I. General (non-official) information
Before going into details, you should take into consideration the following principles:
- The Hungarian citizenship law is based on the principles of ius sanguinis ("right of blood" in Latin), meaning that a person acquires Hungarian citizenship by birth from a parent who is a Hungarian citizen.
- Therefore, a Hungarian birth certificate proves only the fact of birth but NOT the Hungarian citizenship.
- As citizenship laws don't have retroactive effect (except in some very special cases), one always have to refer to the law which was in force at the date of his/her birth.
- Dual citizenship is permitted under Hungarian Law.
According to the present regulation in force - Act LV of 1993 - Hungarian citizenship can originate under two principles: the most significant one being the principle of origin: the child of every Hungarian citizen becomes a Hungarian citizen by birth (whether the mother or the father is a [or both are] Hungarian citizen [s]).
Prior to this date, rules for acquisition and loss of Hungarian citizenship may have been different. As a short - and by no means exhaustive - summary concerning Hungarian citizenship, before applying, please consider the following:
Between October 1st, 1957– October 1st, 1993:
If one of the parents was a Hungarian citizen at the moment of birth, the child became Hungarian citizen.
Before October 1st, 1957:
- A child became a Hungarian citizen only if his legitimate father was a Hungarian citizen. The child of a Hungarian mother and a non-Hungarian father didn’t become a Hungarian citizen by birth.
- If the child was born out of wedlock (extramarital birth) and the mother had Hungarian citizenship, the child became a Hungarian citizen. But if later on the child was recognized by a non-Hungarian father, he/she could have lost her/his citizenship.
- The non-Hungarian wife of a Hungarian citizen husband automatically became a Hungarian citizen after marriage.
- If a Hungarian citizen wife acquired by marriage the citizenship of her non-Hungarian husband, then she automatically lost her Hungarian citizenship.
- Those, who left Hungary before September 1st, 1929 could lose their citizenship by living continuously abroad for a period exceeding 10 years. This 10 year period began after the expiry date in the person's last Hungarian passport. Therefore, in this case, a Hungarian official document (e.g. a passport, a written declaration made in a Hungarian Consulate, etc.) must be produced which would prove that the person kept his/her citizenship.
- Effects of the Treaty of Trianon (1920) peace agreement, concluding World War I: in general those living outside of the present Hungarian borders lost their Hungarian citizenship and became citizens of the country which received the given territory (with some minor exceptions) after 1921.
- From those who left Hungary before February 1st, 1949, a Hungarian document (any Hungarian identity document, school certificate, work certificate, diploma, etc.) proving that they lived in Hungary after September 1st, 1929 - especially for those who left in the 1930s, early 1940s - is required.
- In some cases, the Acts of 1879 and 1939 entitled the Hungarian State to deprive Hungarians from their citizenship.
As you may see, the assessment of the citizenship of a person might be a very complicated task, due to the historical changes of borders and citizenships in Central Europe during the 20th century. It is exclusively done by experts of the Government Office of the Capital City of Budapest. It could last up to 1- 1,5 years.
Please note that only the authorities (and not the consulate!), and only after the handing-in and processing of your application, can provide you with information about whether you are entitled to Hungarian citizenship or not.
II. Procedure
Depending on which procedure applies to you, please visit either Verification of Hungarian Citizenship or Simplified Naturalization (note: the latter only applies to you if you speak minimum B2 level - fluent - Hungarian, so the procedure is also only explained in Hungarian).