Work in Hungary as a foreign doctor, nurse or AHP (2026)

• Oktatási HivatalEducational Authority (Oktatási Hivatal)

  Recognition of non-EU medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing and other degree-level health qualifications

  Read the registration guide

• OKFŐNational Directorate General for Hospitals (Országos Kórházi Főigazgatóság)

  Health workforce registers for all health professions; recognition of EU, non-EU specialist and non-EU secondary-level qualifications

  How to register with the OKFŐ

1. 1

   1. Check which authority will recognise your diploma

   Use the OKFŐ's recognition document finder and its allocation table. If you hold a non-EU medical, dental, pharmacy or other degree-level health qualification, your application goes to the Oktatási Hivatal; non-EU specialist qualifications (after the basic degree is recognised) and non-EU secondary-level health qualifications go to the OKFŐ. Recognition is only possible for qualifications from state-recognised, accredited training in the country where you studied.
2. 2

   2. Plan your residence status at the same time

   Act C of 2001 says a third-country national who is not covered by the EU rules may apply for recognition for work purposes only if they hold a residence permit issued for work or for family reunification. A limited exception applies where the employer has applied for certain employment or guest-worker permits, and the procedure is then stopped if the work visa is not produced within 90 days. Ask the authority how this applies to you before you apply.
3. 3

   3. Prepare certified copies and Hungarian translations

   The OKFŐ requires certified Hungarian translations for non-EU documents, even when the originals are in English. It accepts translations by the National Office for Translation and Attestation (OFFI), translations certified by a Hungarian consulate or embassy, or translations certified by a Hungarian notary authorised for that language. Copies must be certified, for example by a notary. Delays most often come from missing course content (curriculum) documents and uncertified translations.
4. 4

   4. Apply for recognition and pay the fee

   For non-EU qualifications handled by the OKFŐ, the fee is 45,000 Ft plus a 32,000 Ft expert fee, 77,000 Ft in total, paid when you apply. The fee decree sets the same 45,000 Ft administrative fee for degree recognition at the Educational Authority, plus 32,000 Ft where an expert procedure is used. The law sets a decision deadline of 75 days, which does not include time spent supplying missing documents.
5. 5

   5. Meet any conditions in the intermediate decision

   Where the expert finds substantial differences, the authority issues an intermediate decision (közbenső határozat) setting conditions: a professional exam, supplementary exams, practice, or up to one year of supervised work at an accredited provider for doctors, dentists, pharmacists and nurses. The OKFŐ says no advance opinion is possible: you learn the outcome only after applying, once the expert opinion is in. The time taken to meet conditions does not count towards the 75 days.
6. 6

   6. Work under supervision during an adaptation period

   If your decision requires an adaptation period, you can work under the supervision of a qualified, registered colleague while you complete it. You must report supervised work to the OKFŐ within 15 days of starting, with a copy of the decision ordering the adaptation period. The report is free of charge and the OKFŐ decides within 30 days.
7. 7

   7. Receive recognition and basic registration

   Once you have met the conditions, the authority issues a final decision declaring equivalence. It notifies the basic register within 30 days, and the OKFŐ does not send a separate letter: you can check your entry on its public register search from the day after. Doctors and dentists can then apply to NEAK for a medical stamp.
8. 8

   8. Join the chamber if your profession requires it

   Nurses and other health professionals apply to MESZK through the regional organisation for their workplace, and the chamber decides within 15 days. MESZK publishes an English membership form. Pharmacists must join the MGYK. Doctors and dentists do not need MOK membership to register.
9. 9

   9. Apply for the practising register

   Apply to the OKFŐ with the signed application form and proof of the 4,000 Ft fee. You are registered for a five-year cycle and receive a registration card; the deadline is 30 days. If your qualification was obtained or recognised more than eight years before your first application, you must first show the continuing education points that a renewal would require.
10. 10

    10. Secure the right residence permit and start work

    With a job offer at the required salary, a degree-level health professional can apply for an EU Blue Card, either at a Hungarian consulate or, through the Enter Hungary system, via the employer. The Blue Card ties you to the approved job for the first year. Keep your registration valid: independent practice is only lawful while it is in force.

