Updating Address Card after Move: Non-EU Expat

When we applied for residence we received address card applications from Immigration at 35-37 Szegedi Utca. You can probably just go there and ask. I've seen posts that say you can go to city hall; I thonk theres one in each district. If you go to Immigration check the web site fir hours, don't go on Wednesdays, and get there an hour early.

Btw...we just got here this year from CA. Whete are you from?

Immigration will handle this, the city hall is more for citizens and everyone goes to the city hall in the district where they live.
My husband is a dual citizen of HU and the US, I am US only, he never had to get any cards or go into immigration for anything, I had to get all cards from their office.
We did register or marriage in both city hall and at immigration services.
You can go into city hall for minor things like getting a parking permit for your district but not for address cards for immigrants.

Thanks you two! I went to Szegedi Utca this morning and it was a nightmare so we hired an immigration lawyer to get it done for us. I really didn't want to spend the money on something as seemingly simple as changing our address but it feels near impossible (like so many things in Hungary!!) to do myself and I just don't have the time to go and wait day after day (I was told by a couple people that there's no way it could be done in "one shot" as you either get the run around or they close at 1pm, etc). Living in Budapest has been a great experience overall but some things just drive me crazy!!

Are these immigration lawyers very costly overall?
Just curious, I did my time in line at immigration, it is a nightmare, we people from "3rd" countries really did work to be allowed in Hungary.

From the Hungarian Immigration Office web site, you go to the district office where your new address is located to report your new address and the district office issues the new address card:

Where an immigrant or permanent resident has to report his/her change of address?

The new address shall be reported to the district office of the Budapest and county government agency responsible for the place where the new residence is located, the change of address shall not entail the replacement of the residence document. The report is confirmed by the personal identification number and official address card issued by the district office, therefore this official document has to be kept together with the resident permit, and has to be surrendered to the duly empowered authority upon request.

This should not require going to the central immigration office or hiring an immigration lawyer.

Wow, if this is correct, I feel bad for sending them off to Immigration although I think they went there before I may of answered.
They do love to keep us in total confusion.
If this is true then that immigration lawyer was a real scammer to actually take on a new case for nothing.

Hello,

Going to the district office is applicable only to EU citizens. "Third world" people like myself have to go to the immigration office for this (unfortunately!!).

I am an American Citizen. But I am also a permanent resident in Hungary. And so I can just go the the local government office if I need to get a new address card. And any nationality can be classified as an immigrant, not just EU citizens. However, if you are here for a specific time period for school or work, then you may indeed have no immigrant status either. I don't know.

But here is another question: do you have an actual Hungarian address card, or another type of address document? The national address card looks like this:



I ask, as this issue came up before, and it seems that some short term residents are not issued the actual plastic laminated address card, but another type of address document. In that case, you may indeed need to go to the immigration office.

It does seem that once you get a permanent resident card you can conduct your business through your district city hall and not have to run into the nightmare of immigration for everything.
I also have my 10 year permit to stay but it wasn't easy to go through those first 5 years.( first a 5 year permit then my 10 years, wonder what's next if I am still kickin' it)
Every case if different though, not everyone even gets a 5 year permit their first time around. I was able to get these papers because of my husband being a citizen, on my own merit they probably would of sent me home a long time ago...

Klsallee - Nope, don't have the plastic card - you cannot get one until you've been here for 3 years (at least when you're non-EU).  We have the paper cards that can ONLY be dealt with at the immigration office.  There is a ton of misinformation out there about this with people saying "Oh, just go to the district office" - that is incorrect and does not apply to those outside the EU.  The immigration office is a horror show and I definitely recommend hiring a lawyer t do it instead (it was 25,000 forints for both me and my husband).  Ridiculous to have to pay that for something as simple as an address change but alas, it is Hungary. #bureaucracy

Marilyn - You're absolutely right, it seems that the longer one has been here, the easier things get with these processes!!

Ah. I assumed you had the actual address card. Then Marilyn was correct for the type of document you have. My bad.

Yes, there is a lot of confusion about the "address card" as some expats have them, and others have another document which is actually not an address card.

Guess if one is married to a HU citizen we have a few extra, Perks" no problem, I'll take what I can get!
They gave me a address card that was enclosed in plastic the first time around, took a bit of doing but in the end, "yes  they liked me, yes, they really liked me..."At least they gave me what was "normal" for the spouse of a HU citizen after walking on coals.
I was sort of even thinking of looking into getting HU citizenship for myself.
Not sure I need it but it may be easier in the long run.
Since my husband and son have it, it would be sad if for any reason I was told to go home and never come back again.

Thanks for letting us know the cost of using that lawyer.
Sort of steep but if you break it down for 2 people it might of been worth saving yourself from the hassles.
My husband gives away a fare amount every time he walks into the doctors office even for a minor thing.
I make the doctors spend at least 5 mins on me after having to wait hours to get in. Hours of waiting to see them even with a appointment then they just tell you to buy some OTC meds and come back in 2 months... Those tips add up to more then just paying a private doctor in the long run I think.
It's the way it goes here, save on one thing and spend on something else.