On applying for travel documents and official certificates for refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection

2. Information for refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection

a.)    Application for a travel document

A person with refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection status may submit his/her application for a travel document at the client service office of the competent regional directorate of his/her choice as per his/her place of domicile registered or valid place of residence, or in the absence of a place of domicile, in case of a place located within Budapest and Pest county, at the client service office of the Asylum Directorate. Application form _1 Application form_2

The bilingual travel document of persons recognised as a refugee or as a beneficiary of subsidiary protection is valid for one year from the date of issuance.

On its own, in contrast to the personal identification card of Hungarian nationals, the personal identification card of a person recognised as a refugee or as a beneficiary of subsidiary protection does not entitle its holder to travel abroad (nor does it entitle its holder to cross borders within the European Union).

Deadline of procedural administration for the issuance of a travel document is 20 days.

The amount of fee is HUF 2,500 for persons with refugee status, and HUF 3,000 for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection.

Requirements for submitting an application:

-       a valid personal identification card and official document certifying residential address (i.e., ‘lakcímkártya’) (in case of an application for an official certificate on personal identification and residential data)

– a previous passport which is still valid, if the applicant is a holder of such a passport; if the applicant cannot present his/her previous travel document which has not expired, (s)he must make a declaration on its whereabouts or on its theft, loss or destruction,

– a record of the report if the previous unexpired passport of the client was stolen and has been subsequently reported to the police.

If you cannot present your previous travel document which has expired, you must make a declaration on its whereabouts or on its theft, loss or destruction. In case your previous travel document has not expired but you are unable to present it, in addition to making a declaration on its whereabouts or on its theft, loss or destruction, you will be required to pay a double fee (i.e., HUF 5,000 for refugees and HUF 6,000 for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection).

-          a “Cash Transfer Order” (yellow cheque) on payment of the procedural fee,

-          a colour 35 mm x 45 mm front view ID photo of the client, which was taken not more than 6 months ago.

The application must be submitted in person. An authorised person may act on his/her behalf for the purpose of submission, if the applicant cannot appear in person before the authority due to his/her state of health and this is certified in writing by his/her treating doctor.

A legal representative shall act on behalf of a client of minor age or under guardianship.

When submitting the application, the applicant of minor age or under guardianship applicant is required to appear in person before the authority as well, unless

– (s)he is under the age of 12,

– the applicant cannot appear in person before the authority due to his/her state of health and this is certified in writing by his/her treating doctor.

When submitting the application, both parents of the applicant are required to be present.

Application for an official certificate on educational attainment

Application for an official certificate on holding a specific status

Application for an official certificate on the absence of (a) document(s)

Application for an official certificate on marital status

The physical presence of one parent (legal representative) is sufficient if the other parent (legal representative) has already given his/her consent to the issuance of the passport in a declaration made before a notary, a district office (district office of the capital) acting within the child protection and guardianship functions of government offices of the capital and county, a consular officer, a passport authority, the head of the district office or the head of the prison service institution, or in a private document with full probative force, and where his/her consent is attested by a document. In this case, presenting this document before the authority is sufficient. The physical presence of only one of the parents is also sufficient if the consent of the other parent was given by the other parent via electronic means of communication. It is important to note that the declaration of consent may be taken into account for a period of 15 days from the date on which it was made.

A decision appointing guardianship or a certificate by the guardian appointed on behalf of the institution attesting the existence of guardianship of the institution is required in case of applicants who are under guardianship.

An application shall not be submitted abroad.

The following persons shall not travel abroad:

– a person who is under arrest, arrest for extradition purposes, provisional arrest for extradition purposes, arrest for surrender purposes, provisional arrest for surrender purposes, provisional executory arrest, or under provisional coercive medical treatment, provisional criminal supervision for surrender purposes or provisional criminal supervision for extradition purposes,

– a person who is under criminal supervision where the court has ordered him/her not to leave a specific area, dwelling, other premises, institution or a fenced place attached to it without permission,

– a person who was sentenced to a custodial sentence to be served, or whose suspended or partially suspended custodial sentence was subsequently ordered to be served, from the date on which the sentence becomes final

– until the last day of the enforcement of the custodial sentence, or

– until the custodial sentence ceases to be enforceable

– a person who was ordered by the court to undergo coercive medical treatment, from the date the judgment becomes final until the end of the time period of the coercive medical treatment,

– a person who was ordered by a court to be placed in a correctional education establishment, from the date on which the judgment becomes final until the end of the period of placement in the correctional education establishment or the period of temporary release from the correctional establishment, or

– a person who was prohibited from leaving Hungary and required to surrender his travel document under Act CLXXX of 2012 on Cooperation with Member States of the European Union in Criminal Law Affairs.

In the abovementioned cases, the passport authority will refuse the application for a passport.

b.)   Applying for an official certificate (’hatósági bizonyítvány’)

Upon application of the client, the asylum authority shall issue an official certificate, indicating the purpose of its use, for the purpose of attestation of data.

An application for an official certificate can be submitted in person before the asylum authority (or the competent regional directorate as per the applicant's place of domicile). The applicant can authorise a person to act on his/her behalf for this purpose as well. It is also possible to submit the respective application by means of secure electronic communication.

When submitting the application, the applicant must indicate the purpose for which the official certificate is to be used.

The asylum authority shall issue the official certificate within 10 days of receipt of the application.

If the applicant requests certification of false data or data that is not available to the Asylum Authority, the Asylum Authority shall refuse the issuance of the requested certificate.

The procedure is free of any charges or fees.