Living in Hungary for Two Years With the Hungarian White Card

Sneak Peek:

Kristin:    00:00:00    Here we are, 150 episodes, more than 200,000 downloads, one big happy family. 

Introduction: Welcome to Badass Digital Nomads, where we're pushing the boundaries of remote work and travel, all while staying grounded with a little bit of old school philosophy, self-development, and business advice from our guests.  

Kristin Wilson, Host:    00:00:29    Hello, hello Kristin from Traveling with Kristin here and welcome to episode 150 of Badass Digital Nomads. That's pretty cool guys. That's pretty cool. Thank you for hanging out with me every week or almost every week, <laugh>. And um, I'm just so glad that you're here and this is something to celebrate because it's a lot of work to produce 150 podcast episodes. But you know, I look at some other podcasters that are on like episode 3,758 <laugh> and I know I have a long way to go, but wherever we end up, I am thoroughly enjoying the process and also the challenge of coming up with novel ideas for different episodes. One of the reviews or a few of the reviews have commented that you guys really appreciate the diversity of the topics that I talk about and the types of guests that I have and guests will be back very soon.  

Kristin:    00:01:39    Um, so I definitely appreciate all of your feedback and all of your reviews. 163 people have either rated or reviewed the podcast to date. And so I just want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to do that. You know, every review counts, especially for smaller shows like mine. So if you've been listening for a while and if you've enjoyed the conversations, if you've found value in the different topics, if you've learned anything, please take a moment to rate and review wherever you listen. And that would be a really wonderful 150th podcast episode anniversary for me. So today I would like to highlight a review from Frost Warrior who says, worth it. Every time I've been listening since before covid to this awesome presenter, as a seasoned traveler, I'm always amazed that every time I listen, I learn something new, whether it's a new perspective, a different option, or it just motivates me a bit.  

Kristin:    00:02:48    I am successful in my career and this is one of three podcasts that I make sure that I listen to every week. It adds that much value to me. It's awesome. Well, Frost Warrior, it is awesome to hear that and I am so honored to be one of the three podcasts that you listen to every week. So thank you so much and so glad it's been helpful for you. And I'd also like to thank everyone who's bought me coffees this year. As you know, I love coffee and this is a new and fun way to support the podcast that I added to our website, badassdigitalnomads.com. And all of your donations and contributions don't necessarily go to my coffee maker <laugh>, but they do go to support the production of the show and helping me compensate the team who make the show possible. So today I'd like to give a special thank you to Kayla, who has been doing a great job in the past year, keeping the website updated, helping with the show notes every week, and picking the best quotes from each episode to share with you on social media.  

Kristin:    00:04:01    Thanks Kayla. And also thank you to Sandra B, a listener who recently bought me three coffees. Thanks Sandra. And she left such a nice note too. She said both your podcast and YouTube content are inspiring. You provide clear information that's practical and fun to follow. For those of us with Wanderlust, thank you so much. Your mission is working. Woohoo. Thank you Sandra. I'm so glad to hear that the info has been clear and practical and fun to follow because that's why we're all here in the first place is to have fun in the world. So thanks for listening, Sandra. I'm so glad that you found my content. I hope to be back on YouTube soon and I hope to make a lot more in the future that helps all of you with your travel dreams and goals. While we're talking, buy me a coffee special thank you as well to Paul Trinidad, Dave Bowman and Dallas from Privacy Post, who are my top supporters on Buy Me a Coffee this year.  

Kristin:    00:05:07    Thank you guys so much. So I wanted to share some statistics with you. Uh, we have just crossed a milestone of more than 200,000 downloads in 169 countries. Woohoo, including a place that I have never heard of before the Åland Islands, which I might be pronouncing wrong. It turns out that the Åland Islands is an autonomous region of Finland. It's just west of Finland and just northeast of Stockholm in the Baltic Sea. And how have I never heard of this place before? Have you heard of it? According to Google, it is made up of 6,700 islands, even though it's a Finish region. It's Swedish speaking and it's known for its beaches. Its streets lined with 19th century wooden townhouses, handicraft shops and cafes and the western port called Boham links Åland with Estonia, Sweden and mainland Finland. So, ah yes, I see here on Google Maps that it is just northwest of Estonia.  

Kristin:    00:06:26    What a cool place. Maybe I should go there. Maybe we should all go there. Maybe that's a good place to work remotely. I'm gonna have to dive into that a little bit more. But hello to whoever's downloading the podcast from the Åland Islands. That's really cool. Some other places that are new compared to last year are French, Polynesia, Brunai, Greenland, Uganda, Libya and Guila, Macau, Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, Namibia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guam, Cayman Islands. So cool. Almost every country in the world, guys, almost every country in the world. So here we are, 150 episodes, more than 200,000 downloads, one big happy family. So thank you again for the support. Thank you to all of my Patreon patrons. There are 48 of us right now. So thank you guys and thanks for sticking it out with me as I haven't been posting on YouTube lately, but at least the podcast is still going out.  

