Hungary Entry Restrictions

If you drive in, pretty straight forward. If you want to fly in, really not possible for an American for tourism.

Documents Passport? Passport.

Nice government site. Ukraine does an excellent one too.

Yeah, we were scheduled to fly into Budapest on 9/10, but have cancelled that leg of the trip based on the information I've been able to piece together.

Things may get better ..... or not. I have to be in Budapest this fall (October), so I am flying into Zagreb I think. I have an acquaintance that can handle the transfer to Budapest. For "Travel Documents", a passport unless you are coming from a country from which a Visa is required, then the visa too.

Thanks so much for the detailed information, James.

I'm really considering a trip, thinking it's possible to get into Hungary as you said - in my case, by train. However concerned I might not be able to get out by plane 😂 if turn PCR positive

My plan is to fly from Portugal to Budapest in late Sept. I too read the website in James E.'s post and it is not easy to get a clear understanding.
I will have my US Vaccination Card with me.
I will have the Binax Ag-Card (rapid) test with me that is done virtually with a health professional which is being accepted for re-entry to the US.
I have never tested positive.
Can someone tell if that will be enough to get me there?

Seems straight forward to me; until the law changes, you can not fly in for tourism:

Border crossing of non-Hungarian citizens

Foreign citizens arriving from abroad in passenger traffic – unless otherwise specified by law or government decree – shall not enter Hungary.

The competent local police body located at the place of the planned entry into the territory of Hungary - in case of crossing the border at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport the BRFK XVIII District Police Headquarters – may grant an exemption upon request.

The police authority may allow entry if the applicant proves that the purpose of entry is

participation in a Hungarian court or public authority proceedings and the participation is certified by a document of a Hungarian court or an authority,

receiving health care service, certified by a document issued by the health care institution or by other appropriate document,

meeting study or exam obligations under student status certified by a document which is issued by the educational institution,

taking part in cargo related passenger traffic if the aim of the travel is either to get to the cargo transport’s point of departure, or to get home after carrying out such cargo transport duty, if certified by a document which is issued by the employer,

participation in family events (wedding, funeral, christening),

taking care of a relative pursuant to the Act V of 2013 on Civil Code,

taking part in an international religious event of a special significance;

other justifiable reasons outside that covered by point (a)-(h).

But you can drive in:

You can enter Hungary by road, rail and waterway from Croatia, Austria, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine without any epidemiological restrictions, regardless of your nationality and coronavirus immunity, but you must have other general conditions for entry (e.g. a valid travel document).

(e.g. a valid travel document); seems to confuse some. It means a passport and a visa if you are a citizen of a country that requires a visa.

Earlier this week I heard that Hungary had opened up for U.S. tourists arriving by air as of 8/7/21. All that was supposedly required for entry by air was proof of vaccination and possibly a Covid-19 PCR test taken no later than 72 hours prior to entry. This was told to me by a Budapest travel agency. Does anyone know if this is true?

Lee B.

If you can find where it says that here, go for it;

http://www.police.hu/en/content/information-on-general-rules-of-border-crossing

Lee B - I have received the same information.

James - the last bullet point from top section of police.hu:

who certifies that SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was not detectable in his/her body at the time of the study with a SARS-CoV-2 PCR test in Hungarian or English, which is not older than 72 hours, made in a country according to the 60/2021. (II. 12.) of the Government paragraph 3(2a) a)-i).

To me, it appears that Lee B's information is correct, but I know you've got all the right connections - what do you think?

It was pretty straight forward when they simply said you can not fly in, but you can drive in. You can still drive in, but they complicated the fly in rules. I tried googling some of the decrees mentioned and I got a hit with the University of Pecs. This is what their page says:

Based on a governmental decree effective as of 13 August 2021:
You can enter Hungary without restrictions, regardless of your citizenship, if you:
had COVID-19 in the past 6 months, and you have official proof of the illness and recovery in English or in Hungarian, or
have a negative PCR test result (not older than 72 hours at the time of arrival) from the following countries:
EU member states and/or candidate countries, OECD member states, *NATO member states*, Russian Federation, People's Republic of China, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Bahrein, Members of the Turkic Council (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan)
have a Hungarian immunity card, or
have the EU Digital Covid Certificate, or
have immunity / vaccination card from the following countries:
Albania, Bahrain, Cyprus, Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Georgia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, Russia, Switzerland, Romania

So, you can "apparently" fly in with a PCR test, but your CDC card ain't going to cut it.

