Bilateral agreement-based continued stay of persons entitled to visa-free stay

 

INFORMATION

 

for third-country nationals enjoying visa-free status and who are entitled for an additional stay in Hungary of 30-days or 90-days on a bilateral basis

 

If you are a national of one of the following third countries, you are entitled to stay in Hungary for an additional period of 30-days or 90-days after exhausting your 90-day visa-free stay in the Schengen area or after the expiry of your residence permit issued by any Europen Union Member State or a Schengen State, provided that you comply with the detailed rules of your previous stay as set out in this information notice.

 

– United States of America (90 days)

– Andorra (90 days)

– Argentina (90 days)

– Brazil (90 days)

– Chile (90 days)

– Costa Rica (90 days)

– South Korea (90 days)

– Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (90 days)

– Israel (90 days)

– Japan (90 days)

– Canada (90 days)

– Macao Special Administrative Region (90 days)

– Malaysia (90 days)

– Mexico (90 days)

– Panama (90 days)

– Paraguay (90 days)

– San Marino (30 days)

– Singapore (30 days)

– New Zealand (90 days)

– Uruguay (90 days)

– Venezuela (90 days)

Please note that the bilateral agreement between Hungary and your country is only valid between the two contracting countries.

 

As stated above, the additional 30-days or 90-days stay benefit under the bilateral agreement is not valid in other Member States of the European Union and in the Schengen area, as these countries are not parties of the bilateral agreement.

 

Please note that you are entitled for the additional 30-days or 90-days stay in Hungary under the bilateral agreement:

– if at the time of your entry to Hungary you have not yet exhausted your 90 days visa-free stay in the Schengen area within a period of six months from the date of your first entry into the Schengen area;

 

– with the restriction of travelling to another Schengen Member State during your stay in Hungary on the basis of the bilateral agreement;

 

– with the obligation to leave the Schengen area directly from the territory of Hungary (avoiding any transit in the European Union or in the Schengen area) on the last day of the 30-days or 90-days under the bilateral agreement.

 

You are kindly informed that it is not necessary to leave the Schengen area in advance to start the additional 30-days or 90-days long stay in Hungary based on the bilateral agreement.

 

If you have stayed visa-free in the Schengen area for 90 days and have already left the Schengen area but your country has a bilateral agreement with Hungary, you are allowed to enter to Hungary for another 30-days or 90-days based on the bilateral agreement. In this case, the entry requirement is that you enter the Schengen area at Hungary’s external border, stay only in Hungary during this period (you may not enter another Schengen State) and leave the Schengen area directly from Hungary.

 

It is clear from the wording of the Schengen Agreement that you are not entitled to enter another Schengen state during the stay under the bilateral agreement between Hungary and your country and that you must leave the Schengen area directly from Hungary, otherwise your presence in another Member State (even in case of transit) may entail the risk of being detained by the authorities of the other Member State for overstaying unless you have the right of stay in that Member State.

 

I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that you are only entitled to the additional 30-days or 90-days long stay in Hungary based on a bilateral agreement if your previous stay was based on the right of visa-free stay or if you have been staying in the Schengen area with a residence permit and your stay did not end due to the withdrawal of your residence permit.

 

The above means that you are allowed to stay for an additional 30-days or 90-days in Hungary after the expiry of the validity of your residence permit issued by another EU Member State, but you will not benefit from the bilateral agreement if your residence permit has been withdrawn, as the decision of withdrawal must be followed by a return decision under EU law. Therefore, if your residence permit previously issued by any Member State has been withdrawn by that Member State, you are not entitled to enter to Hungary, on the contrary you must leave the territory of the Member States of the European Union and the Schengen area, including Hungary, immediately.

 

As the primary purpose of the additional stay under the bilateral conventions is to increase cultural relations between our countries, the additional 30-days or 90-days period under the bilateral agreement shall not be used for activities that can only be fullfilled with possession of a residence permit, such as: study, work, gainful employment, etc.

 

When benefiting from the bilateral agreement, it is recommended that you always carry your valid passport (or, if you entered the Schengen area with a previous passport, that passport) and, if you have an expired residence permit issued by any other EU Member State or any country of the Schengen area, so that you can prove your legal stay in Hungary in case the police may conduct a control and later when you leave the Schengen area.

 

Please also note that the bilateral agreement may grant the additional stay immediately after the visa-free stay in the Schengen area. Thus the benefit under the bilateral agreements shall not be cumulated if another Member State of the European Union or another Schengen State has a bilateral agreement with your country. Therefor you may not benefit from the bilateral agreements of more Member States in order to stay for an even longer period without a residence permit in the European Union or in the Schengen area.