Working in Hungary

This is one of Hungary's core work-permit lanes under the new system, but it is not a catch-all skilled-worker permit for every foreign hire. The route sits inside the single-application framework, depends on the applicable nationality and occupation rules, and carries hard limits on switching and family reunification.

Min salary

No route-wide public salary floor is stated on the OIF factsheet; verify the actual contract and any occupation-specific rule in force for the filing date.

Timeline

The OIF route page lists 21 days for procedural administration and a merits decision within 70 days, excluding time spent on missing-document requests.

Hungary's guest-worker route is the stricter mass-employment channel. It is tied to a preferential employer or qualified agency, nationality rules fixed through decree and ministerial communication, and it blocks both family reunification and long-term settlement while the permit is held.

Min salary

No single public route-wide salary threshold is published on the factsheet; verify the filed employment terms and current decree-linked conditions before submission.

Timeline

The permit is maximised at 2 years and can be extended once within a 3-year cap; route pages should be checked again if the case depends on an extension close to the cap.

Hungary's EU Blue Card is the cleanest high-skill route for mainstream professional hires. It runs under the single-application procedure, allows longer initial validity than the standard employment routes, and now publishes annual monthly minimum remuneration figures directly on the OIF factsheet.

Min salary

OIF lists HUF 1,001,048 per month for 2026, or HUF 800,838 for the listed shortage-style health occupations; verify the current year's threshold on the Blue Card page before filing or extension.

Timeline

The OIF route page lists 21 days for procedural administration, a merits decision within 70 days for standard cases, and 30 days for applicants already holding an EU Blue Card from another Member State.

The Hungarian Card is a distinct high-skill route outside the Blue Card. It covers applicants with a ministerial-list professional qualification, plus narrower categories such as professional athletes, performers, film-industry workers, and certain ICT managers or experts, with route fit determined by the current decree-backed category definitions.

Min salary

No general published salary floor is shown on the route page; the safer reading is to verify the contract terms against the exact Hungarian Card category rather than rely on one generic threshold.

Timeline

The OIF page lists 21 days for procedural administration, a merits decision within 70 days, and a permit validity of up to 3 years with a further 3-year extension.

Hungary keeps a dedicated researcher route instead of forcing host institutions into the standard employment lanes. It is tied to a hosting agreement with an accredited research organisation, uses the single-application procedure, and has faster official procedural timing than the mainstream work routes.

Min salary

No fixed route-wide salary threshold is published; the case instead turns on the hosting agreement, subsistence, health coverage, and the host's written commitment on expulsion costs where required.

Timeline

The OIF route page lists 15 days for procedural administration and a merits decision within 60 days, with permit validity normally between 1 and 2 years depending on the hosting agreement.

Hungary's ICT route is for temporary intra-group moves from outside the EU, not for ordinary local hires or agency labour. It works for executives, specialists, and trainees, and it also covers long-term mobility for people already holding an ICT permit from another Member State.

Min salary

No universal salary threshold is published on the OIF ICT page; check the transferee's contract, qualification evidence, and host-entity statements instead of assuming a standard minimum.

Timeline

The OIF page lists 21 days for procedural administration and a merits decision within 70 days; executives and specialists can stay up to 3 years total, while trainees are capped at 1 year total.

This is not a general overseas job-seeker visa. Hungary limits it to holders of a valid studies or research permit who completed that purpose and can show that the next job or business plan matches their completed studies or research level.

Min salary

No salary floor is published because the permit itself is a bridge status rather than an employment authorization.

Timeline

The permit is valid for up to 9 months, is not extendable, and the application must be filed in Hungary at least 15 days before the underlying studies or research permit expires.