Retirement

Steps

1. Before leaving, request your S1 form from the fund that pays your pension, if you do not have a Hungarian pension.
2. Register your stay with the Immigration Office (OIF) after 3 months (factsheet HU-SEJOUR-TOUS-001), with your proof of resources (bank statements, pension statements) and your S1.
3. Have your S1 registered at the government office for your home, which acts as the health insurance fund: you receive a TAJ number and you are treated like a Hungarian insured person (factsheet HU-SANTE-TOUS-001).
4. Check your taxation: Hungarian law counts among "pensions" also those that a tax treaty defines as pensions and, even without a treaty, equivalent income paid by a foreign body (art. 3, point 23 m)); the pension is exempt (annex 1, point 1.2), and the NAV classes among exempt income "income defined as a pension by double taxation treaties" (August 2026 summary). In Hungary, you therefore pay no tax on your foreign pension. But the treaty between Hungary and your country may leave your country of origin the right to tax it: check it before cutting your tax ties.
5. If you have worked in Hungary, file your pension application on the standard form (downloadable from magyarorszag.hu): at the Budapest or your county government office for a national file, at the Budapest government office (Budapest Főváros Kormányhivatala) for an international file. On site, by post or by email.
6. At the end, each country notifies you of its decision and you receive the P1 form.

Documents

• S1 form, identity document, proof of resources.
• For a Hungarian pension: application form, supporting documents for your insurance periods in Hungary and abroad.

Costs and timelines

• Legal age: 65 for people born in 1957 or later; lower for earlier generations (from 62 to 64 years and 183 days depending on the year of birth: pensions Act, art. 18 (1)).
• Amount: according to the average wage (income subject to contributions since 1 January 1988) and the length of insurance.
• Statutory minimum pension: HUF 28,500 per month, with at least 20 years of insurance; if your reference average wage is lower, the pension equals 100% of that average wage. This minimum does not apply when the Hungarian period taken into account, after the pro rata calculation under the European rules, is less than 20 years (art. 20 (4)). With at least 15 years of insurance (but less than 20), you are entitled to a partial pension (öregségi résznyugdíj); the full pension (öregségi teljes nyugdíj) requires 20 years (pensions Act, art. 18, version at 27/09/2026).
• Announced, not yet passed (draft 2027 budget): on 19/10/2026, the government announced that from January 2027 nobody would receive a pension below HUF 120,000 per month (instead of HUF 28,500 today), with a stepped increase of pensions just above the minimum. The detailed text must still go before the Budget Council and then Parliament. In 2026, the statutory minimum remains HUF 28,500.
• Women with 40 years of activity: retirement possible before 65 (nők 40 év), with at least 32 years of paid work (30 years in certain cases of caring for a relative); reduction of one year per child from 5 children, 7 years at most.
• Deferred retirement: +0.5% for each 30-day period worked beyond the legal age, if you have 20 years of insurance and are not yet receiving your pension.
• Retiree at work: you do not have to leave your job to receive your pension, and you no longer pay retirement contributions.

Common pitfalls

• Arriving without an S1 or proven resources: your residence registration may be blocked, and without cover you will have to pay a monthly health contribution (factsheet HU-SANTE-TOUS-001).
• Sending your application to the wrong office: a file with periods in other countries goes to the Budapest government office, not to that of your county.
• Forgetting your pension country: even if exempt in Hungary, your pension may remain taxable in the country that pays it under the treaty; check before declaring.

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA, Switzerland: aggregation of periods and S1 under the European rules.
• British citizens (Scots included): European rules for people covered by the Withdrawal Agreement; otherwise, the protocol of the EU–UK trade agreement and Hungarian law.