• Hungary does not use IELTS or OET for licensing. The working language of the public health system is Hungarian, and English test results do not count towards recognition or registration.
• The Health Act gives patients the right to choose a doctor who can communicate with them in Hungarian in a way that suits their condition, and it allows the OKFŐ to refuse registration to anyone who does not prove the professional language knowledge required by law in the cases the law specifies.
• We could not find an official page from the OKFŐ or the Educational Authority that sets one fixed Hungarian level (such as a CEFR level) for every foreign-trained doctor or nurse. Language can be built into the conditions of your recognition decision: the law says supervised work instead of an exam may be ordered where it ensures you have the professional knowledge and language skills needed to practise in Hungary.
• In practice, ask the authority what your decision will require and ask your employer what Hungarian level the job needs. Expect to need working Hungarian for any role with patient contact in the public system.
• Documents are a separate issue: non-EU diplomas, transcripts and syllabi must be submitted with certified Hungarian translations, even if the originals are in English.

• EU Blue Card

  For work in a job requiring high-level qualifications, with a contract or preliminary agreement of at least six months and the degree the job requires. For 2026 the OIF sets the minimum gross monthly salary at 1,001,048 Ft, and at 800,838 Ft for listed health occupations: doctors (FEOR 2211), pharmacists (2214), physiotherapists (2224), degree-level nurses (2231) and degree-level midwives (2232), among others. The card is valid for up to four years and can be extended by up to four years; for the first year it covers only the approved job.

• Employment-purpose residence permit

  The OIF says this permit is available to nationals of the countries listed in annex 1 of Government Decree 450/2024: Georgia, Armenia and the Philippines. It is valid for up to two years, can be extended by up to one year, and cannot exceed three years from first issue. Holders of this permit cannot bring family members on a family reunification permit.

• Guest-worker residence permit: closed to new applicants

  The OIF announced that, from 6 June 2026, no new guest-worker residence permits can be requested, because the government has not designated any eligible third country. Applications already filed and paid by 5 June 2026 continue, and existing holders can extend under the earlier rules. Government Resolution 1153/2026 orders a full review of the rules on employing third-country nationals, so further changes are expected.

• National Card and Hungarian Card

  The National Card is for nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Belarus, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine, valid for up to two years and extendable by up to three. The Hungarian Card is listed by the OIF for graduates in IT, technical and natural science fields and certain music professions, not for health professions.

• How to apply, fees and timescales

  If you need a visa to enter Hungary, you apply at the Hungarian consulate for your country, and the application includes the D visa to collect the permit. The OIF fee is 110 EUR abroad, or 26,000 Ft online through Enter Hungary and 39,000 Ft in person inside Hungary. The OIF quotes an administrative time of 21 days and a decision within 70 days, excluding time to supply missing documents. The D visa allows one entry and 30 days' stay, and you must enter within three months of approval.

• Family members

  Spouses, registered partners and minor children of residence-permit holders can apply for a family reunification permit. The OIF lists permits whose holders cannot sponsor family, including the employment-purpose, guest-worker, seasonal, investment-employment, study and White Card permits; the EU Blue Card is not on that list. A family reunification permit also counts as a residence permit for the purposes of diploma recognition.

Pay at state and municipal providers is set by law in the annexes to Act C of 2020 on the health service employment relationship, as in force from 1 October 2026. Doctors, dentists and pharmacists are paid by years of practice under annex 1 (the table applying from 1 January 2023); health professionals such as nurses are paid under annex 1/A (from 1 March 2024), in five pay classes, each with a basic and a higher (kiemelt) range. All figures are gross monthly salaries in Hungarian forints. Which pay class a nurse is placed in depends on qualification and job and is not set out in the table itself. Private providers set their own pay.

Monthly amounts

• Doctor, 0 to 2 years of practice

  687,837 Ft

  Annex 1, Act C of 2020, from 1 January 2023.

• Doctor, 6 to 10 years

  1,231,212 Ft

• Doctor, 16 to 20 years

  1,491,679 Ft

• Doctor, 41 years and over

  2,380,057 Ft

  Top of the table; specialists and dentists are on the same table.

• Health professionals, pay class I: 304,000 to 469,000 Ft (basic); 377,000 to 529,000 Ft (higher)Annex 1/A, from 1 March 2024.
• Health professionals, pay class III: 410,000 to 684,000 Ft (basic); 498,000 to 770,000 Ft (higher)
• Health professionals, pay class V: 530,000 to 1,142,000 Ft (basic); 635,000 to 1,400,000 Ft (higher)Highest class in annex 1/A.
• Private providers: Set by employerCheck the job offer. A Blue Card requires at least 800,838 Ft a month in 2026 for listed health roles.