The Hungary White Card is a one-year residence permit for non-EU remote workers who earn at least €3,000 net a month from outside Hungary. This guide covers who can apply, the documents, the fees, the steps, and the rules that limit the permit. Hungary’s immigration authority still lists the program as open, and its pages were checked on November 3, 2026.
What the Hungary White Card is
Many people call it Hungary’s digital nomad visa. Legally it is a residence permit called the White Card, or Fehér Kártya in Hungarian. The National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (OIF) issues it.
The permit lets a remote worker live in Hungary while working for an employer or company based abroad. Applicants who file from outside Hungary also receive a short D visa, which they use to enter the country and collect the card.
- Validity: one year, with one extension of one more year.
- Income rule: at least €3,000 net a month (about $3,400), held for six months before entry and kept up during the stay.
- Fee: €110 at a Hungarian embassy or consulate, or HUF 26,000 online from inside Hungary.
- Decision time: within 30 days of submission, according to OIF.
- Family: spouses and children cannot join on a White Card.
- Long-term residence: holders cannot receive a national residence card.
The permit fits a single remote worker who wants a base in Hungary for up to two years. It offers no route to settle there.
Who can apply for the White Card
OIF grants the White Card to a third-country national in one of two situations.
- Employee: the person has a verified employment relationship in another country and does the work from Hungary using advanced digital technology.
- Company owner: the person owns a share in a company with verified profit abroad, and works for or manages it from Hungary.
A third-country national is anyone who is not an EEA national or a family member of one. Stateless persons count as well. Applicants must not do gainful work in Hungary or hold shares in a Hungarian company.
The factsheet names employees and company owners. It does not mention freelancers who have no registered company. A freelancer in that position should ask the Hungarian consulate whether client contracts count.
OIF also lists people who cannot receive a White Card. The list includes people who:
- qualify for another Hungarian permit, such as guest self-employment, guest investor, employment, guest worker, National Card, Hungarian Card, or Corporate Card
- hold a student permit or do a short supervised traineeship during their studies
- are posted to Hungary, or arrive through an intra-corporate transfer
- are admitted to the EU for work as highly qualified workers
- have applied for or hold refugee status, temporary protection, or subsidiary protection
- have tolerated status or a suspended expulsion
- hold an EC residence permit or an EU residence card
Requirements for the White Card
Four conditions matter: income, housing, health cover, and return travel.
Income
OIF counts an applicant as having enough money when monthly legal income is at least €3,000 net for at least six months before entry. The same level must continue during the stay. Six months at this level adds up to at least €18,000 in net income.
Proof can be bank statements for the previous six months, or an income certificate from the employer or the tax authority.
Sources disagree on this figure. A few older pages still mention €2,000, and some private sites add a €10,000 savings rule or call the income gross. The OIF factsheet lists €3,000 net with no savings amount, so that figure is the safest one to plan around.
Housing
Applicants must show a place to live in Hungary. Accepted proof includes a residential lease, a document on accommodation provided free of charge, proof of ownership, or a paid accommodation reservation.
Health insurance
Applicants must show access to comprehensive health services. OIF accepts any one of these three situations.
- The person has social-security health cover.
- The person has access to Hungarian health services through an international treaty.
- The person can pay for care from the funds shown in the income documents.
Many remote workers buy private cover, and comparing health insurance plans for digital nomads before applying can save time. Hungary’s embassy in Tehran, in its 2024 checklist, says short-term travel insurance is enough when an employer already provides general insurance. Other missions may ask for more.
Return travel
Applicants must hold a valid passport and a valid ticket, or enough money to pay for the journey. OIF sets the permit’s end date so that the passport stays valid for at least three more months after the permit expires.
The income rule needs the most planning, because it covers six months of history and continues during the stay.
Documents to prepare
OIF lists mandatory attachments that prove each condition. The authority can also ask for more papers, which slows the case.
- Application form: Form 9 with Appendix 9.18 for the White Card when filing on paper. Enter Hungary uses an electronic form instead.
- Photo: one facial photograph.
