This is from the persepctive of a third-country (i.e. not from Hungary or the EU) citizen. And of course, I’m not an immigration or tax professional, so these were just my personal experiences. Although everyone’s situations can differ, I hope this gives you some guidance!
I’m working as a freelancer in Budapest under the Visa for Gainful Employment. Here’s a lowdown of how I got it!
The application needs:
Purpose of residence:
According to the site, one acceptable purpose is “a private entrepreneurial license, or failing this a private entrepreneur register number”. This is the number I received after setting up my business as a sole entrepreneur.
Proof of address:
I had been living in the same apartment for a year, so I just used my lease.
Proof of financial support:
There’s no official number of how much money the government requires to show you can support yourself. I supplied copies of my Hungarian and US bank account statements, which had about $4000 between them. It’s not uncommon to ask parents/friends to transfer money into your account to make it look a bit more flush 😉
Business plan:
In this letter, I outlined what I wanted to do as a sole entrepreneur (teaching English and doing social media marketing for different companies). This document isn’t legally binding, but it shows your ideas at the time. However, to make my application stronger, I also included letters of intent from businesses who said they would work with me. I found this to be quite helpful as it showed I had concrete plans to make good on my visa.
Proof of health insurance:
I indicated that I would be working under the KATA system, whose taxes make me eligible for universal Hungarian healthcare.
Further documents:
While my visa was pending, I was given a temporary visa (you cannot leave and re-enter Hungary with this) and I was allowed to work under the KATA system. About a month in, immigration asked to see my invoices in order to determine if I had been working where I said I would be.
Timeline:
From the time of application, it took me just under 3 months to get my visa approved. However, this included the time that they needed to receive and process my extra documents. Fingers crossed your process will go a lot more smoothly and quicker!
Related:
What is the KATA system?
How I Invoice
Setting Up My Business
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