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moving with wife & kids to Koszeg

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Flyinryan
  6/13/2016 09:45 EST

Hello,
My family (wife is Hungarian) will be moving to Koszeg in about a year and a half or so and we are busy in the USA preparing for the big move. I have a Masters degree in Counseling Psych. and a certificate for TESOL/TEFL as well. *I know about 200 words in Hungarian but do not speak the lang.
I was wondering how quickly I could receive my permanent residency card so I can work. My wife is Hungarian so I am assuming it will not be a long process. The sticky part is that I hear you cannot get this process approved BEFORE you leave but must apply in person in the town to start the process. Does anyone have experience with this? Does anyone want to chime in about living in and around Koszeg with kids, job prospects and healthcare in general, purchsaing a home I have a pretty good idea about the aforementioned topics but would love to get some opinions from people who are living there. Positives and negatives appreciated!
Tx

peddington
  6/13/2016 12:04 EST

Having someone close that speaks the language is definitely an advantage. I'm going to assume that you moving to Koszeg (sounds like "stone-nail") because of relatives of her's, It is in Vas (iron) county so you should apply for all your immigration stuff in that county. Since you are right on the Austrian border you are about as west as you can get. You will find the application process fairly simple and kind of quick but that is where the "easy" ends. Everything else is fairly bureaucratic and it takes some used to, Hungarians carry a number of documents of which you will be required to carry three. The residency permit, address card and your passport (although I often leave the latter at home). The Hungarian embassy can be some help at home although most of your work will be here. Your 90 day visa free time is more than enough time to do everything. Two things however is a must: 1, Prove that you can sustain yourself and family and 2, Have health insurance. Both is a requirement for extended stay/residency. They may or may not ask for a "police clearance" from home. Hope this helps. Good luck!

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capttamas
  6/13/2016 13:26 EST

Call a Hungarian consulate in the US first.Don't wait!

Flyinryan
  6/13/2016 18:33 EST

Thanks for the speedy reply Peddington. I still have a lot of questions so hopefully they can be answered over time. I have the income and health insurance part covered for a year. Do you know how I can find out if there are any expats around Szombathely or Sopron that I can address some questions to?
Thanks!
Ryan

Flyinryan
  6/13/2016 18:39 EST

We have already done that but they are not helpful with me as I can only apply for the resident card when I am there. They have sent several links with pages upon page of info. that I have read but need to collect docs and fill out the forms with fees. I am more interested in job prospects maybe with multinational companies. I have contacts for teaching ESL but in general just wanted to hear peoples opinions on just about anything from food prices, where to get supplies as I love to cook, to recreational activities (skiing hiking kayaking etc., crime rate etc.

Grazka
  6/14/2016 00:52 EST

Hi ,
I was living in Sopron for a 2.5 years....maybe I can answer some of your questions.
Grazka

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borschelrh
  6/14/2016 00:54 EST

I am also an American but we retired here with a substantial income so the process was "better". The forms all have to be done here and through your regional immigration office. You may qualify for an easier process but I doubt it. Being from a "third" country like the US makes it harder and not having direct lineage to a Hungarian doesn't help. You are going to need Permanent Residence (to register a car or get employment) and we received this a year ago. It is not easy and requires a lot of documentation. If you think about it, this is what we are supposed to be making every immigrant in the US do as well so now you will experience it as an immigrant in another country. The most important things are copies for everyone of passports, birth certificates, marriage certificate, divorces if you have them, 6 months of bank statements, proof of medical insurance, and police background check. Every one of these must be translated through the "offficial" translation service in your area which charges by letter. It is expensive, very expensive and ours cost over $1000.

As for employment you will need to obtain a tax ID once you get your residence permit and local address card through your local mayor office. None of this is easy or quick, especially since the flood of refugees. Hungary has something like 150 immigration agents in the country in 15 offices plus the central office in Budapest so nothing moves quickly.

