Indicator history

Act XLIV of 2010 amending Act LV of 1993 on the Hungarian Nationality [1] was passed by the plenary session on 26 May 2010.

The modification entered into force only on 1 January 2011, but requests for preferential acquisition of Hungarian citizenship were already received from 20 August 2010.

Major changes in the law:

"a. Naturalisation

i. The conditions for non-preferential naturalisation contain a more restrictive public order requirement [Art.4(1)d]. Accordingly, a non-Hungarian citizen may be
naturalised upon request if his/her naturalisation is not considered to be a threat to the public order or national security of the Republic of Hungary – replacing the
formula of ‘a threat to the interest of the state’ in the previous version of the law. 

ii. The strongest option of preferential naturalisation will be offered to non-Hungarian citizen whose ascendant was a Hungarian citizen or whose origin from
Hungary is probable, and whose Hungarian language knowledge is proved. This applicant has to meet two further requirements: first, a clean criminal record
according to Hungarian laws and not being indicted in any criminal proceedings before a Hungarian court; second, his/her naturalization must not be considered a
threat to the public order or national security of the Republic of Hungary. [Art.4(3)] In brief, unlike for ordinary naturalisations, neither residence or
subsistence in Hungary, nor a test on knowledge of the constitution is required. Furthermore, proof of Hungarian language knowledge may not be required for
persons who are legally incompetent or of diminished mental capacity. [Art 4(8)] These applicants (minors, mentally disabled persons) can probably submit their
own claims for naturalisation without any test or certificate. According to the Explanatory Note to the bill the strongest mode of preferential naturalisation refers
back to the referendum of 5 December 2004 on dual citizenship for ethnic Hungarians living in the adjacent states, which was invalid due to low turnout but
was supported by the majority of participants.

b. Re-naturalisation

i. Upon request, a person whose Hungarian citizenship was ceased can be renaturalised under the same conditions as for applicants of Hungarian ancestry: the
applicant’s language knowledge must be proved, the applicant must have a clean criminal record according to Hungarian laws and not be indicted in any criminal
proceedings before a Hungarian court, and his/her naturalisation must not be considered a threat to the public order or national security of the Republic of
Hungary [Art 5]. This new provision eliminates residence and subsistence conditions in Hungary, while the applicant’s language-knowledge shall be tested
or certified somehow. There is no explanation for these changes in the Explanatory Note.

c. Procedural and competence rules in matters of nationality

i. The applicant for naturalisation shall take an oath or pledge of allegiance before the local mayor, orif he or she does not reside in Hungary, before the
representative of the competent foreign mission of Hungary [Art 7(1)]. 

ii. Applications in nationality issues shall be submitted to the local/regional registrar office, consular office or to the responsible unit (of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration) [Art 13(1)]. This competent unit shall be determined by the Government [Art.24(4)].

iii. This responsible unit (of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration) will prepare the applications for naturalisation and re-naturalisation and finally forward
these to the Minister. The duration of the ministerial preparatory procedure will not be longer than three months, not including the periods for obtaining required
documents and expert opinion from other authorities. Within these three months the Minister has to submit applications to the President for decision. [Art 17(2)] This new subsection means an accelerated procedure compared to the previous one, which could last for years. However, the Bill provides no further personnel or resources to these extra administrative burdens and the whole naturalisation procedure remains free of charge for applicants." [2]

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[1] Act XLIV of 2010 amending Act LV of 1993 on the Hungarian Nationality, available at: http://www.complex.hu/kzldat/t1000044.htm/t1000044.htm (last accessed: 23.02.2012)

[2] Tóth, Judit  'Changes to the Hungarian Citizenship Law, July 2010', available at: http://eudo-citizenship.eu/docs/CountryReports/recentChanges/Hungary.pdf, pp. 1-2, (last accessed: 23.02.2012)