Office.

If you already live in Hungary, the Immigration Office might want to check if the information they have about you is in fact the truth. To do that, it is not the administrators themselves who will pay you a visit, but they will request a police visit to your home or your workplace to see if everything is in accordance with their registry. Such visits are most common during a renewal procedure or when you apply for family unification or permanent residency, but they may be performed anytime throughout your stay in Hungary. Police visits are usually initiated by the administrator handling your case, but not necessarily due to any suspicion; they simply do not have time to check on everyone regularly, so they do random checks. These checks are routine procedures, a bit similar to welfare checks. As such, you have nothing to worry about, there is very little chance that you have been reported, and you are not “in trouble”.

How do I know I am not being scammed?

Normally, you can see that someone is a police officer based on their uniform and their ID badge on it, or their service card with their service ID number. During police visits to your home or your workplace, police officers are supposed to state their name as well as the purpose of their visit, and show you their service card. Real police officers will allow you to verify their identity, so they will not just flash their card in front of you – they will give you time to read it. Also, police officers usually come in pairs. If you are not sure if the person knocking on your door is indeed a police officer, you can call 112, the Hungarian emergency number, and ask the operator to verify the identity of the officer based on their service ID number.

What will the officers ask during a police visit?

The police will ask questions to verify that the information you have submitted to the Immigration Office is correct. They may ask you to identify yourself, and show them your ID documents in the process (Hungarian ID card or driver’s license, or your passport with your residence permit). They might also want to take a quick look around the house to see if everything is alright. (Don’t worry if your house is not super clean or tidy; as long as your home looks lived in and comfortable enough, you are good.)

Additional questions may include:

• Who else lives at the same address? How many people share the house or apartment?
• Where do people living at the same address work? What is their job? What is their salary? (Since the salary is information you were supposed to share with the Immigration Office, the Police may ask about it.)
• How long have you been living there? How long has everyone else been living there?
• Is the accommodation a rental or your own?

At the end of the police visit, you may ask for a report on the event, which may be sent to you later. However, if everything was in order, that might not be necessary.

What if I’m not at home?

If you are not at home when the Police comes to check on you, that might have a negative impact on your case. If you learn they came around while you were out (e.g. from your neighbors), you might want to contact your case worker if you have their direct contact information and schedule a repeated police visit with them. If you do not have a direct contact, go to the closest customer service of the Immigration Office and schedule a new time for a police visit there.

Residency application with Helpers

Here at Helpers, our mission is to make your life easier in Hungary. We have 20 years of experience supporting international clients with residency and work permit applications as well as business setup and investment. We hope our guides like this one can give you more confidence when navigating Hungarian bureaucracy, including interactions with the Police. If you need assistance, you can always count on our team.

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