Hungarian Citizenship Through a Parent

Scenario B: Your parent has Hungarian ancestry but has not yet applied

This is the most common scenario covered on this page. If your parent has Hungarian ancestry — through their own parent or earlier ancestor — but has not yet naturalized, you and your parent can apply simultaneously under §4(3) of Act LV of 1993. Both of you submit a separate Honosítási- visszahonosítási kérelem and attend consular appointments. Each of you must independently demonstrate conversational Hungarian language ability. The Ministry of Interior in Budapest reviews both files, and both applicants receive separate approval notifications and fogadalom (oath) invitations.

1. Hungarian ancestry through your parent

You must document an unbroken ancestry line from yourself through your parent to the qualifying Hungarian ancestor. Each generation link requires the relevant vital records: birth certificate connecting you to your parent, and your parent's birth certificate or other records connecting them to the Hungarian ancestor. US-issued documents need apostilles and certified Hungarian translations.

2. Conversational Hungarian language ability

The language requirement is the same regardless of the generation you claim through. You must demonstrate conversational Hungarian proficiency at your consulate appointment. Unlike the Portuguese or German citizenship pathways, Hungary does not require a formal language exam or standardized certificate. Instead, a consular officer holds a conversation with you in Hungarian — and you attach a short autobiographical statement (önéletrajz) in your own handwriting, written in advance on the prescribed application form. Basic conversational ability is sufficient; you do not need to pass a written test or achieve a specific CEFR level. §4(8) waives the language demonstration for persons having no capacity to act, and the check applies from age 14.

3. Clean criminal record

§4(1)(b) of Act LV of 1993, incorporated by §4(3), asks about Hungarian criminal records — no conviction under Hungarian law and no proceeding pending before a Hungarian court. That is a Hungarian-record condition, and the Hungarian authority checks it itself. An FBI Identity History Summary is not on the mandatory-attachments (kötelező mellékletek) list, and no US post publishes it as a requirement. Posts do sometimes ask for supplementary documents, so ask the post serving your consular district whether it wants a criminal-history report before you order one. If it does, ask in the same message what issue date it will accept — we do not publish a validity window, because no Hungarian source states one.

4. Oath of citizenship (fogadalom) upon approval

After the Ministry of Interior in Budapest approves your application, you are invited to take the fogadalom — the citizenship oath or affirmation. Under §7(1)(c) the location is your choice: before any Hungarian mayor or the head of any Hungarian diplomatic mission. You declare that choice on the application form, and may change it once up to five days beforehand. Watch the deadline — the naturalization certificate lapses if the oath is not taken within one year of the first invitation. Citizenship is acquired on the day of the oath, after which you can apply for a Hungarian identity card and passport.

Your documents (the applicant)

• • Honosítási- visszahonosítási kérelem — the official simplified naturalization application form, filled in before the appointment
• • Your birth certificate — apostilled, with a certified Hungarian translation
• • Valid photo ID (US passport or driver's license)
• • FBI criminal background check — only if your post asks for one; not a mandatory attachment
• • 2 passport-style photos per consulate requirements
• • Handwritten autobiographical CV in Hungarian (önéletrajz) — written in your own hand, in advance, on the application form

Your parent's documents

• • Birth certificate — apostilled (if US-issued), with a certified Hungarian translation
• • Marriage certificate (if applicable) — apostilled (if US-issued), with a certified Hungarian translation
• • Death certificate (if deceased) — apostilled (if US-issued), with a certified Hungarian translation
• • Documentation connecting your parent to the Hungarian ancestor — may include their own birth certificate showing parentage, or the Hungarian ancestor's documents

Hungarian qualifying ancestor documents

• • Hungarian birth certificate (anyakönyvi kivonat) — from Hungarian civil registry (állami anyakönyv)
• • Hungarian citizenship proof — Hungarian passport, identity card (személyi), or civil registry extract showing Hungarian citizenship
• • Pre-1895 church records (if born before 1895) — Hungarian civil registration began in 1895; earlier records are in church parish registers (anyakönyvek)
• • Option declaration (if from a Trianon ceded territory) — for ancestors who retained Hungarian citizenship after 1920 by filing an option declaration

Step 1: Prepare your documents

Gather all vital records for yourself and your parent — birth certificates, marriage certificates (where applicable), and death certificates for deceased ancestors. Obtain apostilles on all US-issued documents. Commission certified Hungarian translations for every US document. Obtain Hungarian vital records (anyakönyvi kivonat) for the qualifying Hungarian ancestor from the Hungarian civil registry. Do not order an FBI background check unless your post asks for one — it is not a mandatory attachment.

Step 2: Book with the post serving your consular district

Applications under §4(3) are filed with a career consular officer. Hungary maintains four career posts in the US — the Embassy in Washington DC and Consulates General in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, each covering its own consular district — plus a Vice Consulate in Miami that lists citizenship cases among the matters it accepts. Honorary consulates cannot process citizenship applications. There is no single nationwide booking page: konzinfo.mfa.gov.hu is the general consular information portal, some posts use a booking portal, and New York books simplified naturalization appointments exclusively by email. Confirm with the post serving your district that it schedules honosítás intake, and how it books, before making travel plans.

Step 3: Consulate appointment

At your appointment, you submit the complete document package — including the handwritten önéletrajz (autobiographical CV) in Hungarian, which under §3(9) of Decree 125/1993 must already be written in your own hand on the prescribed application form before you arrive, and is required of adult (nagykorú) applicants unless waived on medical grounds. New York turns away applicants who come without it pre-filled. You also undergo the conversational Hungarian interview at this appointment. The consulate officer reviews your file for completeness and forwards it to the Ministry of Interior in Budapest for review. If your parent is applying simultaneously, they attend a separate appointment (which may be scheduled on the same day or on a different date).

Step 4: Budapest Ministry review

The Hungarian Ministry of the Interior (Belügyminisztérium) in Budapest reviews your application. This review phase takes the majority of the total elapsed time. What the law fixes is a deadline, not a duration: §17(2) of Act LV of 1993 gives the Minister three months to submit the application to the President of the Republic, extendable once by three months under §17(4), and time spent on document requests, suspension, specialist-authority review or inter-agency record retrieval is excluded from that clock (§17(5)). Hungary publishes no end-to-end figure. You do not need to take any action during this period unless the Ministry requests additional documents. The consulate forwards any requests for supplementary information.

Step 5: Fogadalom (citizenship oath ceremony)

When the Ministry of Interior approves your application, the consulate contacts you to schedule the fogadalom — the citizenship oath ceremony. You attend the ceremony at the same consulate where you submitted your documents. At the ceremony, you recite the Hungarian citizenship oath (fogadalom szövege) in Hungarian before a consulate official. After the fogadalom, you are confirmed as a Hungarian citizen and can apply for a Hungarian identity card (személyazonosító igazolvány) and passport.