Stipendium Hungaricum & Hungarian Diaspora program

Please follow the simple guide below or for a detailed guide please click on the button.

After entering Hungary with your student visa you must collect your residence permit (or at least initiate your residence permit application) within 30 days of your arrival to Hungary. The university is working continously in collaboration with the National Directorate – General for Aliens Policing to organise and provide you as smooth support as possible in this process. You will be informed about precise options after your personal arrival at the university.

Accommodation Reporting Form (this will be your application for Address Card. The National Directorate – General Aliens has introduced a new type of address card with QR code from 2023. january 1st) You can find this document outside of E153, on the notice board or you will be able to download from the National Directorate – General for Aliens Policing homepage. Please fill it out in keeping with the sample (also available on the bulletin board) and get it signed by the person providing your accommodation (landlord, friend etc.) Important: If the apartment you live in has more than one owner, all owners must sign the accommodation reporting form.

For Stipendium Hungaricum Students proof of insurance can be obtained after the first registration day with the Stipendium Hungaricum Office at the beginning of the semester. Learn more about this under the “Registration at the Stipendium Hungaricum Office” section.

Opening a bank account:

For more information please click on the Info Guide.

Students who enroll in their degree are required to pass a medical exam mandated by the Hungarian Government. Details of this examination will be sent out via email.

Stipendium Hungaricum & Diaspora students are allowed to travel for up to 10 working days without an institutional approval during the semester which includes both the study period, break and examination period. Please remember, absences during the semester add up.

We request, that if the student leaves Hungary for less than 10 working days to send an email to the Stipendium Office informing them about the trip and destination country.

If a student wishes to travel for a period longer than 10 working days an approval must be requested.

After the end of the examination period in each semester and during the summer break students can travel approval free until the next semester and registration in the SH Office.

Failing to meet the reporting obligations when required is a breach of the student’s contract with the university and can result in the termination of the scholarship status.

Trips lasting between 10 working days and 30 calendar days:

Approval to travel between 10 working days and 30 calendar days can only be given in special circumstances, for example in cases of travelling for medical treatments, death in the family, childbirth, etc. An approval can be requested via email and has to include the date of departure and return with a brief explanation for the reason of the trip. The SH Office will aim to process and respond to all requests within 3 working days. During the trip lasting less than 30 calendar days the student’s scholarship status won’t be affected and they will continue to receive the stipend.

Trips lasting longer than 30 calendar days:

Taking part in and taking an exam of the Hungarian as a Foreign Language classes is mandatory for all students in Bachelor, Masters and MBA level who started their studies during or after the 2020/21 academic year.

The university will inform you via email at the beginning of your studies about registration for these classes and how to pick up your free language books.

Please remember the maximum number of absences and the exam requirements outlined by the language program, as not meeting them can affect your stipend according to the following:

If you fail to meet the obligation of passing the Hungarian Language SH I. and Hungarian Language SH II. courses, your Scholarship Allowance will be reduced as given in the SH Scholarship regulations:

Obligations Related to Learning Hungarian as a Foreign Language and Culture (SH Operational Regulations, 10 December 2020.)

A scholarship holder in full-time foreign language bachelor’s and master’s courses (including also one-tier master’s degree) is required to attend the Hungarian as a foreign language and culture course (hereinafter referred to as the Hungarian abbreviation: MID) provided by the host institution in the first year of their studies in the SH Programme.
Should the scholarship holder fail to fulfill its obligation under paragraph 1, the amount of the scholarship fixed in Section III.1.2. b) i) of the Operational

Regulations shall be reduced. Cases and rates of scholarship reduction are detailed in the Implementation Guide.

Stipendium Hungaricum Implementation Regulations (Hungarian version – Translated to English by CUB -, p. 34. III.2.2., 3rd paragraph)

If a scholarship holder does not fulfill his/her obligations regarding class attendance and or the exam requirements their monthly personal expenses allowance of 43.700 HUF will be reduced from the second year of studies according to the following:

Diaspora Scholarship holders studying in foreign language programmes (including all levels of education) are required to attend a Hungarian as a foreign language and culture course provided by the host institution, during their studies pursued under the HDS programme.

Students are required to take and pass a complex language exam in Hungarian preferably before obtaining their degree at the level of education associated with the scholarship holder status, but no later than one year after having obtained the degree. The required level depends on the number of semesters as a scholarship holder. Please see below:

In case a scholarship holder fails to comply with the obligation to learn Hungarian as a foreign language and culture, their scholarship holder status shall be terminated. In case a scholarship holder fails to comply with the obligation to take a language exam, they shall be required to repay the full training and scholarship costs for the degree program they studied in.

