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Hungarian citizenship is inherited by birth (ius sangui), thus the children of Hungarian citizens are generally also eligible to become Hungarian citizens. Children born prior to 1957 can only inherit Hungarian citizenship from their paternal side, but those born after 1957 can inherit from either.
The assessment of the citizenship can be very complicated due to the historical changes of borders and citizenships in Central Europe and so this work is done exclusively by the Citizenship Department of the Ministry of the Interior in Budapest. Applications lodged in New Zealand need to be submitted through the Consulate-General in Wellington or the Consulates in Auckland and Christchurch to the Hungarian Embassy in Canberra, Australia, who send it by diplomatic courier to the Ministry in Hungary.
First-time passport applications submitted from New Zealand generally take about 12 months.
All applicants of Hungarian descent who do not have one of the three documents that undeniably prove their Hungarian citizenship – i.e. a valid passport, or a valid Hungarian personal ID document, or a current Citizenship Certificate (issued from Hungary within the last 12 months) – or those who left Hungary prior to 1 January 1972 and are not in possession of a Hungarian Passport issued thereafter have to undergo a citizenship assessment by filling in and signing the citizenship application form. This form, which is in Hungarian, can be downloaded here.
(PDF)
The documents that need to be attached to the form are:
Note: A Hungarian passport can be issued only to Hungarians whose births (and marriages, etc where applicable) are registered in Hungary. A prerequisite for registering the applicant's birth is the prior registration in Hungary of the parents' marriage.
Only the full versions and originals of all certificates are accepted. (The Consulate–General or Consulate can prepare a certified true copy of an original documents in exceptional circumstances.)
The Hungarian authorities require all original New Zealand documents to be authenticated. Birth, marriage and death certificates, and divorce and change of name documents issued in New Zealand require Apostille Certification before they can be registered in Hungary. If the original document bears the round seal of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages (or the Registrar-General), you can send it straight to the Authentication Unit, Department of Internal Affairs, PO Box 805, Wellington 6140. It will cost NZD40 per document and they require a self-addressed A4 envelope. (Some older documents do not have either of these seals and must be notarised first, or in fact a cheaper option if you have a VISA or Mastercard is to order new certificates (NZD26 each) from Births, Deaths and Marriages by telephoning 0800 22 52 52 (from within New Zealand only) and ask that they be sent directly to the Authentication Unit for an Apostille Certificate before being sent to you.) You can find detailed information about this the authentication process at Department of Internal Affairs website.
If the parents of the applicant married abroad (i.e. not in Hungary), a form needs to be filled in to register their marriage in Hungary, attaching also the documents that prove the married parties' potential Hungarian citizenship (Hungarian birth certificate, passport, ID document, Certificate of Citizenship). If the Hungarian parent has no valid document of that kind, a citizenship form must also be filled in by that parent. This form, which is in Hungarian, can be downloaded here. (PDF)
If the parents of the applicant were not married at the time of the applicant's birth, a special declaration ("acceptance of fatherhood" – Apasági nyilatkozat) is also to be filled in and signed before the Consul by both parents, recognising the parenthood of the child. If the applicant is over 14 years old he/she also has to sign that form, to prove acceptance of being recognised as a child of the father.
If the parents' marriage ended before the application, their divorce also has to be registered (for which another form is needed). The Court decision about the divorce (Decree Nisi becoming absolute) also needs to be attached, with a certified Hungarian translation. This form, which is in Hungarian, can be downloaded here. (PDF)
If the Hungarian parent has deceased, the death certificate together with the certified Hungarian translation also needs to be attached.
If someone's surname has undergone changes after leaving Hungary due to marriage, the registration of that marriage in Hungary will validate the change of name for the wife. If the eventual new surname of a person is due to an individual change of name act, the related official permit (e.g. deed poll) must be submitted with a certified Hungarian translation. (All documents must be originals or authenticated copies.)
Certified translations are prepared by the Consulate–General or Consulate, although translations can be done by anyone speaking Hungarian (as long as they are type–written), as the translation must be checked and stamped, i.e. certified as true by the Consulate anyway.
After the parents' marriage has been registered the child's birth can also be registered. The birth registration form needs to be filled in, together with the citizenship and passport application forms, attaching two photos, the original birth certificate, certified translation, parents' marriage certificate and the Hungarian parent's citizenship document. The birth registration form, which is in Hungarian, can be downloaded here. (PDF)
Filling in the Forms
It should be noted that all the forms need to be completed in Hungarian as the officials handling them do not necessarily speak English. Family names should be written in block letters. In the case of those of Hungarian origin (including children) the family name should precede the first name, e.g. TÓTH Stephen, but in the case of the non-Hungarians, names should be written as we write them in English, e.g. Jane TÓTH. Things like "New Zealand" need to be written as "Új-Zéland", and "New Zealander" as "új-zélandi". All dates should be written in the order of year-month-day eg. 2009-01-15. NOTE: all forms need to be signed by the applicant(s) in front of someone (usually an Honorary Consul) authorised to witness their signing.
