General information on obtaining a Hungarian passport
The most important regulations concerning passport applications are contained in Act XII of 1998 regulating travel abroad. Applications for new passports must be accompanied by proof of Hungarian citizenship (valid Hungarian passport/ID card/certificate of citizenship).
If you have a valid document proving your Hungarian citizenship, you can apply for a new passport either at the Central Document Office in Budapest (’Központi Okmányiroda’, 1133 Budapest, Visegrádi utca 110-112) or at the Embassy of Hungary (959 Arcadia Street, Hatfield, Pretoria) in person.
If your Hungarian passport has expired, your application for a new passport must be accompanied by a nationality questionnaire, to assist the passport office in their procedures (see Section 1). The same procedure applies if you have never possessed a Hungarian passport, but your birth has already been registered in Hungary.
If you have never possessed a Hungarian passport nor has your birth/marriage been registered in Hungary, a three-step procedure is neccessary:
1. Verification of Hungarian nationality
According to Act LV of 1993 on Hungarian Citizenship, "The child of a Hungarian citizen shall become a Hungarian citizen by birth." Therefore, you have to certify that either your mother or your father was a Hungarian citizen at the time of your birth.
The office responsible for the verification of your Hungarian nationality is the Office of Immigration and Nationality of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior. To start the procedure, you should complete a so-called 'nationality questionnaire' (available in Hungarian and English). Please note that the English version is only for your information; you should complete the one in Hungarian. Please fill in the application form according to Hungarian usage (name order: surname, forename; date order: year, month, day; use accents) and use a typewriter where possible, or block capitals.
The questionnaire should be submitted to our Embassy together with the following documents:
Your Hungarian birth certificate; lacking this, your unabridged South-African (or other) birth certificate
To establish marital status: unabridged marriage certificate, death certificate of deceased spouse, divorce certificate
Your parents’ birth certificate and marriage certificate (if those are not Hungarian documents, unabridged versions are required)
Other documents that can support your application (ie. expired Hungarian passport or ID card of parents)
Please note that you need to send the original documents (no legalized copies are accepted) together with the legalized Hungarian translation of the non-Hungarian-language ones. The documents issued by the South African authorities should be authenticated so that they can be accepted by the Hungarian authorities. This can be done by having them sealed with a so-called Apostille by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pretoria. (Consular and Agency Services, Subdirectorate: Legalisation, DFA, Corner of Church and Duncan streets, Private Bag X 152, Pretoria 0001, tel: 012 351 1268, www.dfa.gov.za/consular/legalisation.htm). The procedure of obtaining an Apostille is free of charge and the documents can be submitted by mail. (The Embassy can also take the original certificates for registration on your behalf.)
Should you so request, Hungarian authorities will, depending on the result of the investigation, issue a certificate of nationality valid for one year.
2. Registration of birth in Hungary
Only Hungarian citizens can have their birth registered in Hungary. As mentioned above, Hungarian citizenship can be verified by a valid Hungarian passport/ID card/certificate of citizenship. The Hungarian citizenship of children under the age of 14 is considered to be verified if at least one of the parents is a Hungarian citizen and he/she has been in the possession of a valid Hungarian passport/ID card issued before the birth of the child. Lacking these documents and over the age of 14, an investigation of nationality is neccessary (see above).
To start the procedure of registration of birth, the following documents should be submitted:
Application form for the registration of birth in Hungary – completed in Hungarian, and signed by both parents in the case of children under 18
Your name will be registered according to the Hungarian name order (surname, forename.) Please note that according to the Hungarian legislation, one can only have two forenames registered. Should you have more than two forenames registered in South Africa, you should make a declaration as to which of them you would like to use in Hungary.
Your original unabridged South-African (or other) birth certificate, authenticated with Apostille (see Section 1), together with its photocopy
Legalized Hungarian translation of the birth certificate
Your parents’ marriage ceritificate, together with its photocopy
Please note that in the case of applicants under 18, if the parents’ marriage has not yet been registered in Hungary, it should be applied for as well (please refer to point 4.). In the case of applicants above 18, the parents’ unabridged South African marriage certificate, Apostilled and translated into Hungarian, is sufficient.
Verification of parents’ citizenship (copies of their valid passports)
Please note that the Registry Office only accepts original documents or a copy legalized by the Hungarian Embassy. The Registry Office is not able to send original documents back. Therefore, we suggest that you send legalized copies to Hungary.
