If vaccinated abroad, you cannot get an immunity certificate?
PM Viktor Orbán mentioned many sectors and services in which immunity certificates will be inevitable in the next few months. If the number of inoculated people reaches 4 million, cinemas, theatres, restaurants, and bars will reopen. But only those can enter who already have the plastic card. That means mostly the elderly since the Hungarian inoculation program focused on their protection.
According to telex.hu, those can receive an immunity certificate currently who recovered from the illness and have official proof of it. Furthermore, those who can prove that there are antibodies in their blood or who already got their first dose can also get the certificate. However, it is not all the same where the jab was administered.
One of their readers wrote that he and his wife both received Pfizer shots in Serbia, but the Hungarian authorities do not acknowledge the relevant certificate. The National Public Health Centre wrote them an email saying that Hungary does not register those Hungarians who received any vaccines abroad. Therefore, it is a
prerequisite for the immunity certificate that the person receive the shots in Hungary.
The question is what happens with those who were inoculated in e.g. Dubai, who are soldiers and currently serve somewhere abroad, or work as diplomats. Furthermore, it seems that nobody knows whether double citizens or foreign citizens having a Hungarian health insurance number and working in the country
can receive a certificate if they got any or all the jabs abroad.
Finally, it also remains a question whether Hungarian authorities will inoculate foreign/EEA citizens living in Hungary or not. If not, do authorities accept a foreign certificate of inoculation issued by any country or do those concerned have to get further jabs in Hungary to go to the cinemas, theatres, bars, restaurants?
Since there are more questions than answers, they sent all of them to the chief medical officer
but have not received a reply yet.
If that happens, we will report about that, too.
- The majority of Hungarians would demand immunity certificates from foreign visitors
- Why is it so dangerous?- The problem with the immunity certificate explained
Source: telex.hu
13 Comments
ALL this card is going to do is create a 2 class society. Many of us foreigners with legal Residency have been unable to get a vaccination. If the Hungarian authorities mandate a vaccine or immunity card then they are going to further decimate the Hungarian economy, especially tourism and the bar and restaraunt sectors. SOMEONE REALLY NEEDS to rethink this policy.
If a foreign/EEA citizen is resident in Hungary and has a Taj kartya and has registered for inoculation, they are inoculated. I speak from experience.
Agree with Not Mario. It is ridiculous and discompassionate to limit the immunity certificates and take away simple freedoms for one and worse than that, to not offer the vaccine to residents here who pay their own medical bills, own property and don’t need a taj card. And not accepting vaccines from other countries??! When are we getting ours here then when we contribute to the economy in many ways, sometimes more than a Hungarian citizen for entertainment and other purchases. Come on! I am over 60 and need the vaccine, but I am refused while many Hungarian people here are saying no to the vaccine. It’s just unbelievable.
I regularly talk with 20-30 expats living in Hungary. All of them have been down-prioritized by their haziorvos in the vaccination lists, and mostly offered Chinese or Russian options. Until now, none of them received the vaccination card. I don’t know how much of my experience can be generalized, but it’s pretty frustrating to be treated like this. We pay our taxes like locals, and we should receive the services like locals.
It’s really segregating people. They say the vaccination is voluntary and yet without the injection it seems one can’t go anywhere or attend anything. They have to accept those who have been vaccinated from other countries otherwise how can anyone travel later on? I’m sure the chief medical officer will reply at some point, she’ll probably take the full 45 days to come back with anything. The economy is at rock bottom so it’s all being rushed now to get things moving again. Too soon I’d say. It must be a reflection on how bad things really are.
Welcome to Orbánistan, Robert.
In spite of what “MARIO THE CAVEMAN” continually implies, Hungary is NOT a second-rate nation located within Central Asia.
For those non-Hungarians who are now RESIDENT (longer than 12 months) in Hungary, it is an extremely simple process to obtain a ‘TAJ KARTYA’.
