Which work permit? Options for employing third-country nationals in Hungary

Work permit options in Hungary

When determining which work permit will suit your business and your third-country national employee the best, you will need to consider the following aspects:

• Marital status: a third-country national married to a Hungarian citizen or resident can easily extend their residence permit based on family unification to include a work permit
• Nationality: some work permits are only available to specific nationalities
• Field of expertise: whether the employee needs special expertise or qualifications to perform the job
• Salary: some work permits are only available above certain pay grades

Now let’s see the work permit options in accordance with the above aspects.

1. Family unification and employment

If your would-be employee is married to a Hungarian citizen living in Hungary or to any Hungarian residency holder, they can apply for a combined permit for family unification and work instead of simple family unification. The greatest advantage of such a permit is that it has no additional requirements for nationality, qualifications, or salary, although it is still tied to a specific employer, just like other work permits. At the same time, this permit is available only to a very limited group of applicants, which significantly narrows down its usefulness.

2. Nationality

There are some additional work permits that are available without any restrictions on qualifications or salaries, but they are available only to certain nationalities – and as such, they are not relevant to many employers.

• Residence permit for employment purposes: While the name would suggest an “all-purpose” residence permit, this work permit is currently limited by nationality for new applicants, and it is available only to nationals of Armenia, Georgia, and the Philippines. As a result, it will not be relevant to most employers unless they are extending work permits first issued under the previous immigration law.
• National Card: This work permit is already available to more nationalities, but it only includes countries in the Eastern European region (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine).

Unless your would-be employee is a national of these countries, you will need to look for other work permit options.

3. Residence permits for unskilled jobs

If the above residence permits are not available to your employee based on their nationality, the next aspect to consider is the type of work. There are a handful of permits available for unskilled work – in the context of work permit applications, an unskilled job is a job where the employee does not need special qualifications that would match their field of work, although they might be asked to prove some experience in the field.

These permits are highly regulated, so while they are technically available, we rarely end up recommending them.

• Residence permit for seasonal work: Since this work permit is available only to seasonal workers, its validity is quite short, just 6 months, without an option for extension.
• Residence permit for employment purposes issued for the implementation of an investment: This work permit is relevant only in government approved projects, and as such, not available to regular market players.
• Residence permit for guest workers: Again, this work permit is relevant only to people who are coming to Hungary to work for preferential employers or qualified temporary work agencies. Moreover, it is currently available only to nationals of Armenia, Georgia, and the Philippines.

Additionally, these permits do not offer family unification, and do not create eligibility for the National Residence Card which offers permanent residency after 3 years spent in Hungary. (The EU Residence Card available after 5 years does remain an option, though.)

4. Residence permits for high skilled jobs

While unskilled workers have few work permit options currently, highly skilled workers whose positions require at least a college degree have better prospects. These permits come with the additional option for family unification, while they also create eligibility for permanent residency through the National Residence Card.

• Hungarian Card: This work permit is available to employees in jobs that need high qualifications, but only in specific fields, mostly in IT, engineering, and natural sciences (as described in Annex 2 and 3 here). The only drawback of this permit is that only degrees obtained outside of Hungary are accepted (so if your employee attended a Hungarian university and obtained their degree here, they cannot get the Hungarian Card for a position that requires that degree).
  
  
• EU Blue Card: This work permit is also available in jobs that need high qualifications. While it has no restrictions on the required degree or field of expertise, the qualifications must always match the job in question. The EU Blue Card also requires a minimum salary, which is gross HUF 883,671 (ca. EUR 2,200) in 2025. This is considered quite high at 1.5 times the average salary of the year before the previous one.
  
  
• Intra-corporate transfer: If you already have a foreign, non-EU business and you want to move an employee to a Hungarian subsidiary or other affiliate of the same company, the intra-corporate transfer might be an easy option.
  
  
• Corporate Card: This permit is available only to executive officers of specific companies that have made an agreement with the Hungarian government. If your company is not among these, the Corporate Card will not be relevant to you.

Let us help you find the best solution

Helpers Hungary has more than 20 years of experience providing customized solutions to foreigners living, working, and doing business in Hungary. Under the latest immigration law introduced in 2024, our expertise lets us help clients easily determine which residence permit would suit their purposes and circumstances the best.

If you intend to hire foreign nationals at your Hungarian business, feel free to contact us already in the initial phase of planning. Our committed team will be more than happy to assist you not only with the work permit application, but also various other aspects of the procedure, such as HR compliance and payroll administration. Just let us know what you need, and ask for a tailored quote.

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