Review of permanent residence status in Hungary

Few people know that if someone resides in Hungary with a permanent residence permit, he must meet the conditions of settlement not only when submitting the application, but also during the entire period of the validity of the residence permit, otherwise a so-called status review procedure may be initiated against him, which may even lead to the withdrawal of the permanent residence permit.

There are cases when the OIF, i.e. the immigration police, can revoke the permanent residence permit, but it is not obliged to do so, and there are cases when the OIF just cannot consider the background circumstances and must revoke the permanent residence permit.

The immigration police can (but not obliged) to revoke the residence permit after considering the circumstances, if

• the conditions on which the residence permit was based have changed so significantly to present date that to provide a permit to a foreigner at the present time would be impossible, provided that five years have not yet passed since the resident permit was issued;
• in the case of a residence permit issued with regard to a family relationship, the marriage did not end due to the death of the spouse within three years of receiving the permit, or the foreign citizen’s right to parental custody was terminated, unless the foreign citizen has been in Hungary for four years with a permanent residence permit;
• the foreign citizen has left the territory of Hungary for more than six months.

The immigration police is obliged to withdraw the residence permit without any consideration of the circumstances, – among others – if

• it turns out that the foreigner citizen communicated false information or an untrue fact to the immigration enforcement authority in order to obtain the residence permit;
• in the case of a minor foreign citizen, the immigration police revoked the parents’ residence permit in Hungary,
• if the foreign citizen received the residence permit in view of the marriage with a Hungarian citizen and the Hungarian citizen spouse left the territory of Hungary with the intention of settling abroad,
• if the foreign citizen has been expelled from Hungary or a so called entry- and stay ban has been ordered against him;
• if the foreign citizen himself requests the revocation of the residence permit;
• or, finally, if the foreign citizen threatens Hungary’s public safety or national security.

In such cases, the immigration police issues a decision about the revocation of the permanent residency status of the foreigner. Against this decision an appeal can be submitted and even a judicial review of the final administrative decision can be initiated at court. Based on our experience gained from our clients’ cases, perhaps the most common thing that clients do not pay attention to is that they leave the territory of Hungary for a too long period (more than 6 months) and because of this the immigration police withdraws their residence permit. When a foreigner files an application for the prolongation of his permanent residence status, the full copy of the passport must be attached to the application form. So, the officer of the immigration police can immediately see how many times the foreigner applicant has been abroad in the last three years.