If you don’t know the answers to the following questions --- Your residence permit's validity expires, does it need extension? You have to move. Do you have to register this anywhere? When can you end up in a police station? Which are your rights as a student? Who can ask legally for your passport, ID, residence permit or registration card in Hungary? What is the process if you want to switch universities in EU and continue your studies in another country? ---- check this article

My residence permit's validity expires, does it need extension? When? How? 

The validity period of a residence permit issued for the purpose of study:

1. is at least one year;
2.  corresponds to the duration of training, if it is less than one year;
3. may be extended by at least one or at most by two additional years at a time. The procedural fee is 10.000 HUF. The documents have to be uploaded through Enter Hungary system or handed in at the National Directorate-General for Alians Policing 45 days prior the expiration date.

I have to move. Do I have to register this anywhere? 

Yes. Any change in your data registered in the Enter Hungary system or at the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing has to be reported within 3 days.

 

When can I end up in a police station? 

We would like to highlight only a few information from the Penal Code. The following crimes may result one or more days of confinement:

1. breach of privacy, breach of letter secrecy, slightest misuse of classified information,
2. a privileged form of misleading the authority,
3. a privileged form of epidemiological violation,
4. misuse of a cash substitute payment instrument
5. use of illegal drugs
6. purchase of alcohol for a person under the age of 18 years
7. physical abuse etc.

Which are my rights as a student? 

1. With a valid residence permit students have the right of entry without a visa and the right of residence in the territory of Schengen Member States not exceeding 90 days within a 180 day period.
2. With the residence permit students have the right for the pursuit of a gainful activity and to engage in employment.
3. If you hold a residence permit for the purpose of pursuing studies:                                                              you are not required to obtain a residence permit for the purpose of pursuing a gainful activity or employment during the time of study;                                                                                                                         no work permit is needed for a foreign national residing in Hungary as a student receiving full-time education, during the period of his/her studies.
4. Third-country nationals holding a residence permit for the purpose of studies may engage in any full-time occupational activity during their term-time for maximum twenty-four hours weekly, and outside their term-time for a maximum period of 90 days or 66 working days in a year.

If you feel that your rights as a student have been violated, check the webpage of the Comissioner for Educational Rights: https://www.oktbiztos.hu/mission/index.html

Unfair rules or decisions and discriminatory red tape can make it hard for you to live, work or do business in another EU country as an EU citizen. If you face extra obstacles in another country because a public authority isn’t doing what is required under EU law, check the Solvit: https://ec.europa.eu/solvit/index_en.htm 

When do I need a lawyer? 

If you want to save a lot of time with the visa, residence permit (extension), registration card, tax number, diploma accreditation, work permit, citizenship administration.

If you start a new job, it is advisable to review your employment contract with a lawyer.  If you are buying a property or other goods of greater value. If your student rights are violated. If you are the victim of a crime.

Who can ask legally for my passport, ID, residence permit or registration card in Hungary? 

Police officer anytime, doctors, in the public institutions, in the store before buying alcohol or cigarettes, at the post office or the post officer who brings registered mail, at the university, the bank, at the border, at the airport.

What is the process if I want to switch universities in EU and continue my studies in another country? 

Academic recognition in EU focuses on recognition of periods of study or qualifications, so it might happen that you need to repeat certain subjects, semesters, if you switch universities. If you plan to do this it is important to save the universitie's curriculum.

First step is to check the following webpage: https://www.enic-naric.net/academic-recognition-procedures.aspx and get in contact with the accreditation institution from the target country.