- Employer statement: a certified statement on the employer’s activities, the remote-work rules and time limit, and the applicant’s duties and position. Proof that the employer really operates must be certified too.
- Company owners: company registration, a tax certificate or other proof of regular profit, the applicant’s job title, and proof of shares.
- Income proof: six months of bank statements, or an income certificate.
- Housing and insurance proof: the documents described above.
- Passport and travel proof: a valid passport, plus a ticket or funds.
Embassy checklists differ. The 2024 Tehran checklist also asks for these items.
- Two color passport photos on a white background.
- A passport with at least two blank pages, issued in the last 10 years.
- A flight reservation.
- A bank certificate with the current balance.
The papers shared across programs appear in this digital nomad visa documents checklist.
How to apply for the White Card
Where applicants file depends on their passport and on where they are when they apply. OIF says a person without a residence permit, whose entry is not visa-exempt, must apply outside Hungary.
Applying from outside Hungary
Readers with non-Western passports can compare other options in this list of visas for Nigerian and other non-Western passport holders. For the White Card, the steps are:
- Find the Hungarian embassy or consulate for your country of nationality or habitual residence. Some missions use external service providers or honorary consuls to receive applications.
- Collect the documents above and check the mission’s own checklist.
- Submit the residence permit application. A separate visa application is not needed, because the permit application includes the request for the entry visa.
- Pay the €110 fee in euros or another convertible currency.
- Give a facial photograph and fingerprints. OIF records fingerprints for applicants over six.
- Wait for the decision, which OIF issues within 30 days of submission.
- Collect the D visa from the mission. It allows one entry and a stay of up to 30 days, and it stays valid for three months.
- Enter Hungary within those three months. The approval lapses if the applicant does not enter in time.
- Receive the residence card by post at the address named in the application form.
If no mission exists in your country, OIF allows an exceptional application in a country where you stay legally, with proof of the reasons.
Applying from inside Hungary
A person from a visa-free country who has no residence permit can apply during a legal stay. A visa-free stay lasts up to 90 days in any 180-day period, so applicants need to file within that stay.
- Online: through the Enter Hungary portal, with the fee paid by credit card.
- In person: at the regional directorate that covers the applicant’s place of accommodation.
- With a legal representative: only through Enter Hungary.
An online application counts as received once the fee is paid and the photograph, fingerprints, and signature specimen are recorded within 15 days.
Only the official Enter Hungary site and Hungarian missions accept these applications. Look-alike sites that charge extra for “fast” filing are not part of the process.
What the White Card costs
OIF publishes the fees in a single table. At late-July 2026 rates, the newest found, one euro was about 362 forints and about $1.14.
- Residence permit and entry visa at a mission: €110 (about $125).
- Residence permit filed in person in Hungary: HUF 39,000 (about €108).
- Residence permit filed through Enter Hungary: HUF 26,000 (about €72).
- Extension: HUF 26,000.
- Appeal against a refusal, lodged at a mission: €160.
The official fees are low. The larger costs are health insurance, translations, rent, and flights.
Some private sites list HUF 24,000 for the online fee, a €60 extension, or extra charges such as a second €110 fee. The OIF table, last edited on March 3, 2026, shows different amounts. A table of visa application fees across popular countries puts the Hungarian fee in context.
How long the White Card takes
OIF gives a processing period of 21 days, and the decision comes within 30 days of submission. The 21 days do not include the time spent fixing missing documents or other procedural steps.
Some private advisers report waits of several months, though those reports could not be confirmed. Flexible tickets make sense until the approval arrives. The processing times for nomad visas by country show how Hungary compares.
Validity and renewal
- Length: the card lasts up to one year and can be extended once for one more year.
- Where to extend: only in Hungary, through Enter Hungary.
- Time in Hungary: at least 90 days on the permit in Hungary within a 180-day period before filing.
- Timing: file no more than 90 days before expiry and no later than 30 days before it.
- Documents: conditions that have not changed do not need to be proved again.
- Fee: HUF 26,000.