As a scholarship holder there are certain regulations you need to adhere to. These regulations and requirements form an integral part of the Stipendium Hungaricum & Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship programs. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the Rights and Obligations of a scholarship holder on the relevant website: Stipendium Hungaricum or Hungarian Diaspora Scholarship.

Some (but not all!) of the most important rules are outlined below.

Regulations about the minimum number of completed credits (only for bachelor and master students):

Regulations about completing the mandatory questionnaire:

Regulations about a passive semester:

For more useful details please follow the Info guide.

TAJ card is the Hungarian State Health Insurance, issued by the National Healht Fund of Hungary. The SH/DSP Office assists students with the application process and hands out the cards. The application process can take up to 6 months, with the TAJ number (can be used to apply for jobs / internships) being ready first and after the card following it.

Please remember, that applying for the TAJ card is your responsibility, and we would advise you to do it as soon as you received your Residence Permit and Address Card.

Please follow the guide below for more details about appliation process, submission, etc.

We prepared a document outlining the differences between the TAJ card and UNIQA private insurance.

After you receive your TAJ card, it is strongly recommended to register with a local district doctor called “háziorvos” in Hungarian. We prepared a document  to guide through you this process and a list with addresses to help you find the nearest doctor to your address in Budapest.

According to Tempus Public Foundation’s (TPF) Stipendium Hungaricum (SH) Operational Regulations:

The host institution, the majors within the institution and the language of studies can be changed only once after submitting a special student request. The deadline of submitting the requests to Tempus Public Foundation is 1. December (for the spring semester) and 15. May (for the fall semester) in every school year.

The scholarship holder may change all of them at the same time (in any kind of combination) but only once during his/her scholarship period. Institutions, majors and languages can be changed only at the end of the semester, so that the scholarship holder could start the next semester in the new institution. Institutions, majors and languages can be changed only within one year after beginning the studies leading to a university degree.

The request – if it is relevant – must also include the extension of the studies with the scholarship. The allocation decision regarding the student at his/her entry to the programme and after the preparatory programme cannot be altered by the student’s request to change institutions, majors or languages except point III.3.14.

Changing host institution, major or language is allowed only on the same programme level. Changing major, institution or language is not possible during partial studies. The language of the study programme may be changed primarily from a foreign language to Hungarian. The teaching language can be changed only in exceptional cases from Hungarian to a foreign language, as fairness on individual basis with the approval of Tempus Public Foundation.

Students attending the preparatory course in Hungarian cannot change the language of education, they can only do so in the case of a programme (after a preparatory programme) in Hungarian language, in justified cases.

Documents to be submitted to TPF for changing institutions, majors or/and languages:

The student must send the request for changing institutions, majors or/and languages with the compulsory annexes to the SH Unit online to stipendiumhungaricum@tpf.hu

Students cannot appeal after the decision is made on the request for changing institutions, majors or/and languages.

Host institution, major or language may be changed from the end of the preceding term until 15. September for the autumn semester and until 15. February for the spring semester (i.e. students must actually arrive and enroll to the new study programme/host institution by these dates at the latest).

Students must also notify the Stipendium Office via email and write a short explanation detailing the reasons for changing institutions, majors and/or languages.

According to Stipendium Hungaricum Operational Regulation (III.4.1) the scholarship holder may extend the scholarship period by a total of two semesters in  Hungarian bachelor’s, master’s and one-tier master’s programmes, requesting the semesters one-by-one, always at the end of the last scholarship-financed semester around the middle of November (in the Fall semester) and the middle of April (in the Spring semester).

Steps of applying for an extension:

Documents required to be submitted by the student:

The extension request form filled out, signed, and scanned by the student (Please download it from here)

Please note, that the SH Office will only be able to process all applications and notify you of the decision of institutional support around the 15th of December for the fall semester and 15th of May for the spring semester.

The application is only considered successful and accepted after the final approval from Tempus Public Foundation. TPF will contact the students directly and unfortunately the SH Office won’t be able to answer any questions regarding the decision prior to TPF contacting the student with the decision. Students who have their extension requests approved are not eligible for the stipend during their extended period, however all other benefits (waiver of tuition fee, private insurance, etc) is maintained.

The SH Office may not notify students directly when they reached the end of their original scholarship status. Students are responsible to request an extension without any prior warning from the SH Office and to keep the deadlines mentioned above.