Thanks James, that is how I read it too. The tricky part is "which is not older than 72 hours"

Other sites have not been udpated yet, making this very challenging to figure out.

One of the sites had an email for questions. Appears to be "official" so I sent them a pretty detailed question. Lets see if I get an answer.

Thank you James E.!!

I am planning on entering Hungary from Croatia by land. Will I need a negative PCR test too? Or is that only for people flying in to Hungary? Thank you

nj, please read this: http://www.police.hu/en/content/information-on-general-rules-of-border-crossing

I have read all of these and I still don't know if we should cancel our trip to Hungary and we leave in a week. We will be driving into Hungary thru Vienna. There are 4 of us, all vaccinated. It sounds like you can't get in for general tourism though. It that how everyone else reads the police report on border crossings?

I'm not the expert, but what i read says drive on in.

You can enter Hungary by road, rail and waterway from Croatia, Austria, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine without any epidemiological restrictions, regardless of your nationality and coronavirus immunity, but you must have other general conditions for entry (e.g. a valid travel document). The following restrictions apply when entering by air.

Or fly in with the 72 hour covid test. I am driving in from Croatia in October.

James, I read the website you tagged but the more I read it the more confused I get. I’ll be taking a bus in from Croatia to Budapest. It seems like if you drive in you won’t face any restrictions? I recently spoke to someone who took a bud from Croatia and was able to enter the country so I’m hoping this route will work.

nj, The first paragraph is for driving in. The rest is for flights. Its pretty clear and my partner in Budapest reports Americans arriving by land.

James, Thank you for clarifying. Just wanted to make sure I didn’t need a PCR test for the bus ride going into Hungary. Do you know if there is a quarantine mandate when entering by land? Thank you

nj, You can enter Hungary by road, rail and waterway from Croatia, Austria, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine without any epidemiological restrictions, regardless of your nationality and coronavirus immunit

I confirm that I entered Hungary on Aug. 15th driving from Austria at Hegyeshalom without any control. In any case, we had EU green cards but there were no checks. We exited on Aug. 16th from Sopron to Austria, again no checks.

Excellent. I will be crossing in from Croatia in about 2 weeks. Although there are no COVID restrictions for my entry, I'm not so brave so I will have a PCR test, CDC card, a letter from a business associate requiring I come and a letter from a Hungarian tax office demanding my presence. Oh, and a receipt from the clinic that will get me a EU green card (they claim they can, let's see).

James E., you are going to be so well-prepared, the rest of us normal people still won’t know if we can get in! Lol. At least you will know what they do ask for.

I am currently booked to leave Seattle -AMS- BUD Sept 5th. With Delta/KLM I have been digging for days and still confused. Delta says all I need is a PCR test. Hungary says only by car?. KLM says nothing about US allowed in but says anyone from a NATO State.

Passengers holding a negative Covid-19 PCR test issued in any EU, OECD or NATO state, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, or Uzbekistan. The test must be in Hungarian or English.

Anyone been able to get in to Hungary via air lately?

Delta says all I need is a PCR test. Hungary says only by car?.

Please check the official site again, you can now fly in with a PCR test http://www.police.hu/en/content/information-on-general-rules-of-border-crossing

The following categories can enter Hungary without being subject to restrictions:
who certifies that SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was not detectable in his/her body at the time of the study with a SARS-CoV-2 PCR test in Hungarian or English, which is not older than 72 hours, made in a country according to the 60/2021. (II. 12.) of the Government paragraph 3(2a) a)-i).

KLM says nothing about US allowed in but says anyone from a NATO
State.

The US is a NATO State https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_NATO

Passengers holding a negative Covid-19 PCR test issued in any EU, OECD
or NATO state, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, or Uzbekistan. The test must be
in Hungarian or English.

The US is a NATO State https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_NATO

The only catch is that it appears that you can not transfer in a country that is not on their approved list (EU, NATO or the other countries listed above - and I think Ukraine has been added to that list) But I am not certain of that one way or the other.

