There have been a lot of questions about the immunity certificate in recent weeks. There are three options to be entitled to receive this certificate; the first one is to have received the first shot of Covid-19 vaccine. After that, in approximately 8 days, the certificate should be issued automatically and received via post to the Hungarian permanent residence of the beneficiary. But as one of our readers highlighted, this is not really the case.
By RG
I regret to say that, to this day, I do not know any foreign citizen living in Hungary (except one with double citizenship Foreign European- Hungarian) who has received the card (including myself). On the contrary, all the ones we know who received this card are Hungarian citizens.
Countless situations, concerning mixed citizenship families and couples (e.g. one foreigner – holder of social security TAJ card – and one Hungarian) or simply friends living together or not, where the Hungarian citizens have received the card and the foreign ones did not, have been spotted.
This has been happening even if the Hungarian citizens received the vaccine shot on the very same day as the foreign citizen, or even later (e.g. I have received my first shot on April 5th and still no card, while my Hungarian wife has received the first vaccine shot on April 18th and got the card on the 27th). I have read through the internet many stories like mine.
Now that many activities are reopening for business (and I am truly happy about it!), the Hungarian Government mentioned that only the people in possession of the immunity certificate will be able to benefit from such services.
Also, only the people in possession of this certificate are exempted from the mandatory quarantine when entering Hungary.
Which can mean that, whoever has not yet received the certificate, despite being eligible, will be excluded by certain rights granted by the Hungarian law, just due to an administrative disservice, where the citizen is just a victim of someone else’s fault.
Moreover, it seems to be a problem which is impacting only (or at least for the biggest part) the foreign citizens, which leads to a possible conclusion that this certificate issuing process has been designed (voluntarily or by mistake) to be working for Hungarian citizens only.
This could be due to the fact that no Hungarian ID number can be found in any system.
To this day, the Hungarian Government did not mention this issue, just briefly apologizing for the problem and asking to the people who have not received the certificate, to proceed with the request through the Governmental Gate (Ügyfélkapu) or, for those who cannot do so, to book an appointment in person to the public administrative office.
Many people have raised the request through Ügyfélkapu more than 2 weeks ago, and still the certificate has not arrived. Other ones are trying to book an appointment to the public administrative offices, which typically have free time slots available only weeks from now.
Many foreign citizens like me believe that something went really wrong with the certificate issuing process and that the foreign citizens have been treated as “second class”.
29 comments
My Hungarian wife and I had both of our jabs in the same clinic at the same time on 2nd March and on 30th March. Still no card for me. Have completed the online Ügyfélkapu application and physically been in to the District 3 Kormányablak with all my ID and double vaccination evidence. Still no card. Yet my Hungarian wife received her card no problem weeks and weeks ago!
I had my first vaccination on April 1st and have my second scheduled for May 6th. I worked here for three years and then retired and I have just heard that my application for residency has been approved but I have not yet received my card. I did not receive anything after my first vaccination.
Yep, I had my second jab mid-March… still no card. My wife had her first jab 1st April and got the card within a week…
My partner and I had both vaccines in March but have not received the card despite emails to koronovirus.hu etc
I had my 1st jab March 12th. The Doctor’s assisant asked for an ID card and was bewildered when I told her that Brits don’t have ID cards but that I had brought my passport. “That’s no good” she snapped. However the online registration system has my passport number. Anyway, still no vaccine card. All my Hungarian friends got theirs about 8-10 days after the first dose.I have been here for 5 years. The other thing that is not working is the new biometric card system for Brits covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. You need to fill out a specific online form then be invited to te Immigration for the biometrics. The website just says ‘still under construction, thsnk you for your patience’. The click is ticking because it has to be done by te end of the year. This wretched thing was supposed to be up and running from January 1st, the day after the Brexit transition period ended. It is not like the Hungarian Immigration IT bods have not had time to get this ‘constructed’ – they have had over 2 years to do it.
I saw that for those who got corona if their card will expire should pay euro 9 to renew so in this case for foreigner if they don’t wanna give use free then better to announce what amount we should pay to get not to put us pending we would like to continue free life also for us who got vaccine already andbb be I would like to ask which office are issue immuny card then I could apply for the card and to pay as those who their card expired Thanks
I live in Budapest and have my registration and address card in Budapest but I have got both my Pfizer vaccines in Malta last month cause I am Maltese, so I am jabbed with both Pfizer vaccines and I live in Budapest and I can’t benefit from the benefit of those Hungarians that have the immunity certificate right??!! What can I do please help?!
Same. No card …
Same here my partner Hungarian and I both had a vaccine 12th March and she recieved her card and I am still waiting and I have too gone through the gate way thingy to no avail. Really do feel like being left behind. Why do I pay taxes.