Kristin:    00:07:38    So we have that going for us. But um, as soon as my book is done, we'll get back to some more YouTube videos and also more interviews. Have a long list of people to interview this year, so I can't wait to share those interviews with you and we'll just keep on keeping on and keep evolving, keep learning and growing and laughing and crying and just doing all of the things together. So thank you again. And also in the Badass Digital Nomads Facebook group, there are more than 5,500 members in the Facebook group right now and I remember when I started it and it was just me and my assistant and my sister <laugh>. So thank you to everyone who's been hanging out in there and sharing your stories and tips and questions and taking the conversation from the podcast over to the community. So last week I was going to talk about Hungary's new Digital Nomad Visa, which is called the Hungarian White Card.  

Kristin:    00:08:48    But I postponed this podcast to reflect a bit on the two years since the Covid pandemic officially started. So I hope that that was interesting for you and made you think. But today let's dive back in to the Hungry Visa and this is one of 45 plus countries that I have researched for my brand-new digital Nomad Visa database, which you can get instant access to right now by going to digitalnomadbootcamp.com. It's about $1 per country. We've had a great response, people have been loving it, sending me messages that they love it. I'm really happy that you love it because it took me a long time. I got a note from Jeremy today who said, thanks for putting this together, Kristin. Great work seems like a huge headstart for anyone including myself who's doing any sort of relocation research. You're welcome Jeremy. And I am so excited to see which countries will announce digital nomad visas.  

Kristin:    00:09:58    Next we have a few in development right now, Serbia, Latvia, Montenegro, all announcing digital nomad visas South Africa. So I will just keep adding more visas and remote work permits from around the world whenever they become available to you. There's still a few days left to take advantage of the one time introductory rate of nearly 50% off. So to get access now, head on over to digitalnomadbootcamp.com. Use the code: podcast or click on the link in the show notes. So Hungary, this Hungarian White card was announced in January of 2022 and it will allow you to stay in the country for one year with an option to renew for a second year. And Hungary is an interesting one that I wanted to cover on the podcast because it doesn't get talked about a lot online but it really is a great place for remote workers.  

Kristin:    00:11:08    I haven't been there in over a decade and it's changed a lot since then. But Hungary and Budapest specifically, I'm gonna say Budapest instead of Budapest cuz I don't speak Hungarian, but Budapest has become a really popular destination for foreigners and remote workers probably in the past five years or so, maybe eight years because of the central location in Europe, the very low to moderate cost of living. I would say it's around the same cost of living as Poland. It's a little bit more expensive than Eastern Europe but less expensive than Western Europe. And there's more information on the cost of living in my digital nomad visa database. But when it comes to Hungary specifically it, your rent price is really going to define what your cost of living is. So typically you could live there for $1,500 a month or less as a local, but if you're a foreigner, your Airbnb alone might cost $1,500 a month.  

Kristin:    00:12:19    So your cost of living can go up a bit more. But if you apply for the White  Card and you can stay there for a year or two years, then you can really lower your cost of rent and your monthly cost of living. You could rent a one year rental, you could rent an unfurnished rental. You just have a lot more flexibility and more options than just renting off of the vacation rental websites. And because Hungary is part of the Schengen zone, which means you can stay for up to 90 days collectively, depending on where you're from, you may or may not be able to go with just your passport or apply for a Schengen visa. But it's definitely significant to be able to stay in Hungary for up to two years. And this is a place that has been pretty difficult to extend your visa before.  

Kristin:    00:13:18    There haven't been that many options for remote workers. I've had a lot of clients apply for study permits to learn Hungarian, but you do have to go to language school, although hey, it's worth taking language classes anywhere you go because it's better to speak some of the language than none of it. So I was really pleased to see Hungary announce a digital nomad visa and you'll also be happy to learn that on March 7th, Hungary dropped all of its covid related travel restrictions. So that just makes it easier for everyone to go there. No more testing, no quarantining, no vaccination requirement. So this makes Hungary a pretty attractive place for a lot of reasons. The length of stay on the White Card, the low cost of living, the lax covid restrictions, especially in the context of the rest of Europe, it's pretty good. If you are attracted to the European lifestyle in general, then Budapest is a great place because it's very safe, it's very walkable, the food is good, there's so much culture.  

Kristin:    00:14:33    The museums, the operas, the Danube River stunning, there's good nightlife. You've got the summer music festivals, there's a lot of coffee shops and coworking spaces. Now there are actually 42 coworking spaces in Budapest alone listed on coworker.com and there's also really good internet in Hungary, Hungary rinks in the top 10 to 20 countries in the world for internet speeds. So you don't need to worry about finding good wifi. Now regarding the visa itself, it's an individual visa so each person needs to apply separately. There's not a family or couples category, which you'll find in some of the other visas, especially in the Caribbean. Also, Iceland has a couples in family option where you can apply together, but this is on a case by case basis. Like some of the other visas, especially Romania that we covered a couple weeks ago, you do need to show proof that you either work remotely for a foreign entity or that you can work for yourself using internet technology.  