Passports can be renewed or more specifically a new one issued through the consulate (allow up 3-6 months), or in person in Budapest (Budapest XIII. district. Visegrádi u. 110-112., allow 3-4 weeks), by submitting: a passport application form (obtainable from the consulate). You will need:
If a passport is lost or stolen it needs to be reported to the Police and consequently to the Consulate–General in Wellington or the Consulates in Auckland or Christchurch, whichever is nearer, where an official file is prepared based on the police record. The lost passport can be replaced in different ways, depending on where the permanent residence of the holder is and what the purpose of the visit has been.
Consular fees apply in all cases. This information is obtainable from your nearest consulate.
Applications must be signed by the applicant in front of the Consul. If the application is not submitted personally at a consulate (because, for example the applicant lives quite some distance away), a separate form certifying the signature and identity of the applicant will need to be completed in front of a recognised Notary Public or Justice of the Peace.
Our Hungarian passports are evidence of our Hungarian citizenship. That's why it is important to submit your passport renewal application before your passport expires.
If you are planning on travelling using your Hungarian passport, it is recommended that you submit your renewal application 6 months prior to the planned travel.
All passports issued to 18-70 year-olds are valid for ten years. (5-year passports for this age-group have been abolished.)
Only the Ministry of the Interior in Budapest (the NZ equivalent of Internal Affairs) can issue Hungarian passports. If yours is a first-time application, which requires submitting a citizenship application, you will need to lodge your application with the Consul responsible for the area you live in. The Consul forwards your completed and verified application to the Embassy in Canberra, from where it goes on by diplomatic courier to Budapest. Your new passport together with any Hungarian registration documents will be sent from Budapest to the Embassy from where they will post it to you directly. The process takes about 9-12 months and costs anywhere from about NZD400 to NZD1500, depending on the complexity of your application.
Applications for passport renewals where the passport has already expired are treated the same as first-time applications. In other words you are required to lodge your application through your consulate and submit a citizenship application as well as the your original (Hungarian) registration documents. This process also takes 9-12 months and while it is cheaper than a first-time application, costs more than a straightforward passport renewal.
The processing of renewing still valid passports may be as short as 3 months. Such applications also need to be lodged through your Consul to the Embassy. But if you are in Budapest and have enough time (3-4 weeks), you can submit your renewal application in person. If your are doing this and have a New Zealand residency or other such permit in your old passport, you will need to have your permit transferred to your new passport at a New Zealand embassy (e.g. in Berlin), otherwise the border guards will not let you back into New Zealand.
Some of the application forms have been changed to reflect recent law changes, e.g. the form to register a marriage in Hungary now requires the signature of both parties to the marriage. Please ensure you are using up-to-date forms before lodging your application.
Honorary Consul Miklós Szabó is responsible for Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty. His contact details are:
Street address:
Consulate of the Republic of Hungary
Summerfield Villas
26/59 Sackville Street
Grey Lynn, Auckland 1021
Postal address:
PO Box 47824, Ponsonby, Auckland 1144
Tel: +64 9 369 1415
Fax: +64 9 376 3608
Email:
miklos.szabo@xtra.co.nz
Honorary Consul Klára Szentirmay is responsible for all of New Zealand south of the Waikato including the South Island. Her contact details are:
Street address:
Consulate-General of the Republic of Hungary
37 Abbott St
Ngaio
Wellington
Postal Address:
Consulate-General of Hungary
PO Box 29-039, Wellington 6443
New Zealand
Tel: +64 4 973 7507
Fax: +64 4 973 7509
E-mail:
consul@hungarianconsulate.co.nz
As a member of the European Union, from 29 June 2009 the Hungarian passport authority will only issues biometric passports incorporating the electronic scanned fingerprints, requiring passports to be applied for in person: in Hungary at one of the Document Offices [okmányiroda] (www.nyilvantarto.hu/kekkh/kozos/), and abroad at embassies and consulates (but not honorary consulates).
Given that all Hungarian embassies and consulate-generals do not yet have fingerprint scanning machines those Hungarian citizens residing abroad long-term, can apply for passports that will be issued for 1 year in the meantime.
The following options are available when applying for a new passport:
If you are not planning on visiting Hungary in the near future (within the next 12 months), then apply for a passport that will be valid for 1 year.
If you are planning to travel to Hungary in the near future and your passport is due to expire after that date then it is a good idea to apply for a biometric passport that will be valid for 10 years. You can submit your application at the Document Office [okmányiroda] nearest where you live (www.nyilvantarto.hu/kekkh/kozos/). The processing will take up to 28 days. In cases of urgency, for double the fee, the processing will take up to 8 days. If you don't have a permanent address in Hungary, then submit your application in Hungary at the Central Passport Office (1133 Budapest, Visegrádi u. 110-112), where it is advisable to make an appointment ahead of time by email: idopontfoglalas@ahiv.hu to avoid the queues. If you are not in Hungary long enough to pick up you new passport (and you have a New Zealand or other passport with which to return to New Zealand), you can ask for your new passport to be sent to you via the Embassy in Canberra.
If you are able to, postpone renewal of your passport until later. Existing passports remain valid until their expiry, even with the new passports are in circulation.
© (1998–2011) Consulate–General of the Republic of Hungary in New Zealand
Last modified: 14 August 2011