Legal Forms of address

woodso wrote:

I need to give proof of my address for the Registry office in Hungary (of my address in the UK). What will the Hungarian authorities accept as Proof of address.

These are the official documents I currently have proving my address

UK driving License (currently provisional)
Bank statements and the such like
Contract for employment
Company Registration documents

However would a letter written by a solicitor be more acceptable for the Hungarian Authorities

Thanks for your help

Oli

Don't know the answer to that question. However, one thing which I found unusual in some places is some authorties do not accept a UK passport as proof of ID because it does not contain an address. Made me wonder why we bother showing them at borders.

You could get your employer (in the UK) to provide a letter on their headed notepaper.

Provisional licences are not usually accepted (in the UK).

You might try a TV licence. This is a backstop for proof of address in the UK for people without many of the usual forms of proof of address like gas and electricity bills. I should say they do not have a TV licence in Hungary and not know what its' like but they might like the rubber stamp and official look to the thing.

Make sure you pick the briefest document available, because the next round of wasting your time and money is going to be "we need an official translation". The customer friendliness and prices at the official translation service correspond to the elasticity of demand. You'll be asked to hand over the original, and attaching the translation is likely to damage it. Alternatively a notarized copy can be made for another fine sum of money for nothing. 

Please accept my apologies in advance for everything you'll be subjected to in whatever you are trying to get done in Hunagrian bureaucracy.

I got my card just before the New Year. I gave them driving licence, passport, EHIC card, statements from 2 UK and one Hungarian bank and the purchase contract for my house in Hungary. Nothing was translated. The bank statements must be no older than 30 days and you also need a tax / revenue stamp for 1000 Ft, obtainable in the Post Office.

fidobsa wrote:

I got my card just before the New Year. I gave them driving licence, passport, EHIC card, statements from 2 UK and one Hungarian bank and the purchase contract for my house in Hungary. Nothing was translated. The bank statements must be no older than 30 days and you also need a tax / revenue stamp for 1000 Ft, obtainable in the Post Office.

Not sure what you mean by "Nothing was translated".  Did they refuse or was it not necessary?

I am also considering a wedding in Hungary (am not Hungarian and live in the UK) but what I can offer them (provisional driving licence, bills, bank statements, P60 from tax office) does not seem to be acceptable.  Has anybody (ideally UK resident) managed to fin out what document would Hungarians accept for proof of address?

It is bizzarre that with a bank statement and a Council tax bill I can open an account for a credit card or a bank account with overdraft but I cannot get married in Hungary...

Thanks for any help.

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

....It is bizzarre that with a bank statement and a Council tax bill I can open an account for a credit card or a bank account with overdraft but I cannot get married in Hungary...

Thanks for any help.

The getting married in Hungary subject was discussed several times here in this forum.

Anyone from the UK wanting to get married to a Hungarian should do it in the UK. You and your partner/spouse need almost no paperwork in the UK to get married whereas in HU, you need official translations, paperwork from the British embassy and a shed load of other costly and time wasting messing about. The residence period for the banns (proclamation/public announcement) is also much longer in HU than in the UK. If I remember correctly, it was about 6 weeks in HU whereas it was about 3 weeks in the UK. In theory, you are not supposed to leave the country (either UK or HU) during that period (not that anyone would really check if you left and came back).

And of course, unlike the UK, the church service in Hungary is not official. Only the civil registration is recognised.

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

It is bizzarre that with a bank statement and a Council tax bill I can open an account for a credit card or a bank account with overdraft but I cannot get married in Hungary..

Not bizarre at all when you consider that opening a bank account is possible by non-residents. Banks will happily take your money in any way they can.

Getting married in Hungary is more serious as it might lead to some Hungarian residency rights for the non-Hungarian partner. So they will do more background checks on you, and your eligibility to marry in the EU.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Anyone from the UK wanting to get married to a Hungarian should do it in the UK

Although I appreciate the advice, it does not answer the question what is acceptable proof of address in Hungary. 

By the way, wedding is no just a 5-minute chore to get over with, especially when there are relatives involved who would not appreciate it at all if they were not present in the actual thing and insist on a celebration.  So the idea of simply doing it in the UK and "getting it over with" is not an alternative.

BTW, I am an EU citizen so the obstacles posed by the Hungarian bureaucracy are particularly "amusing".

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Anyone from the UK wanting to get married to a Hungarian should do it in the UK

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

Although I appreciate the advice, it does not answer the question what is acceptable proof of address in Hungary.

Yes, I know, no idea on that one. I'm on auto waffle.

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

By the way, wedding is no just a 5-minute chore to get over with, especially when there are relatives involved who would not appreciate it at all if they were not present in the actual thing and insist on a celebration.  So the idea of simply doing it in the UK and "getting it over with" is not an alternative.

Mrs Fluffy and I took the attitude it was our wedding and since we'd been together for a very long time (>11  years), we were relatively older (>40 years), independent and with a kid on the way (at the time kids wouldn't be British unless we were married) it was just exactly that, just an administrative thing. We only had three weeks to arrange it (3 weeks later turned out our kid was born - we just made it). Made it impossibly difficult in Hungary but very slick in the UK. We just said to everyone, this time, this place if anyone wants to come. Some did!

