Hungarian citizens can exercise their right to travel abroad primarily with a valid passport or ID card. Some countries may require the travel document to be valid for a specified period of time after entry.
The following information is for those whose Hungarian passport or ID card has become unsuitable for proof of identity, has been damaged, expired, lost or stolen but they urgently need to travel back to Hungary or the country of their habitual residence.
The fastest way of obtaining a travel document:
1. If you have another valid travel document in Hungary or in the country of your usual place of residence, you could have it sent to you by your family or friends.
You can travel from the UK to the European Union, including Hungary, with a valid Hungarian ID card.
2. Through the Client Portal, using Webes Ügysegéd, you can immediately report the loss or damage of the passport and request the replacement of the document.
To be able to request the replacement of a passport electronically, you must have given consent for your fingerprints to be stored when you applied for the previous document.
The new document is issued with the same data, photo and the expiry date of the original passport but its number and the date of issue will differ.
The replacement of the passport can only be requested online by clicking here:
Request for the replacement of a passport.
3. You book an appointment to submit an application for a new passport or ID card to the consular office in the UK that is the closest to your place of residence without any delay.
In case you do not wish to submit your application for a travel document in London, you may choose any of the other options available on the British Isles (you can get directly to their websites by clicking on the relevant city names):
If you apply for a regular travel document at the Consular Office in London, carefully read the contents of the sections „Passport application” or „ID card application”.
Should there be lack of time for the above, you may be eligible to be issued a emergency/temporary passport which entitles you to a one-time entry to Hungary or into the territory of your country of habitual residence. The passport becomes invalid after entry and is not suitable for onward travel. The emergency/temporary passport must be handed in within 5 working days at a [központi okmányirodában vagy valamely járási hivatalnál] or a foreign mission abroad.
The issuance of the emergency/temporary passport is not based on whether the ticket for the desired trip has already been purchased or not.
Characteristics of the temporary passport: it contains a signature, a photograph but does contain fingerprints.
Application for an emergency/temporary passport is subject to general rules in the appropriate age limit menu of „Passport application” with the following exceptions.
A Hungarian citizen may apply for an emergency/temporary passport if they only travelled to the United Kingdom for a short period of time (e.g. for tourism) but for some reason were left without a travel document and due to lack of time, they are unable to obtain a permanent passport or ID card.
A Hungarian citizen living (resident) in the United Kingdom may submit an application for an emergency/temporary passport only in cases deserving special consideration, which are as follows:
- there has been a sudden change in their life situation due to which they wish to return to Hungary permanently and are unable to wait for the completion of a regular passport or ID card application, or
- the urgency of their trip to Hungary is justified by the death (funeral) of a close relative, or by a court order.
If the above does not apply to the Hungarian citizen living in the United Kingdom, they must apply for a permanent passport or ID card.
If their previous passport has already expired, referring to tickets that have already been purchased does not justify the need for an emergency/temporary passport if the applicant has not previously attempted to apply for a permanent passport or ID card.
In addition to the documents listed in the relevant age group sections of „Passport application”, it is also necessary to submit:
- Documents supporting the reason of the urgency of the trip to Hungary, e.g. a tourist’s round-trip plane, bus, ferry or Channel tunnel ticket.
- If the birth of the child has not been registered in Hungary, the detailed British birth certificate containing the names of both parents.
When applying for a temporary passport, the relevant form has to be filled out in advance. You must use a blue ink pen for filling it out, signing it and dating/putting a date on it.
The form can be downloaded from here.
Should the parents submit an application for their child together, by signing the application form they confirm giving consent for the issuance of the passport for the child.
In case such an application for a minor is submitted by one of the parents on their own, they shall proceed according to the section of “Application for passports” relevant to the particular age group (e.g. attaching the form of parental consent in case of the parents cannot be present at the time of the application).
When submitting an application for a temporary passport for a minor or a person under guardianship, the consent of the parents (legal guardians) does not need to be provided if the valid passport or ID card of the minor (the person under guardianship) is damaged to an extent where it cannot be used for identification, is lost or has been stolen. Should this be the case, the validity of the emergency/temporary passport to be issued must not exceed the validity of the previous passport.
The application form must be filled out and signed using the name that is registered in the Hungarian databases and in accordance with the Hungarian [naming rules and regulations] (1. surname, 2. given name(s)). The signature shall remain within the given frame without touching it at all.
In case your passport or ID card is destroyed, lost or has been stolen, you shall proceed as described in the section “Report of stolen or lost passport/ID” (submitting a report to the British police and also reporting the occurrence to the relevant Hungarian authorities). The latter report can be submitted together with the application for the temporary passport, but may also be submitted beforehand, even using online government services.
Issuing a temporary passport involves a consular administration fee payable by debit card at the Consular Office in London.
In the case of citizens in trouble abroad applications are assessed and temporary passports are issued by the consul on the same day. In other cases the procedure takes 8 days if the application and its annexes are complete and the facts are clear.
The consul will issue the temporary passport with a validity expiring no later than 5 days after the intended day of travel proven by the already purchased travel ticket.
In case you are not able to collect the document in person, it will be posted to you – for this, you will need to bring along an addressed and stamped (“Special Delivery”) envelope. If you fail to do so, an additional fee for the postage shall be paid.
All appointments for temporary passports are allocated strictly after contacting us via e-mail beforehand. For the appointment to be approved, your email must contain all supporting circumstances and any documents and evidence proving the urgency of your travel.
The duration of the appointment is 15-25 minutes.
We aimed to summarise the steps of the process of the collection of the new documents while paying particular attention to answering the most frequently asked questions. Should the information provided not be relevant to your case, please be so kind and get in touch with us via email.
