We hereby present the recently amended Hungarian Citizenship Act and its official English translation. In Hungary, citizenship by naturalization may be obtained at the applicant’s individual request, who must certify a clean criminal history record according the Hungarian law. A non-Hungarian citizen whose ascendant was a citizen of Hungary, or who demonstrates the plausibility of his or her descent from Hungary, and proves the knowledge of the Hungarian language, following the amendment of the Citizenship Act, can get access to Hungarian citizenship through preferential – but not automatic – naturalization. This is an inclusive and non-discriminatory Act. One change from the previously existing version of the Act is that the criteria of assured livelihood and permanent residence in Hungary have been waived. This affects applicants from the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel, etc. as well as Hungary’s neighbor countries.
Growing people-to-people connections globally, and especially within the EU, result in an increasing number of dual citizens. The modified Act is in line with this natural global and European phenomenon. The legislation does not create room for conferring of citizenship en masse. As in the past, individual claims are examined individually. The opportunity the Act offers has a strong symbolic meaning.