Statement on the Acquisition of Citizenship

When can I acquire or reacquire Hungarian citizenship by a statement?

• Hungarian citizenship may be reacquired regardless of your place of residence if your Hungarian citizenship was lost for any of the following reasons:

1. you were deprived of your Hungarian citizenship by virtue of Act X of 1947 and Act XXVI of 1948, of Act LX of 1948 on Hungarian Citizenship or of Act V of 1957 on Citizenship;
2. your Hungarian citizenship ceased by expatriation between September 15, 1947 and May 2, 1990;
3. you were a person obliged to resettle in Germany.

• You can acquire Hungarian citizenship regardless of your place of residence by a statement if you were born to a Hungarian citizen mother and a foreign father before October 1, 1957, and you did not acquire Hungarian citizenship by birth by virtue of the legislation in force at the time of your birth.

• If you are a stateless person, you can acquire Hungarian citizenship if you were born in Hungary to foreign parents, and you did not acquire your parents' citizenship, on the condition that your parents were residing in Hungary at the time of birth. The statement may be made before the age of 19, if you have been residing in Hungary for at least 5 years before. If you are a stateless person but do not fulfill these conditions, you may apply for naturalization.

Where can I make a statement?

Citizenship applications may only be submitted in person. Mailed-in applications will be sent back without further consideration.

The application of a minor who is at least 14 years of age has to be signed by both the minor and his or her parent, therefore both have to be present in person. Parents act on behalf of younger children, therefore the child's presence is not necessary.

The application may be submitted in Ottawa, in Toronto, in Montreal, in Vancouver or during extramural consular days, but cannot be submitted at a honorary consulate.

How much is the fee?

The citizenship application itself is free of charge. Information on the fees for vital statistics registration requests and an acknowledgement of paternity submitted alongside your citizenship application is available here. 

All consular fees are payable by debit/credit card only. We do not accept either cash or cheques.

What form shall I use?

Fill in one of the following:

What other documents shall I submit?

• in case of expatriation, an expatriation certificate ("elbocsátási okirat")
• documents that prove your stateless status
• for persons born to a Hungarian citizen mother and a foreign father before October 1, 1957, the parents' marriage certificate.

Why is my family status relevant?

Hungarian law foresees that all vital statistics events of a Hungarian citizen (birth, marriage, divorce, death) is registered in Hungary. Without this registration your Hungarian citizenship cannot be verified and you cannot get a Hungarian passport either.

a) What shall I do if my family status is single (never married)?

If you were born in Hungary or your birth has already been registered in Hungary, you will just have to attach your Hungarian-issued birth certificate.

If you were not born in Hungary or you do not have a Hungarian-issued birth certificate, please fill this form out. This English translation will help you in doing that. 

• Please fill the form out with a computer or by a blue ink pen, with block capitals.
• Please use full names in the Hungarian order, e.g. Smith John Thomas  instead of John Smith or John T. Smith.
• When asked about the delivery of the birth certificate, please tick option a) (delivery to a foreign representation) and specify "Ottawa". We will send your certificate to the Canadian address you specify.

Attach the following documents:

• Your birth certificate. Not all Canadian birth certificates are accepted! Please refer to the list found here.
• Your parents' marriage certificate. Not all Canadian marriage certificates are accepted! Please refer to the list found here.
• If you were not born from wedlock, the acknowledgement of paternity will be necessary.
• The copy of the document proving the citizenship of your non-Hungarian parent, e.g. a passport or a citizenship certificate.

b) What shall I do if my family status is married?

Please refer to point a) to see whether your birth has to be registered in Hungary.

If you were married in Hungary or your marriage has already been registered in Hungary, you will just have to attach your Hungarian-issued marriage certificate.

If you were not married in Hungary or you do not have a Hungarian-issued marriage certificate, please fill out this form. This English translation will help you in doing that.

• Please fill the form out with a computer or by a blue ink pen, with block capitals.
• Please use full names in the Hungarian name order, e.g. Smith John Thomas instead of John Smith or John T. Smith.
• When asked about the delivery of the birth certificate, please tick option a) (delivery to a foreign representation) and specify "Ottawa". We will send your certificate to the Canadian address you specify.

Attach the following documents:

• Your marriage certificate. Not all Canadian marriage certificates are accepted! Please refer to the list found here.
• The copy of the document proving the citizenship of your non-Hungarian parent, e.g. a passport or a citizenship certificate.
• If the bride's or the groom's family status at the time of the marriage was divorced or widow, submit the Hungarian-issued or foreign marriage or death certificate or court decree. Not all Canadian marriage and death certificates are accepted! Please refer to the list found here. You will need a document from the Canadian provincial superior court which dissolved the marriage specifying the exact date on which the divorce took effect. These are usually called divorce certificates or absolute decrees.

c) What shall I do if my family status is divorced?

Please refer to points a) and b) to see whether your birth and/or your dissolved marriage have to be first registered in Hungary.

If the divorce was pronounced by a Hungarian court, or if your Hungarian-issued birth certificate has a remark saying that the marriage was dissolved by a foreign court, just attach the marriage certificate.

If you do not have such marriage certificate, please fill this form out.

Attach a document from the Canadian provincial superior court which dissolved the marriage specifying the exact date on which the divorce took effect. These are usually called divorce certificates or absolute decrees. If you were not divorced in Canada, please inquire in an email sent to consulate.ott@mfa.gov.hu to see if you will need to obtain an Apostille or diplomatic legalization or have the divorce decree translated to Hungarian by an official translator.

d) What shall I do if my family status is widow?

Please refer to points a) and b) to see whether your birth and/or your marriage, which was dissolved by the death of your spouse, have to be first registered in Hungary.

If your spouse was a Hungarian citizen, please submit his or her Hungarian-issued death certificate. If you do not have one, please have the death registered in Hungary.

If your spouse was not a Hungarian citizen, please submit his or her death certificate. Please refer to the list of acceptable death certificates, found here.  

Which Hungarian authorities are the ones responsible, where can I get more information?

Budapest Főváros Kormányhivatala (Budapest Metropolitan Government Office) is responsible for citizenship applications the vital statistics registration.

Forms