What does emigrating to Hungary cost?
Answer a few short questions and you get an honest range for your situation. For every item it says whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The paperwork is cheap: the certificate costs 1,000 forint, the address card 5,700, and the driving licence stays valid. The money sits mainly in two things Hungary does differently from its neighbours. On the car you pay registration tax, without exemption for relocation goods. And on a purchased home you pay four percent transfer tax. Beyond that, the move by road and the first months cost money.
Looking for the whole route to Hungary, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 1.700 – € 4.800
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 1.600 – € 4.200
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 45 – € 200
- De verhuizing
- € 50 – € 250
- De eerste maanden
- € 1.600 – € 4.400
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Registration certificate and address card€ 15 – € 35
- Certificates, model forms and the sworn translator(estimate)€ 30 – € 200
De verhuizing
- The journey(estimate)€ 50 – € 250
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 1.600 – € 4.200
This item depends mostly on where you settle. It covers the deposit and first rent, furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you're still paying double costs. Budapest rents towards Western European level. Lake Balaton out of season and the countryside sit far below that. Count the winter in too: heating an old village house is a real item.
- Bank, phone and the first counters(estimate)€ 40 – € 200
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 5 to 8% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 12.500 to € 20.000.
Three things add up here. Four percent transfer tax on the purchase price up to a billion forint. The lawyer, who in Hungary draws up the deed and often puts the money in an escrow account, where it stays until the transfer. And the entry in the land registry. As an EU citizen you need no permit for a home.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
The exception is land. Whoever is not a registered farmer may own at most one hectare of agricultural land in total. Every purchase of agricultural land also passes the agricultural authority, and farmers from the area have pre-emption rights: they may buy before you. A village house with a large orchard behind it is therefore sometimes not a house but land. Have the classification in the land registry checked before you sign.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 11 September 2026.
Ready to get started with Hungary?
The whole journey in the right order, with your documents, your costs and all your cancellation letters. € 199 one-off, no subscription.
Also want to know whether your departure date is feasible, and where you start? Take the departure scan for Hungary →
One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
In Vertrekklaar you get the complete picture of your own costs, with your route, your documents and your deadlines.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with a few questions. The journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates on your real situation: who's coming, whether the household contents come along, and whether the car comes along. And it watches the deadlines: day 93 for the registration certificate, sixty days for the car, and the S1 before departure. A one-off € 199, no subscription.
Leaving with AOW or a pension? Compare how countries tax your pension
Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Hungary: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Hungary change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
68 journeys are fully ready: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, and the plan keeps an eye on your deadlines. You pay once, and then it's yours.