Relevant regulations only permit entry to Hungary for foreign citizens under certain conditions.

Relevant regulations only permit entry to Hungary for foreign citizens under certain conditions. Foreign citizens who have a permanent Hungarian residence permit or one that is valid for more than 90 days (in the case of the former, family members may enter as well) are exempted from the regulations prohibiting entry, along with athletes and sports specialists working here, the employees of cultural institutions in Hungary, freight forwarders undertaking goods traffic, persons participating in official visits, everyone who is able to attest that they overcame the COVID-19 disease during the last six months and those who hold a Hungarian immunity certificate, or an immunity certificate issued by Serbia or Montenegro. 

Non-Hungarian citizens who are traveling to Hungary to perform some business or economic activity, arriving from the member states of the European Union or of the European Economic Area (EEA), or, based on an international treaty, from a country of the same status as EEA member states from the perspective of the free movement and residence of persons and are able to credibly attest this during entry are also exempted, and may enter Hungary without restrictions.

Additionally, foreign citizens may also enter the country without restrictions if they are the citizens of one of the following countries, or are entitled to reside in one of the countries listed below for more than 90 days, and can attest credibly that they are entering the country for business reasons: United States of America, China, Russia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, the Ukraine, Singapore, Bahrein and the United Arab Emirates.

Non-Hungarian citizens arriving for international sports events or cultural events may also enter Hungary without restriction if they possess a negative PCR test result performed within 3 days prior to entry and an authentic ticket for the event in question, are able to present these upon entry, and agree to undergo medical screening, which does not show any suspicion of infection. Such foreign citizens are obliged to leave the country within 72 hours of entry.

Additionally, the Police may grant an exemption from the prohibition to enter on a case by case basis for foreign citizens who are students studying in Hungary or are participating in family events. Foreign citizens may also enter with authority permission if they are arriving to care for a family member, participating in a sports, cultural or church event, or have some other reasonable grounds to enter. Individual leniency applications can be submitted to the Budapest District XVIII Police Command at the following link: https://ugyintezes.police.hu/web/guest/uj-ugy-inditasa/

Upon entry, foreign citizens are obliged to enter authority home quarantine for 10 days from the date of entry. They may be exempted from such quarantine if they attest with a document containing the results of two SARS-CoV-2 tests (molecular biology examination in compliance with professional medical practice) performed in Hungary at two different times with at least 48 hours between them that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was not detected in their body at the time of the tests. However, it is also acceptable if the first of the two tests is performed in one of the Schengen countries, the United States of America or Canada.

In the case of families traveling together, if at least one of the parties is a Hungarian citizen, the foreign family member (child, parent, grandparent, husband or wife) is permitted to enter Hungary.

Rules on transiting

Pursuant to government decree no. 408/2020 (VIII. 30.) on travel restrictions during the pandemic preparedness period, non-Hungarian citizens arriving from abroad in passenger traffic may enter Hungary for the purpose of transiting if they subject themselves to medical examination on entry, and the medical examination does not establish the suspicion of COVID-19 infection.

As additional pre-requisites for entry, non-Hungarian citizens arriving from other countries shall fulfil the conditions of entry prescribed in the Schengen Borders Code, credibly prove the purpose of their travel and the destination country and ensure that they are allowed to enter the destination country (and, to that end, the next country en route to the destination country from Hungary).
 

Document check upon entry

All persons entering Hungary at Ferenc Liszt International Airport (including the citizens of Schengen countries) are obliged to undergo a mandatory document check and body temperature measurement and, if necessary, additional medical checks. The decision on entering the country is made by authority personnel on site, based on the conditions defined in the relevant decrees.

Document checks and data recording is carried out by the Airport Police Directorate. Since, pursuant to the strict regulations on entering the country, passengers need to be questioned in detail and their data needs to be recorded prior to entry, the document control requires more time than previously.

To ensure a seamless entry process, Budapest Airport and the Airport Police Directorate ask passengers to prepare the necessary documents, so that the authorities can make their decision on the quarantine as soon as possible, and can issue the certificate ordering it or on the exemption from it.

Budapest Airport asks all travelers to monitor the travel information issued by their airline and airport’s website for all other relevant information.
 

Passengers waiting in the transit area

Foreign citizens who are not permitted to enter Hungary must wait in the designated transit area until departure. Budapest Airport provides blankets, unlimited Wi-Fi access and, upon request, face masks for such passengers waiting in the transit area.

Airport continues to welcome & launch flights on a continuous basis.

Budapest Airport will continue to welcome and launch flights on a continuous basis. According to the operator’s forecast, the travel restrictions announced by the government and becoming effective from 1 September are expected to have a similar impact on passenger traffic as the measures in force from the middle of March until June.

Numerous airlines have already canceled their flights for the next month since the announcement. We therefore expect the same level of passenger traffic as seen during the earlier restrictions, which could be fewer than 3000 passengers per day, whilst the airport normally handles more than 50 000 travelers daily in September.

For the safety of passengers and staff, Budapest Airport performs disinfectant cleaning at the airport on a continuous basis. In the interest of maintaining 1.5 meter social distancing, it placed floor stickers and prohibitive stickers on every second seat in the transit area. The wearing of face masks is mandatory for all staff in the passenger circulation areas of Terminal 2.

The ventilation system in the building is regularly disinfected, to ensure an appropriate air supply. Fliers have been available at the terminals in five languages since January, providing information on protection against coronavirus. Budapest Airport has placed hand sanitizer dispensers for passengers throughout the building.