.png)
Freedom of movement,
freedom of work
Since january 1. 2009., any student (and not student) with the citizenship of Swizerland or any of the 29 member states of the EEC can get employed in our country. What we need to make sure of, is whether the student has the hungarian tax identification number and social security (TAJ) number. These documents are required for reporting.
However, if you do not have them, their acquisition can be arranged quickly. The tax identification number can be requested with either a hungarian or a foreign adress. When requesting with a foreign adress, you have to wait about a week for the tax ID at the Directorate of Priority Taxpayers; with proof of residence in Hungary (residential adress card), the tax card is issued immediately by the tax office responsible for that place of residence - if you go there in person. If it is requested by post, we should also calculate the mailing time! Firstly, we will recieve a paper-based certificate of the tax number, while the actual Tax ID will be sent (much) later to the adress stated in the request. However, the tax identification number alone is enough for employment.
Before issuing the TAJ, a registration certificate is required for the students . Most educational institutions provide assistance in obtaining this document. The residential address card will arrive by post within two to three weeks after the registration certificate is issued.
It is worth noting here: if the student only has a registration certificate - and not yet a residential address card - the competent REP will issue a paper-based certificate of the TAJ number, but if the residential address card is also available, the result of the procedure will be a laminated TAJ card.
After we recived all the necessary information, we have only one important task left: both the beginning and termination of employment must be notified in writing to the respective Regional Employment Center, no later than on the day of entry or exit. The labor center issues a certificate of this, which the employer must keep for three years.
Third country nationals
Employment of the so-called "third-country nationals" – any person who is not a citizen of EU, as well as a contry whose citizens do not enjoy the EU right to free movement - requires permission as a rule. However, the relevant regulation exempts many groups of persons - for example, those with immigrant or settled status, spouses of Hungarian citizens - from the main rule. Anyone staying in Hungary with a residence permit for study purposes can also be employed without any other permit, in compliance with the maximum working hours specified by law.
The criteria
The right status is having residence permit for study purposes. This can be found in the passport of our future colleague. Every time, we check the type of permit ('continuation of studies'), since in the case of permits for other purposes - e.g. 'family reunification' or 'other' - other rules apply. (What is worth paying attention to: at the beginning of the administration, it is also advisable to check whether one of the other exemptions apply - because it can easily turn out that our future colleague can be employed under other legal titles on more favorable terms, without setting the working time frame.)
Full time studies -
confirmed
Although the condition for permission to stay for the purpose of study is full-time student status, the employer will also need proof of student status for each semester. We place a copy of the certificate and the residence permit in the employed student's personal file (to prove exemption from the work permit), we will need the original when processing the TAJ number.
Why is it necessary to request a certificate for each semester? The reason is that the stay is only legal if the student really maintains his/her student status. Otherwise, the reasons for the stay become invalid and the immigration police can cancel your residence permit - and if this happens, the employment is illegal from the moment of the cancelation, with all its unfavorable consequences.
For this reason, we ask for the certificate at the beginning of each semester. After the registration period, the institutions are obliged to publish it - the relevant dates can be found on the websites of the educational institutions.
Working hours
Special working time rules for students are the following:
A third-country national with a residence permit for study purposes may work full-time for a maximum of thirty hours a week per semester and full employement for a maximum of ninety days or sixty-six working days per year outside of semester.
The most important rule is that the contract can only be concluded with the validity of the residence permit for study purposes - since further employment would require an other permit.
A distinction must be made between working within and outside semester. It is also advisable to find out about the exact length semester on the website of the given educational institution. Within this period, 24-hour employment per week must be included in the contract.
The exam period between the first and second semesters and the summer vacation fall outside the educational period. From the point of view of work, the latter is relevant - if the student also spends the summer working, full-time employment is also possible for this period, until the beginning of the next semester - but only if the residence permit also covers the summer period!
In addition to the above, we will also need a tax identification number and TAJ number.
To apply for the TAJ number, you need the original copy of the proof of student status - this is also used to prove to the health insurance fund that our student's employment is permit-free. Don't forget a copy of your passport, residence permit, and accommodation reporting form too. For third-country students, the health insurance fund issues a paper-based certificate that must be stamped every month.