If you are planning to bring a large number of workers to work on a project in Hungary, you might be able to apply for their work permits in a preferential procedure with reduced processing time. Read on to learn about “guest worker residency”, and its pros and cons compared to a regular work permit.
What is guest worker residency?
The guest worker residence permit is a new type of Hungarian work permit introduced in 2024. It offers reduced processing times as its most visible benefit, while you will be required to work with a labor rental agency.
For a fee, the agency will take care of all the administrative tasks, so you can keep your focus on the job ahead. These tasks include both the work permit applications and the ongoing HR related tasks in Hungary. Not every labor rental agency can do this, only those with a special license.
Are your workers eligible for guest worker residency?
Guest worker residency is available to your workers if they come from specific countries and you need them in specific jobs.
1. Country of origin
Only nationals of the below countries are eligible:
- Brazil
- Colombia
- Georgia
- Indonesia
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Mongolia
- The Philippines
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
2. Position
Guest worker residency is only available for certain jobs. You will not find a list of the available jobs, however; instead, there is an exclusion list of positions that are not available to guest workers. The official exclusion list is in Hungarian, but you can check what they cover based on their FEOR codes.
Pros and Cons of guest worker residency
In the summary table below, you can get a quick overview of the differences between employing workers as guest worker residents through a labor rental agency, or employing workers with a “regular” residence permit issued for employment at your own Hungarian company. Below the table, we discuss the two options in detail.
Please note: there are various kinds of residence permits that let third-country nationals work in Hungary. Here we consider only the guest worker residency and the residence permit for employment, since these are the most relevant when you are bringing many workers to Hungary. For other residency options, see our overview here.
| Permit type | Guest worker residency | Residence permit for employment |
| Employer | The labor rental agency | Your Hungarian company |
| Who takes care of residency applications? | The labor rental agency | Your Hungarian company (may be outsourced to Helpers) |
| Who will take care of HR administration? | The labor rental agency | Your Hungarian company (may be outsourced to Helpers) |
| Salaries paid by | The labor rental agency | Your Hungarian company |
| Application procedure | First it is enough to submit the number of people you want to bring, so if you need to replace someone, you can find another candidate instead | If you need to replace an employee, you need to start again |
| Processing time (Immigration Office) | 21 days | 70 days |
| Validity | Max. 3 years total (with renewal), then they can apply for a new permit in Hungary | Max. 3 years total (with renewal), then they can apply for a new permit in Hungary |
| Costs | Higher ongoing costs, so more costly in the long run due to labor rental management costs | More initial costs, lower ongoing costs, so initial costs may be recovered in the long run |
In both cases, the workers will perform their jobs at your premises with your tools. The main difference is in who is responsible for the relevant administration.
In both cases, the residence permit will be valid for 2 years, and can be renewed for another year. Before it expires, the worker can apply for a new permit in Hungary, without going back to their home country.
Working with a labor rental agency, you outsource most of your responsibilities, including actually taking care of the work permit applications. If you decide against a labor rental agency, you can still outsource the administration of the work permit applications and many of the HR related tasks to an agency such as Helpers, while retaining more direct control over the costs and the procedures.
Pros and cons of labor rental
When you employ workers through a labor rental agency, you will have less control over the process, but you will also have fewer responsibilities. In turn, your costs might run higher.
Pros
- The labor rental agency will be the official employer of your workers
- They will take care of the guest worker residency applications
- They will take care of ongoing administration (payroll, on-boarding, off-boarding, sick leave, holidays, medical checkups, HSE trainings)
- Shorter processing time (officially 28 days – in reality it may be more)
- At first, it is enough to submit the number of people you want to bring to Hungary. If you need to replace one of the workers, you can simply find another candidate instead.
Cons
- You have less direct control over your workers, since you will not be the employer. Any issues must be discussed with the actual employer, the labor rental agency.
- Costs are higher in the long run, since you will have to pay the labor rental agency a fee.
Pros and cons of the regular work permit
If you employ workers though your own Hungarian company, you will have more control as well as more responsibilities.
Pros
- As the official employer, you will have more direct control over your workers. If there is an HR related issue, you can take care of it in-house.
- Initial costs may be higher, but they will probably be recovered over time since you are not paying an ongoing intermediary
Cons
- You will need to take care of residency applications yourself (although you can outsource them to a provider like Helpers)
- You will need to take care of ongoing administration yourself (payroll, on-boarding, off-boarding, sick leave, holidays, medical checkups, HSE trainings – although you can outsource them to a provider like Helpers)
- Longer processing times (officially 70 days – in reality it may be more)
- If you want to replace one of the workers during the application procedure, you will have to start the process for the new person from scratch
Which option is better for your Hungarian enterprise?
There are several factors that can influence which option might make more sense for your Hungarian operation. With our 20 years of experience and 20+ professionals, we would be happy to offer our assistance in evaluating your options and making the right decision. We can provide services related to both regular work permit and guest worker residency applications, while we can also connect you to a labor rental agency that will take care of everything for you.
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