Government Office: You have to move home for an immunity certificate
There was a very strange anomaly in Hungary about the vaccination card. A Hungarian living and working abroad received his vaccination, but he did not get an immunity certificate. He was informed by the Government Office that he will not get an immunity card.
One of the readers of telex.hu talked about his problem. He moved abroad, cancelled his address in Hungary, and paid for social security in England. He temporarily moved back to Hungary because of the coronavirus epidemic. He applied for the vaccine in Hungary and received it here.
However, he did not receive an immunity certificate as he does not have a permanent address in Hungary.
In addition to the lack of address in Hungary, the other problem is that his Hungarian social security number has become inactive due to him working abroad. Thus, even though he registered for the vaccine and then received the vaccine, he can only prove this with the paper he received when he got the vaccine. He did not receive an immunity certificate. This is a problem because the easing of restrictions is only available to those who have an immunity certificate.
As we reported earlier, when Hungary reached the milestone of 4 million vaccinated people, hotels, zoos, and spas could open, among others. However, if you want to visit these places, you need an immunity certificate.
The man turned to the Government Office with his complaint.
The Central Document Office Department replied with a delay of a few weeks: “You would have the opportunity to receive a card if you had a permanent address in Hungary and then settled the issues of your social security.”
Both requests are strange because, from 4 May, foreign nationals legally residing in Hungary can also apply for vaccination even if they do not have a Hungarian social security number. In contrast, can a Hungarian citizen receive an immunity certificate if they resign from their place of work abroad?
Another interesting fact is that even at the beginning of mass vaccinations, the Hungarian government emphasised that everyone is entitled to vaccination, even with an invalid social security number. Another big question of the immunity certificate is whether those who have been vaccinated abroad can also receive the card.
Source: telex.hu
If he is returning to the UK he should simply be re vaccinated there (no medical reason why not to) and use the certification system there. There is another quirk with the Taj Kartya system here. If someone has been living and working in the UK and has taken early retirement and has come to live in Hungary, they may need to continue to pay into the UK National Insurance system (called Social Security here?) in order to pay in for the qualifying number of years to. receive a full State Pension (currently around 305k huf a month). However as a non resident they are no longer entitled to state provided healthcare. The Hungarian system does not accept this. It has the view that because someone is continuing to pay into the UK social security system, it is ‘double insurance’ and so they will not issue a Taj card. You can explain until you are blue in the face that in the UK pension contributions are not separate from healthcare and you can show them the UK government website page that clearly states that non residents cannot have UK state healthcare, but they will not listen. The Taj system needs a rethink because it is currently not fit for the purpose.
Our foreign colleagues (i.e. everyone not holding a Hungarian passport) are routinely not receiving this Vaccination Card. This WITH active TAJ number and current Hungarian address. Go figure….
It’s a known issue – but since it’s foreigners – probably not much of a priority. Can see overseas Hungarians being suspect, too (why is this person working abroad???)