Employment of foreign nationals in Hungary

New regulations took effect on 1 August 2011 concerning the entry, residence and employment of third-country nationals in Hungary. PricewaterhouseCoopers has summed up they key changes in its latest Tax & Legal Alert.

As the report states, the legislative changes will also apply to EU Blue Card holders. The EU Blue Card is a special permit that allows highly qualified third-country nationals to live and work in the European Union (excluding Member States that have opted out of the scheme) without having to obtain a work permit. Non-EU nationals may only enter into an employment relationship in Hungary after they have obtained an EU Blue Card.

After 18 months of legal residence in the first Member State as an EU Blue Card holder, the person concerned may move to another Member State for the purpose of highly qualified employment, and may be automatically granted an EU Blue Card in that Member State. In other cases, the EU Blue Card will be issued in accordance with the Hungarian authorisation rules. A third-country national who has applied and fulfils the requirements may be issued an EU Blue Card with a duration of up to four years.

However, for the first two years of legal employment as an EU Blue Card holder, access to the labour market for the person concerned will be restricted to the exercise of their initial work contract.

The competent regional directorate of the Hungarian Immigration Office will request the employment authority to issue an opinion on whether the third-country applicant fulfils the relevant qualification requirements. Under the implementation rules, such an opinion is required for issuing an EU Blue Card. The salary levels for highly qualified third-country workers will be laid down in a separate decree.

Another decree will limit the number of third-country nationals accepted for work in Hungary at any given time (including EU Blue Card holders), and will restrict access to employment activities that are reserved to nationals.

Under the new rules, EEA nationals who wish to leave the territory of Hungary definitively must return their registration and address verification cards.