The 90-day presence rule matters for anyone who spends most months in other countries, because they could miss the test. The general visa renewal and extension rules explain how this works in other programs.
Rules that limit the White Card
- No Hungarian work: OIF withdraws the permit if the holder works for an employer in Hungary or acquires shares in a Hungarian company.
- No family reunification: family members of a holder or applicant cannot receive a family reunification permit. The one exception is a child born in Hungary to a holder, who receives that permit after the birth is reported.
- No national residence card: holders cannot receive one.
- Other permits: OIF says no residence permit for another purpose can be applied for during the White Card’s validity or after its expiry.
The OIF page does not say how long that last limit lasts, so holders should confirm it with OIF before planning a switch. Some private sites say a holder can leave and apply again after expiry. The OIF page does not confirm this.
Families can compare digital nomad visas with family and dependent provisions. A partner who also works remotely would need to meet all White Card conditions alone. Couples without a marriage certificate can look at visas for unmarried couples and partners.
Taxes in Hungary: general information
Hungary’s personal income tax rate is 15%, according to Deloitte’s 2023 Hungary tax highlights. Residents pay tax on worldwide income, and non-residents pay only on Hungarian-source income. Rates change, so the current figure is worth checking with the Hungarian tax authority (NAV).
Sources describe the residency test in different ways. The Personal Income Tax Act text that Hungary gave to the OECD sets a 183-day count for EEA nationals who use free movement. For other people, the same text looks at three things:
- whether the person’s only permanent residence is in Hungary
- whether the person’s center of vital interests, meaning family and business ties, is in Hungary
- whether the person’s habitual residence is in Hungary, when the center of vital interests is unknown and no permanent residence exists
KPMG’s Hungary summary ties a habitual abode to more than 183 days in a calendar year. A White Card holder who stays in Hungary for most of the year could become a Hungarian tax resident. Tax treaties and home-country rules may also apply.
This is general information, not tax advice. A qualified tax professional can confirm the position for one person.
Travel inside the Schengen Area
According to European Commission text, a residence permit from one Schengen country lets the holder visit other Schengen countries. The stay can last up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Each trip uses part of that allowance. The Schengen 90/180 day rule explains how to count the days.
If your application is refused
OIF allows an appeal within 8 days of notification. The appeal goes to the authority that decided the case, or to the Hungarian mission where the applicant filed.
OIF dismisses an appeal without reviewing it in four cases:
- the appeal arrives after the deadline
- someone without authority submits it
- it relies on facts the applicant already knew before the decision
- it gives no grounds or cause
Appeals lodged at a mission cost €160. The steps after a refusal in other programs appear in this guide to what to do if a nomad visa application is rejected.
Who the White Card suits, and who should skip it
The White Card suits:
- remote employees whose employer will certify the remote-work arrangement, and who have earned at least €3,000 net each month for six months
- owners of foreign companies with documented profit
- single applicants who want a Hungarian base, such as Budapest, for up to two years
Readers planning to live in the capital can start with the Budapest digital nomad guide.
The White Card is a poor fit for:
- families who need to travel together on one permit
- workers whose income is below €3,000 net, or whose income dips in some months, because the rule is monthly
- people who plan to take Hungarian clients or a Hungarian job
- readers who want long-term residence in Hungary
- EU and EEA citizens, because the permit is for third-country nationals only
Remote workers who need a lower income threshold can compare income requirements by country.
Official sources
- OIF White Card factsheet, last edited March 11, 2026
- OIF procedural fees, last edited March 3, 2026
- Enter Hungary, the online application portal
- Hungarian consular service, for the mission that handles your country
Plan the trip around the approval
The D visa gives only three months to enter Hungary, so flight dates depend on the decision. Once the approval arrives, search flights to Budapest on FlyBibe and compare fares.
Immigration and tax rules change. This guide reflects the official pages checked on November 3, 2026. Confirm current requirements with the Hungarian embassy or consulate that handles your application, or with a qualified immigration or tax professional, before making plans. It is general information and not legal or tax advice.