Is this the Vietnamese way of obtaining a Hungarian residence permit?

According to 444.hu, an event entitled “Hungary – gateway to Europe” took place in Hanoi in May. The event lasted for three hours and attracted around 200 people. In the centre of it was a Vietnamese company explaining how to obtain a residence permit in Hungary through real estate investment.

The Vietnamese idea to receive a residence permit

Apparently, the event was a success, as the company posted later on Facebook that “a lot of investors registered for the program”. The company mentioned is the Bac Son Overseas Property (BSOP). They did not hide the fact that their outlined plan for residence permits came to life to replace the highly criticised residency bonds program of last year that has since been suspended.

According to the BSOP site, “The residency bonds program was shut down in March of 2017, therefore we had to find other ways to provide opportunities in Hungary for the Vietnamese. This new option is the real estate investment program.”

Between these two options, however, there is a significant difference.

Between 2013 and 2017, foreigners were able to obtain residence permits in exchange for participating in the bonds program launched by Antal Rogán and buying state bonds. However, the program raised several security concerns, not to mention the corruption accusations, so it was suspended last year. The 2019 budget regulation seemed to suggest that the bonds program would come to an end legally, too.

However, trading with Hungarian government bonds is apparently still not over.

Apart from BSOP, two other Vietnamese companies offer similar opportunities – buying Hungarian state bonds in exchange for residence permits – two of which have been involved with the now-suspended program as well. Also, similar offers appeared in China, too, about two months ago.

The Ministry for Home Affairs denies the existence of these programs, claiming that the Hungarian government is not involved in any real estate-based programs that could potentially lead to residence permits. In fact, they later added that “Frauds are trying to embarrass Hungary. We have taken measures to start criminal proceedings.”

BSOP declined to make any comments. Gábor Földvári, the owner of Innozone Holdings Ltd., another company involved, claims that they are not advertising one of the government’s programs but experimenting with how to make the most of the opportunities offered by these laws.

Other ways of staying

According to the Vietnamese advertisements, real estate investment-immigration can happen because of the 2007 laws regulating the entering and staying of foreigners in Hungary.

The Immigration and Asylum Office of Hungary can assign residence permits for foreigners for several different reasons, be that working, studying or doing research. Apart from these, there is the option to assign residence permits simply based on ‘other’ reasons.

They work on a case-by-case basis and investigate each individual case when deciding whether they are eligible for the ‘other’ category. However, three anonymous lawyers claim that it was possible for foreigners to obtain residence permits considering their real estate involvement even before the government bonds program and this does not seem to change after the suspension of the program, either.

In regards to the Chinese company advertising a similar program, they claim that they have been in contact with the Immigration and Asylum Office, so the program is guaranteed. However, this has been denied by the Office since then, adding that they never have and will never give such a guarantee. The Vietnamese advertisements are much more careful, though, warning that there is no guarantee for the permit and that the opportunity is limited, with only 10-25 people having the possibility each month to get a residence permit based on their real estate investments. This also means that there may be a months-long waiting list.