Kristin:    00:15:50    So like pretty much any country with a digital nomad visa, it's not a work permit. You can't go there and work on the ground with the locals, you can't work for a local company, you would need a separate permit for that. This is just permission to stay working on your laptop for one year option to renew for a second year. And unlike Romania, there's no specific number when it comes to the value of your health insurance policy, but you will need a specific number when it comes to your income. So they want to see a minimum income of 2000 euro per month and that's over the past six months before applying. You'll also need to do some planning and have your apartment or housing figured out in advance. They get really specific on this. They have a list of requirements of what your housing needs to meet, but it can be either a rented property or a deed.  

Kristin:    00:16:53    I think most people will be renting, but you do need to show a lease agreement. The property needs to be of a specific size for the number of people living there. And the good news is that Airbnb reservations do count. There's also an application form and they want you to also present a letter committing to leave the country when your visa expires. So if you've ever traveled somewhere on a one-way ticket and then they asked you for a return ticket, this is kind of along the same lines now, you might not have your return ticket if you're planning on leaving two years later. So if you don't have return ticket, you can show proof of sufficient financial means to be able to purchase that ticket. So there is a workaround there. Um, you could also use a plane, uh, a train ticket, a bus ticket, something like that, some commitment that you will leave the country when your visa expires.  

Kristin:    00:17:55    And then if you really like it there and want to stay longer, you can always apply for a different type of permit, work permit or residency permit to stay. The other requirement that's similar to Romania is that they want you to apply in person at a consulate or embassy abroad. So you'll need to also present your documents in person, uh, sit for an interview there and then the processing time is about 30 days and they will give you their answer through the mail. If you don't get approved, there's also an appeals process, but if you do get approved then you need to pick up your white card in Hungary within 30 days from getting approved. So the decision for approval comes in the mail, then you need to travel to Hungary, go in person to the immigration authorities and apply for and receive your white card. 

Kristin:    00:18:57    So you need to bring your documents with you to Hungary to be able to go and pick up your white card and then also carry it with you wherever you go. Another way that you can prove your income is to have a profit share or ownership of a company in a country other than Hungary. So that's good news for all of you passive income nomads out there. And then you might be wondering if you can still travel with the white card and the answer is yes. So holding this white card, you will still be able to travel throughout the Schengen zone, always respecting the that 90 day limit. But like Estonia that has their one year visa, you can keep your home base in Hungary, travel outside of Hungary and then come back in and go back and forth. The cost is also really reasonable.  

Kristin:    00:19:54    It's 110 euro and that will be paid again outside of the country. Like with Romania. I wish that you could just apply online that way. Um, so traveling to a consulate does present an extra cost, you know, an extra travel expense and extra time. But I do think that it's worth it if you're planning to go to either of these countries for at least a year or two years, it's well worth paying a hundred dollars or so. And then getting your documents together, going to the consulate in person for the interview and getting the paperwork to stay because that's a huge difference to go from 90 days total in the Schengen zone, which you could either spend 90 days in Hungary or distribute it throughout the Schengen countries versus being able to stay in Hungary for two years and then you could literally take a bus and go to Czech Republic, to Austria, to Slovenia.  

Kristin:    00:21:00    I mean there's so many places you can go from there without even getting on a plane. So that makes it really easy to get around, take side trips and always have a home base to come back to. Now it's not for you if you are from a European country and the European economic area, the EEA And it's not for you if you can't meet that 2000 euro per month income requirement or if you can't travel to an embassy or consulate. But otherwise, if you're from outside of Europe and you've been looking for a home base in Europe, then this is a really interesting option and I think it's quite competitive with the other European digital nomad visas compared to um, Romania, compared to Croatia. So, and it has a bit more appeal than Croatia because Hungary is a Schengen country, although quite a different lifestyle and quite a different climate.  

Kristin:    00:22:03    There are a few other things on the list that you can find in the Digital Nomad Visa database, like the specifications for your passport photo, getting your fingerprints and collecting some biometric data and a few other details. But in general, even though you can't apply for this visa completely online and you need to go to the consulate, I really like this visa. I think the timeline of one year with an option to extend for two years is quite generous and it's quite valuable and it's a nice home base. I have clients and friends and even one of our podcast guests who's based in Budapest and they've been there for years. So it's a very livable city. Obviously, there are plenty of other smaller towns throughout the country that you could live in as well, but I think Budapest offers the best selection of amenities and culture and the most international population.  

Kristin:    00:23:04    Francis was one of our podcast guests who's based in Budapest and we had an interview with him episode 96 on how to make $10,000 a month as a digital nomad copywriter. So he's still there. He was an English teacher before he became a copywriter and digital nomad. And we talk a bit in that episode about the cost of living and how much he was living on there with his teacher's salary. So if you're on a budget, uh, check it out. As long as you meet, meet that 2000 euro per month requirement, you are good to go. 

So which country are you thinking about applying for a digital nomad visa in? Come on over to the Badass Digital Nomads Facebook group and let us know. And for all the information at a glance on every digital nomad visa in the world, sign up for my brand-new Digital Nomad Visa Database where for $1 per country, you can get all the info you need to compare and contrast whether a country's remote work program is for you. You can get instant access right now at digitalnomadbootcamp.com. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you for 150 episodes of Badass Digital Nomads and see you again next week.