Hungary

Guest Investor Programme. Hungary’s golden visa: a 10-year residence permit for investing at least €250,000 in an approved real-estate fund, or donating €1 million to a Hungarian higher-education institution. A direct residential-property purchase option was struck from the law before it ever took effect.

Free, with the law behind every answer

Guest Investor Programme

A 10-year residence permit issued directly (no prior temporary stage), covering spouse, children and, unusually, parents; renewable once for a further 10 years while the investment or donation is maintained.

Who qualifies

Invest at least €250,000 in units of a licensed real-estate investment fund registered with the Hungarian National Bank, or donate at least €1 million to an approved higher-education institution; a planned direct real-estate purchase option was removed by a December 2024 amendment before its 1 January 2025 start date and is not available.
Act XC of 2023 on the Admission and Right of Residence of Guest Investors
Pass a background and national-security check.
National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (OIF), Guest Investor factsheet

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

Does it fit your family?

One question, from the program’s own rules.

Savings you could move or invest?

Not legal advice.

What it takes.

Investment: About $275,000.
Time: About 1–3 months to place the qualifying investment or donation, then a 21-day decision on the residence permit once the file is submitted.
Cost: $275,000–$1,100,000 depending on the option (fund units or education donation), plus fund/legal fees of $5,000–15,000 and a per-person filing fee of roughly $200–550.
The hard part: Meeting the residency conditions if the family later wants citizenship, not the investment itself, which is fast once funds are ready.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

Citizens by 2039.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

2027
First residence permit
10 years, renewable for 10 years at a time.
2030
Permanent residence
National residence card: three unbroken years on a qualifying permit (White Card, guest-worker, study and several other permits do not qualify), a Hungarian cultural-knowledge exam since 1 January 2025, housing, income and health insurance. The EU residence card takes 5 years.
2038
Apply for citizenship
With a language test and a civics test.
2039
Citizenship

Language: No separate language exam: the civics test is taken in Hungarian.
Civics: A basic civics test, in Hungarian, before an examination board. Over-60s and people schooled in Hungarian are exempt.
Time away: Eight years of continuous residence before applying, counted only from the date you registered a Hungarian address while holding permanent residence status.
Two passports: Yes. You keep your U.S. citizenship.

The guest-investor permit is not on the list of permits barred from the national residence card, so after 3 years a family can apply for it and start the 8-year citizenship clock.
How long the decision takes isn’t published; we allow a year.

The law behind these dates

Living there.

Time you must spend there: No minimum-day presence requirement to hold the residence permit itself, but the family needs to actually live in Hungary to accrue the years toward naturalisation.
Tax: Becomes Hungarian tax resident only if physically present enough or centring life there; the residence permit itself does not require living in Hungary full-time.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

Start today.

Read the OIF’s Guest Investor residence permit factsheet.Open oif.gov.hu ↗
Gather these documents.
- Proof of the funds to invest: about $275,000, and where they came from
- Request your FBI Identity History Summary
- Health cover for the move

Postern can run this for you.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.One membership, the whole family. Bank accounts and help putting your plan into action are included.

Postern runs it for one adult US citizen with a completed €250,000 qualifying fund investment, applying within 30 days of first lawful visa-free entry: the residence permit, biometrics, accommodation registration, card delivery and its extension; the investment purchase and family applications are outside this scope.

18 steps, from the first paper to the passport. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Opening your bank accounts there is included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Government fees, record fees and other costs you approve are extra.

Run it for my family →

ISSUED TO

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