3. Registration of marriage in Hungary
The following documents have to be submitted for the registration of your marriage in Hungary:
Application form for the registration of marriage in Hungary – completed in Hungarian according to the rules of Hungarian language (name: 1. surname 2. forename; date: y/m/d), and signed by both husband and wife
Unabridged South-African (or other) marriage certificate sealed and signed with an Apostille +photocopy
Legalized Hungarian translation of the marriage certificate
Hungarian birth certificate(s) of the Hungarian spouse(s) +photocopy
Hungarian spouse(s): Copy of valid Hungarian passport/ID card/certificate of Hungarian citizenship to verify Hungarian citizenship
Foreign spouse: Copy of passport to verify foreign citizenship
If a previous marriage of a spouse or both of the spouses was
4. Application for a Hungarian passport
You have to appear in person to be able to provide your biometric data (10 fingerprints, digital signature, digital photo) and submit other documents (copy of your Hungarian birth certificate and marriage certificate if applicable) at our Embassy in Pretoria, showing a valid Hungarian identity document (passport or ID) or a valid Certificate of Citizenship. All passport requests are filed electronically. There is no request form to fill in.
If you are married and want to apply for a passport in your married name, you must also attach your original Hungarian marriage certificate. If you do not have this Hungarian document, a marriage entered into abroad must also be registered in Hungary. You can only apply for a passport in your married name if you have a Hungarian marriage certificate. The registration procedure can be done in advance or together with your passport application.
Please note that in the case of minors, the passport application form has to be signed by both parents.
5. Submitting applications
You have to appear in person to be able to provide your biometric data and submit other documents at the Embassy in Pretoria, showing a valid identity document (e.g. your South-African passport).
The 3 step applications can be submitted at the same time, but you have to wait for the results of these processes if you have never had a Hungarian passport or ID before. If you had a passport in the past but it has been expired, the nationality check and the passport application can be filed at the same time. In case of minors parents with a valid Hungarian passport or ID can apply for the registration of birth and for a passport for their children under the age of 12 at the same time. Children below 12 do not have to provide fingerprints. The embassy can digitalize the hard copy photo as well, but we ask for digital signatures of both parents if they apply in Pretoria.
You can also apply for a biometric passport at the Honorary Consulate if there is no need for biometrics: in case of children below 12 or in case of persons with severe health conditions, who are unable to travel. In the latter case we will need a statement from their GP.
6.Processing time
The establishment of nationality procedure takes in average 6 months.
The registration of birth/marriage in Hungary generally takes 8 weeks.
The processing time needed to issue a Hungarian passport is approx. 1 week. The passport office in Budapest will send the new passport to the Embassy with the next Diplomatic Pouch which can prolong the process.
Please note that the Embassy is unable to speed up the proceedings.
7. Hungarian translation of English-language documents
We would like to underline again that all non-Hungarian language documents have to be accompanied by a legalized Hungarian translation.
a) The Embassy can translate birth/marriage/death certificates from English language to Hungarian:
Consular fee: 319 ZAR/page
b) From Hungarian to English: Hungarian driver’s licence and police clearance
Consular fee: 410 ZAR/page
c) You can also have your documents translated by
Piroska Magyar
Sworn Translator admitted to the Supreme Court of South Africa
Reg.No. 32207/93
Tel (Office): 012 460 3706
Cell: 083 655 0386
Email: piroska.m@iafrica.com
d) If you translate the document yourself, please note that the full text of the document should be translated. We can only accept an accurate translation complying with the rules of Hungarian language.
Translations made by a translator or yourself have to be legalized by the Consular Section of the Embassy.
Consular fee: 183 ZAR/page (translation into Hungarian language) or
274 ZAR/page (translation into English language)
In case of translations made by the Embassy the fees already include the legalization fee as well.
e) If you have your document translated by the National Translation and Authentication Office (Országos Fordító és Fordításhitelesítő Iroda, OFFI; 1062 Budapest VI., Bajza u. 52, tel: (36-1) 269-5730, fax: (36-1) 302-1395), there is no need for further legalisaton by the Consular Section.
8. Consular fees (Applicable from 1 February 2011.)
Establishing Hungarian Nationality:
Fee of administrative procedure for issuing certificate of citizenship
- optional: 511 ZAR
Registration of Birth: 410 ZAR
Registration of Marriage: 410 ZAR
Application for Hungarian passport:
Fee of administrative procedure for issuing a passport
Legalization of documents:
9. Bank details of the Embassy of Hungary
Account Holder: Embassy of the Republic of Hungary
Bank: ABSA BANKAccount Number: 91-2966-7734Branch Name: HatfieldBranch Code: 632005Reference: Applicant’s FAMILY NAME followed by space and INITIAL(S)