My kids and ex-wife have received their certifications very fast, I didn’t get mine despite been a permanent resident and living here for over 21 years.
We always treated as a second class, the funny is that I pay taxes the same way than the Hungarian citizens, should not I expect same services ???
My Partner and I had 1st jab on 15 Apr. She got the card but my one still did not arrive. I heard that they are delivering alphabetical. It may effect your cases also. There are may stories for sure. Our 2nd jab will be on 6th May. I hope this problem will be solve soon.
Been recovering from Covid since months and haven’t received any card yet. Only those propaganda emails from the government….. Shitty government
This kind of discrimination of non-Hungarian people living in Hungary
This news is BS, I’m a third country nation citizen and received my card 10 days after vaccination
This news is BS, I’m from a third country nation (non-EU citizen) and received my card 10 days after vaccination
I recibes my second today and stil no card.
I ask the doctor and She told me that I have to wait 2,3 weeks.
Let’s see
I got my 2nd vaccination 6 weeks ago and still waiting for my certificate. They seem to love me working here, paying tax and spending my money here but when it comes to something important as a certificate I’m a nobody. Doesn’t feel good.
I am a British citizen and have a valid and fully paid TAJ card. I had my first jab on 28th March and I will have the second tomorrow, 2nd May. No card has been sent to me so far. I will keep my appointment card for Semmelwiess Egytem at Varosmajor u. 68 and have it laminated, so in need, I will try to use that. My gym, John Reed Fitness, have already told me that I must present an Immunity Certificate if I want to use the gym, and I understand that under the latest Covid regulations I can only sit inside any bar or restaurant if have I an Immunity Certificate, so intentionally not being sent this certificate or card is tantamount to discrimination and , if true, is unfair.
Read more at: https://dailynewshungary.com/are-foreign-citizens-not-recieving-their-immunity-certificates-readers-letter/?fbclid=IwAR0_qNPILZknaStQz0m-ylKCmG59BQhIfQa7yI6gulsYW1_CWIFTKtcTcDQ
German citizen with TAJ card here. Still haven’t received my card yet, my first vaccination was 4 weeks ago.
This is what happens when you give all the important jobs to your friends and family instead of the people best qualified to do it.
There is also a problem for people who fall into the third category because they were vaccinated abroad (as I was). You need to present a positive antibody test to apply for the immunity certificate, however, according to what I have found online, an antibody test won’t show if you are immune based on the vaccine. Sure enough, I got my antibody test and it came out negative. I’ve been fully vaccinated for over two weeks. I have a card from the CDC in the U.S. showing my J&J vaccination. As of now, no way to get the immunity card.
Thanks for this article. My wife and I are Dutch citizens living in Hungary permanently for over three years now. We got our first jab on March 5, the second on April 4. Our GP told us then we would get our Immunity Certificate after 2-3 weeks automatically by mail after our second inoculation. Last week, when it still hadn’t arrived, I went back to her, asking if maybe there was a problem, but she told me just to stay patient, as some people would get it sooner than others. She offered to make a print out next week of the registration of the vaccination. Remaining distrustful, I asked around and discovered that all Hungarians we knew or heard of had already received their cards. Then it turned out that all other foreigners in our village (and there are quite a few), were also unaware that in fact the problem was being a foreigner. So again, thanks, and hopefully this serious error on the part of the administrative authorities will be fixed soon.
I completely do not see any logic in this. As a vaccinated Pole and resident living, working here I received my jab on April 6th. Like everyone else I received a card with the doctor’s name, official clinic’s stamp, vaccine name and what is most important a sticker with a LOT of the vaccine. This should already be an evidence that a person has been vaccinated! As a foreigners we pay taxes here too but we are sometimes treated like people of worst sort!
Familiar situation here, been living for almost 5 years in Budapest and got vaccinated with the second shot as of last week; many people has stressed that you get the card even after the first shot, which was one month ago for me, and now I can imagine I will not get my card. I do have a residence permit number, a TAJ number, and a TAX number, so it makes no sense that magically I am impossible to find when the hospital could get my data so easily. I wonder who is in charge of making and sending these cards.
Living and Working in Hungary for 12 jaar, first shot received on march 12, but No card.
Requested the card via Ügyfélkapu waiting for it
For obvious reasons the Immunity certificate must also contain an Identification Card number or Passport number. I’m afraid that foreign identification card numbers and international passport numbers are not recorded (and maintained) in the Hungarian population register. Therefor no Immunity Certificates can be issued automatically.
Hi! We should all of us write a letter to the European Court of Justice. This is discrimination!
Well, yes. This is Hungary? For foreign colleagues who did not receive their card, we generally request one by e-mail: [email protected], indicating name, passport or ID number, address, TAJ social security number and year of birth. Hope this helps.
Mit mást is várhatnánk ettől az országról…