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

BTW, I am an EU citizen so the obstacles posed by the Hungarian bureaucracy are particularly "amusing".

Same here but over the years, I am finding it more and more a hassle dealing with bureaucracies. Either I'm getting much older or the hassle factor is increasing.

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

wedding is no just a 5-minute chore to get over with

The wedding business in Las Vegas of course has a different opinion.

Let me tell you, I am from a country where bureaucracy reigns but Hungarians take the biscuit

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

what is acceptable proof of address in Hungary.

I used a notarized document from my county's voter registration office to prove my residence in the US. Of course, that was for the US. I do not know what would be the correct option in the UK. But something similarly notarized and inter-governmental is what I expect they want (so a tax document would not work since it is not notarized). There are additional documents you may need, such as an original notarized birth certificate.

I would think the Hungarian Embassy in the UK would be the real ones to ask (unless you have already done so without success).

klsallee wrote:

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

what is acceptable proof of address in Hungary.

I used a notarized document from my county's voter registration office to prove my residence in the US. Of course, that was for the US. I do not know what would be the correct option in the UK. But something similarly notarized and inter-governmental is what I expect they want (so a tax document would not work since it is not notarized). There are additional documents you may need, such as an original notarized birth certificate.

I would think the Hungarian Embassy in the UK would be the real ones to ask (unless you have already done so without success).

Thanks for this info.  Perhaps the local authority elections office could be a starting point and then take the document to the notary for stamps and signature and then have an apostille affixed.

Re: the Hungarian Embassy, their phone line has essentially become a convoluted answering machine and emails remain unanswered.  Happy times!

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

Thanks for this info.  Perhaps the local authority elections office could be a starting point and then take the document to the notary for stamps and signature and then have an apostille affixed.

I don't think you need an apostille because all official documents from an EU country are recognised by every other EU state. You may need an official translation, but the actual document should be sufficient without being notarised.

If you have documents from a country which is not an EU state, then there's a UN convention (various dates) which the foreign state in question may be a signatory to. If Hungary (for example) is also signatory (depending on the date of the convention), then the documents should be recognised without an apostille.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I don't think you need an apostille because all official documents from an EU country are recognised by every other EU state. You may need an official translation, but the actual document should be sufficient without being notarised.

If you have documents from a country which is not an EU state, then there's a UN convention (various dates) which the foreign state in question may be a signatory to. If Hungary (for example) is also signatory (depending on the date of the convention), then the documents should be recognised without an apostille.

By the way, the website of the British Embassy in Budapest says something different (for CERTAIN documents).  See at the bottom of this page:

http://ukinhungary.fco.gov.uk/en/help-f … y/marriage

fluffy2560 wrote:

I don't think you need an apostille

But it never hurts to walk that extra mile, to be better safe than sorry, and add a little extra grease to better turn the wheel, etc, etc, etc.... I notarized everything. If I needed it or not. I was not going to fly all the way back to the West Coast just to get a signature and stamp.

Especially in Hungary where most everything official has to be stamped and notarized; and one can not count on the local notary being fully up on EU law especially in small villages. But upon seeing the notarization and translation of notarization, will probably accept the document without further issue.

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

.....
By the way, the website of the British Embassy in Budapest says something different (for CERTAIN documents).  See at the bottom of this page:

http://ukinhungary.fco.gov.uk/en/help-f … y/marriage

Yes, you're right. That's new info for me. I didn't have that trouble. We just got an official translation and it was enough.

I did know that the Hague conventions do not apply consistently across all types (e.g. customs documents) and depend on the contracting (party to the convention) state. I happened to have been involved in an Apostille situation a few years ago and had to look it up. Thankfully never again.

Perhaps another reason to get married in the UK.

Consular fees = total and utter rip off!!

Maybe you could have the legal procedure done in the UK and do the church and party in Hungary?
Here churchgoing couples have two weddings: an official one where they sign some big book, and a religious one in a church.

Congolese Eskimo wrote:

fidobsa wrote:

I got my card just before the New Year. I gave them driving licence, passport, EHIC card, statements from 2 UK and one Hungarian bank and the purchase contract for my house in Hungary. Nothing was translated. The bank statements must be no older than 30 days and you also need a tax / revenue stamp for 1000 Ft, obtainable in the Post Office.

Not sure what you mean by "Nothing was translated".  Did they refuse or was it not necessary?

I just meant that they did not require me to get any documents translated into Hungarian.

Oli,

I recommend you to post your query on this in hungarian lawyer forum. Try to shoot bcc email to couple of lawyers and see what they reply on this matter..definitely they give answer,,i tried several times and it helped me a lot. good luck and here is the link.

http://www.lawfirmslawyers.eu/index.php … y&catid=22

szocske wrote:

Maybe you could have the legal procedure done in the UK and do the church and party in Hungary?
Here churchgoing couples have two weddings: an official one where they sign some big book, and a religious one in a church.

An excellent solution Grasshopper!