I cannot adequately address employment as I don't nor do I want to work here in Hungary. I do know it is tough. If you you have an "in" with a company or find a job in Austria (no clue what the requirements are but I believe if you have Permanent Residence in Hungary you are okay to work in other EU countries), you will be competing with Hungarians for work. This is a poor country and salaries are very low. Typically, I know a lot of locals making 400 HUF an hour which is typical here and we live in a relatively rich city of Balatonfured. My cleaning lady also is a full time employee at a local CO-OP and makes 2,500 HUF (~$9) for a 6 hour day. I have a PhD and looked into teaching at the local University and found a professor's salary is roughly $1,200 a month which is the same as a physician here. I didn't pursue it but they came to me which is why I know about it. The people I know who are doing well have private businesses or are "connected" through the FIDEZ party, and there are opportunities for that but you have to have permission to work first and some seed capital to get started. There are a lot of reasons so many Hungarians are fleeing to Europe to find work and these are the reasons that the Brits want to leave the EU as the jobs are going to Eastern Europeans willing to work for much less. Sounds familiar?

Things to consider are that food and living here are a lot less expensive than in the US but other things like gasoline/diesel, electricity, water, and gas are way higher (5 times more). There is no property tax or death tax here which is a good thing.

We love living here but are not attempting to work. Being retired is great and we are more than tolerated as we spend quite a bit of money in the local economy here. I don't want to discourage you but it is kind of like an American moving to Mexico to live and/or work. If I were serious about trying to earn a living the IT industry here is very primitive but they are eager to grow it. Professional services is another area such as accounting or business management. There are niche things like hazardous waste disposal, etc. which are in demand. There are a ton of mines and factories closed by the IMF/World Bank when Hungary left the Soviets which could be re-opened should someone want to assist them in bringing them up to standards for ISO2000. Personally, I would go into editing scientific papers on line as that is what I am able to do well and there is a huge demand, mostly from the Chinese but also here in Europe for English speaking writers who can edit bad English into good English at a high level.

peddington
  6/14/2016 03:31 EST

Unfortunately do not know of any expats in those areas unless some will reply to you on this or similar site. I would suggest contacting something like the chamber of commerce but i don't think Hungarians have anything similar. Sopron however is a sort of cultural center so there maybe some expats there. Keep searching the internet and maybe put up an ad in Hungarian and English. I don't know everything but if you have further questions I can try to help...

peddington
  6/15/2016 03:48 EST

Indeed "Bor" makes two great points I want to comment on. 1. If you have a lot of money (according to my info at least 300,000 euro or so) you can get "residency consideration" due to the economic impact. 2. IT skill plus language skills combined are indeed in demand in Hungary. Also working for NATO here in Hungary can get you between 3,000-5,000 plus euro but it is though to be considered (they do have a thing against Americans in my opinion).

borschelrh
  6/15/2016 06:46 EST

I am not sure about what the level of assets are required as we brought well over that and only got a 5 year Visa then we had to apply for the Permanent Residence after 5 years. Our assets are way over the 300k and we weren't offered any special deals. I think there is a program for Chinese to lend the money to the government, exactly like the Australians do but I don't know the amount. Australia requires $750k as deposit or investment plus $65k a year income. Hungary is probably similar as this seems to be relatively consistent.

There is a "NATO" base in Papa which has GS jobs. There are only Americans working there and it now has in addition to 2 C-17 "Hungarian flagged" aircraft a wing of A-10 attack jets were added recently on a "temporary" basis to defend Europe from Russian aggression ( tongue in cheek). I believe an Armor Brigade is also coming soon to Hajmasker as there is a lot of renovation going on there which can only be paid for by the US. But, these bases are some distance for you to commute to. Papa would be closer though. So, there should be US government jobs available for contracting, logistics, etc. Boeing also has a lot of Americans working at Papa as contractors. I believe there are no non-Americans at all working on this non-US (NATO) base.

Michael1967
  9/16/2016 09:47 EST

Does anyone know of a private medical plan for a family of 3.that is reasonable in price,closest I found was Swiss clinic 1,500 had a year.anuthing more affordable to include hospital coverage.

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peddington
  9/17/2016 05:34 EST

The $1,500 a year sounds very reasonable if the Hungarians accept it (and I don't see a reason why they wouldn't). CIGNA heavily advertise but I think from the quotes I got that yours would be twice the amount you mentioned.

Michael1967
  9/17/2016 11:09 EST

I spoke with the Hungary embassy ,I had conflicting stories.one says hospitalization is needed to be a resident.i thought just having Swiss clinic gold package was enough for coverage.do you have to pay for hospital thru an international insurance plan

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