Navigating administrative procedures in Hungary

If you do not want the old heave ho ,brush off, always bring a native speaker with you.

Even then , it is not easy here to figure out the systems.

My local medical clinic has a sign recently stating they will not check you in or allow you to see a doctor unless you have a Hungarian speaker with you.

Many doctors do speak English but not all the clerks do.

Websites like kormányhivatalok have a good collection of all administrative data. 90% of the website is Hungarian only.

For those with issued IDs and other things like that not including a resident permit, the ügyfélkapu is where you go online to renew.

The Önkormányzat office is generally where you go for all administrative needs. Offices will have a machine that lets you pick a service and print a waiting ticket in English or Hungarian. There's a high probability the official will speak English if done in Pest side of Budapest.

If you have the money and only speak English, there's some good private English speaking hospitals/clinics on the Buda side. General practitioners and other standard services are expected to only be for Hungarians so there's no obligation to care for foreigners. It doesnt hurt to try, but you'll need to be lucky.

Overall there have been improvments to everything, but it still sluggish and frustrating to those who dont speak Hungarian. Look at it from the Hungarian perspective, why should they care about foreigners coming here, taking their jobs, and not bothering to learn their language? So, be nice, and most people will at least try to help you, even with the language barrier.

I'll add more if I remember anything else useful.

If you have the money and only speak English, there's some good private English speaking hospitals/clinics on the Buda side. General practitioners and other standard services are expected to only be for Hungarians so there's no obligation to care for foreigners. It doesnt hurt to try, but you'll need to be lucky. 

    -@SurrealMagyar

Private Docs and clinics are extremely expensive.   Outrageous even.

I am old enough to need a "medical" test every 2 years to renew my driving licence.   This is cursory - blood pressure and eye test and not really any serious attention paid to it.   Often these are done by the doctor's nurse but signed by the doctor.   And there's a statutory fee for it. 

Private docs charge a massive amount for this stuff.   Best method is to get someone's GP to do it for you and provide a "tip" to get it done.   Then it'll cost you far less than the private doc's charges to get past this administrative hurdle.

It's really annoying having to have a medical every 2 years. It wastes a lot of my time getting the paper and taking it to the Kormanyablak (government "window").

Previously the only way I can extend it without this amount of effort is to give up some of my driving entitlements - like trucks and so on - but retain my car licence.  I don't see why I should have to do that

We once wanted to try out a private medical clinic when my husband needed a small hernia operation.

They refused to service him because he had high blood pressure.

They do not want any complications to happen. It is all about making money, not getting sued or having their clinic investigated for any reason.

I also pay for TAJ out of pocket and intend to use what I am forced to pay for. Part of immigration is to have coverage either private or Taj.

My husband would take me to a private clinic if really needed but so far I am good enough with the regular Taj .system.

Went through chemo/radiation  with them and I can not imagine living through anything much worst then all of that.

I have been to private dermatologists here in the past. Nice clinics and everyone did speak English but that does come with a hefty price tag.

I even researched private cancer clinics here, much cheaper then it would be in the west but still, your money or your life... not cheap.

I do not have the attitude that I am better then anyone else just because I can afford it or because I am a specail American. Good enough for everyone else, has to be good enough for me too.

In fact it may even be better care then private.

Many private clinics send you to a normal hospital anyways. They sometimes work within the Taj system.

The thing is in the US they will find a translator for those who do not speak English, here they just posted a message and taped it on the wall, NO Hungarian, no service.

In fact I was sent for a test by my oncologist and they played some sort of game with us. My husband who is Hungarian always thinks they mess with me because I am American. The oncologists staff spent hours setting up my appointment, had to do a horrible prep for the test so for sure anyone in their right mind would know what day and time the test was, no one would go through that prep for nada.

Got to the hospital and the clerk said we came on the wrong day! BS, we insisted they test me then and there or we would not be coming ack ever and report it to someone.

They out of the blue found my name for that day?? OK, let that slide, no need to get upset or angry.

Waited and waited but they never called my name. My husband ran out to put in more parking money , then they called me but since he was not there with me, they made me wait another couple of hours. Had to just about grab the nurse to get may name called again. Test took all of 10 mins but it was a long 8 hour day, plus the over 40 hours of a fast and prepping.

That was just medical stuff, every official thing here requires a day of meditation or a bottle of meds before going in.

It is all a huge hassle if you do not speak Hungarian and even then it is iffy.

@Marilyn Tassy

If it was all about money they would have operated, but you really do have to be careful with operations. Maybe if his blood pressure lowered he would have had the operation.

I had a hernia, this was back in 1999 or 2000. I went to a private clinic in London. Best thing I did as it was Key hole surgery. I had to stay overnight locally just incase anything was wrong. Just as well my sister lived in London at the time. Only downside was the price £2000. I couldn't have waited to for the NHS, the waiting list was to long and it would have been a full operation. Sorry going off topic.