One needs to visit the local HEALTH AUTHORITY (note that most office-workers there will have LIMITED ability to communicate in English so take an interpreter to translate) with a VALID PASSPORT and RESIDENCY CARD.
Various forms will need to be completed (in Hungarian only) which will then enable a ‘TAJ KARTYA’ to be issued, usually within a few weeks.
After that, one has to visit a local TAX OFFICE (again be aware that communication is in Hungarian) and PAY the appropriate fee : credit / debit cards are accepted (NOT cash !) with monthly deductions being the norm but payment can be made up to 12 months in advance.
Once payment for the ‘TAJ KARTYA’ has been processed, it will be ACTIVATED and vaccination can be arranged.
In case one cannot find an interpreter, the embassy in Hungary of one’s country should be contacted for advice ( bearing in mind that certain nations like Australia and New Zealand do NOT have such facilities – to save money).
Regarding “MARIO THE CAVEMAN”, there is NO embassy in Hungary for the land of ‘UGH’.
It can only be suggested that he leave Hungary for a country where everyone communicates by grunting.
We live as Dutch people now 2 years in Hungary, have a TAJ card and were called by our general practicer which brand of vaccination we wanted, We could choose from AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Pfizer or Sputnik. After we choose 5 day’s later we get the first jab. We did not felt, depriorized after Hungarians.
So NO bad experience here.
Alfred, you are wrong on 2 counts. First of all, it takes at least a month before the Health Authority sends the relevant requests to the other country (in my case I oressured them to prove when they sent the documents and found out that it took them 4 months). Then there is the respondent time. So all in all it took 6 months. Secondly, you don’t have to go to the Tax Office. You get a letter telling you that you have to pay in arrears from the date of the application (even though you did not have a Taj kartya) and 3 payment slips. You can pay at the Post Office or use the details on the slips to pay online. In my case, I had to pay for 6 months for something that I did not have. Then, a Taj kartya is posted to you. That’s how the system works.
NOT all foreigners with Residency are from European countries and therefore cannot qualify for a TAJ card I believe until the are able to get Permanent Residency Status or Citizenship. Unfortunately that applies to me. I am not eligible to apply for Permanent Residency until next year. There is NO PLACE I am aware of at this time in Hungary that actually is doing non government paid vaccines at the recipients expense. There have been scammers trying to defraud people out of their money to be placed on a list but the list is a fraud as far as I can tell that someone shared with me last month. So, until this issue is addressed by the Hungarian authorities to allow non Permanent Residents to purchase the vaccines and get an card there will be discrimnation against some whom live here. I havre tried in the past to apply for a TAJ card and was told I did not qualify even if I paid into the system unless I obtained Permanent Residency.
Not Mario,
This is a sad state of affairs here. Definitely discrimination. I am here four years now, owning a home and working, and recently had to go on a medical resident permit for cancer treatment. Nothing is right about this. Nothing. I long to just go to the zoo maybe and walk through the beautiful park there when I can. No one has answers on how I can pay for a vaccine, I’ve tried everything, and I am unable to travel due to ongoing treatment.
Not Mario,
This is a sad state of affairs here. Definitely discrimination. I am here four years now, owning a home and working, and recently had to go on a medical resident permit for cancer treatment. Nothing is right about this. Nothing. I long to just go to the zoo maybe and walk through the beautiful park there when I can. No one has answers on how I can pay for a vaccine, I’ve tried everything, and I am unable to travel due to ongoing treatment.
Last week we visited Hungary for business reasons. We booked two Hotels for three days and additional two days at another location. We provided a Corona antibody test documents, translated to Hungarian by a government certified translator. We entered Hungary without any trouble. We received a call from the second Hotel, that the booking has to be canceled, if we do not provide a plastic COVID immunity certificate card. Unfortunately it was not possible to get one. Therefore, we left Hungary earlier than scheduled and were not able to meet some of our business partners. Additionally the visiting from a Museum was refused, because we did not had the certificate card. It seems, Hungary is not interested on businesses.