I had already booked my flight before the change, so I am driving in from Zagreb (about 3 hours and I get to see new places along the way) You are getting there 5 days before me, let me know how it works out.

James... Thanks....I know we are a NATO Country that is why I was assuming I could entry ... I was not able to look up the decrees...listed in Article 3 (2a) of Government Decree No. 60 of 2021 (II. 12.) Which would have helped. Man they make this so confusing.... thank you for clearning this up for me. I traveled last month to France and Italy and it was not a probelm at all with our CDC card everywhere. But I think this is going to be a different beast this time!

Just go with the flow, I am sure it will be fine. Orban is a different bird. He didn't work much with EU, he has done his own thing. As a result they have a fairly high vaccination rate, and achieved it months before anyone else ... to do that he used the Russian vaccine even though the EU said no, and instead of getting the other vaccines through the EU structured program, he bought them on the open market .... again passing off the EU. The result is an open country. The only significant restriction is large assemblies (like theaters) require a EU Green Card or a Hungarian Immunity Card. I think I can get one at a clinic I use. Will find out in about 2 weeks. My friends in Budapest tell me no one checks cards, and life is pretty much normal.

Hi all,
We are in Budapest now. We left the USA on 28 August.
I’m located in the heartland/flyover part of the States and didn’t have any issues. We flew DL through AMS. At my local airport, the Delta gate agent was kind of excited; she didn’t even know where HU is. :). We had a business purpose (although I don’t think this document is required anymore), we have family in Budapest (although we didn’t have to prove that), we had negative Covid tests (showed results) and vaccination cards (showed).

We were issued boarding passes to AMS but not to BUD. That made me nervous, but it turns out that was a glitch between DL and KLM. When we got to AMS, I was able to get the next set of boarding passes issues quickly.

We only needed boarding passes to board AMS-BUD. When we arrived at BUD, we deplaned via jet bridge into the terminal, then down the stairs to a waiting bus outside the terminal. We bussed to the other end of the terminal, walked through a series of hallways and into baggage claim where we collected our bags and walked out the door. Halfway through that long hallway we realized we were the only ones masked, so we removed those. We took the 100E to Deák (no masks) and we’ve been without them ever since.
The only time we showed our vaccination cards or Covid test results was at our departure airport.

Budapest has been quiet up until today. Tourists are arriving for the weekend so it’s getting busy. Also, the city is preparing for the Eucharistic Conference that begins on the 5th.
School started on the 1st.

We aren’t here long- just a week. We went to White Lab in Astoria for our Covid tests that are required for entry into the States.

It’s been a great time. We got to see several friends and family. Some of our favorite places are still closed or have reduced hours, but everyone seems happy to have business.

Christy, thanks for the post... we leave in a couple days and I have been scanning things often to see if anything has changed. Your detailed report is super helpful.

We’re heading back to the States today. Our covid test results were delivered via email. I made a screen shot, save it to my phone, and that was all that was needed at the check in desk.

I am happy people are getting in and out and having a good time. Things seem to be picking up as my short term rentals are starting to rent again. Looks like things are struggling back to normal. I am going to Budapest on Friday for my annual physical, dentist, audiologist and to update my tax account before I get into trouble. Unfortunately bad timing so its just for the week. Then if things continue as they have been I will return; maybe November......

Hello,
My big question is, how do I get PCR test in the Chicago area that will come back in time.

I leave for Budapest on Oct 6 so I thought I would give the PCR test a try this week just to see if things get back to me in time.
United Airlines says that the earliest I can take the test is 6 AM on a Monday for a Wed afternoon flight.
So this Monday I went a took the test at 12 noon...... as of this Wednesday at 3:30 my results have still not come back.
If this had been the actual week that I need to fly I would be in trouble.

So what is the trick to getting results back in 48 hours...... instead of 72 hours which makes them void before you can even use them?

I had no problem finding a lab in little San Antonio Texas that guaranteed tested before 11am, results by 5pm.

https://alcdx.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-Pn3qLWT8wIVUW1vBB0xFwz8EAAYASAAEgJNBvD_BwE