# Hungarian moving to Spain.



## AlexandraK (May 23, 2020)

Hi All,

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm Alexandra and new on the forum.

I'm not sure is it the right place to raise my below questions, but I try. 

I currently live in Australia. I'm planning to move to Spain (to my partner) next year. I'm Hungarian citizen too, which means I have European Union passport as well. The question is, can I just pack my stuff and move to Spain as being Hungarian citizen? I don't have any residence address in Hungary, I don't pay health insurance there and nor tax.

Also are these the steps that I need to follow once I arrive to Barcelona?
1.	Rent/buy unit - do I really need to have my name on a contract? What if my partner owns a unit? Can I just register at his address?
2.	Padron certificate
3.	Residency certificate:
a.	proof of income. So I have enough money to support myself but I believe council still requires bank statement from thelast 6 months. Will it be an issue if it's provided by an Australian bank but I'm trying to settle as a Hungarian? 
b.	Health insurance: I need to pay anyway as I don't have EU blue health card.

After I have all the documentation, can I legally work in Spain?

Thanks for your help in advance.


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## Catalunya22 (Apr 25, 2020)

With regard to Question 3b...Surely as a Hungarian passport holder you could apply for a EU Health Card.
Do you have any relatives/friends living in Hungary?....You could perhaps use their address when applying for the EU Health Card.
With regard to Question 2...It is easy to register on the Padron Just take your Passport and proof of address (I´m not sure if your partner´s paperwork will suffice though) to the local Ayuntamiento.

Residency is a bit more complicated. I´m going through all the hoops at the moment. I have all my paperwork ready but I can´t get an appointment at the Police Station in Barcelona at the moment....even before Covid 9 it was inpossible to get an appointment)

Question 3a....I cannot see a problem with the fact that your bank statements are Australian..the main thing is that you have your Hungarian passport which gives you the right to live and work in the EU.

I´m not an expert...and Spanish bureaucracy is a nightmare. As an example, because I couldn´t get an appointment at the Police station in Barcelona I made an appointment at the one in Tarragona. When I got there they didn´t give a s**t.....just told me I HAD to go to the one in Barcelona.

Good luck....


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Catalunya22 said:


> With regard to Question 3b...Surely as a Hungarian passport holder you could apply for a EU Health Card.
> Do you have any relatives/friends living in Hungary?....You could perhaps use their address when applying for the EU Health Card.
> With regard to Question 2...It is easy to register on the Padron Just take your Passport and proof of address (I´m not sure if your partner´s paperwork will suffice though) to the local Ayuntamiento.
> 
> ...


3b - The EHIC is only for holidays in any case. Since the OP doesn't live in the UK, they aren't entitled to one issued by the UK
.


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## Catalunya22 (Apr 25, 2020)

But the OP would be entitled to the EHIC issued in Hungary.

Although I am now covered by the Spanish Healthcare system by virtue of the fact that I´m married to a Spaniard, before that I had no problem using ny EHIC for 3 years. In fact, for example, if you have a home in England AND Spain and spend half the year in England and half the year in Spain you are allowed to use the EHIC.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Catalunya22 said:


> But the OP would be entitled to the EHIC issued in Hungary.
> 
> Although I am now covered by the Spanish Healthcare system by virtue of the fact that I´m married to a Spaniard, before that I had no problem using ny EHIC for 3 years. In fact, for example, if you have a home in England AND Spain and spend half the year in England and half the year in Spain you are allowed to use the EHIC.


Not unless they live there...

You might have managed to use the EHIC for three years- but that doesn't mean that you should have, nor been able to, if living in Spain.


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

Just having an EU nationality does not mean you can access any kind of health cover, it depends on the country and its requirements, and that goes for British nationality as well, at least if you haven't worked there.


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## AlexandraK (May 23, 2020)

Thank you very much for the replies.

As for the EU Health card: Hungary is not better from bureaucracy perspective. If I want to have this card, I need to register at my parents' address and that means I need to pay medicare in Hungary. It's just extra headache and $  Also my boyfriend prefers private cover, so I leave this with him then.

I hope by the time I get to Barcelona, appointment for Residency won't have a long waiting list.

Probably I know the answer already, that it very difficult, but is there any chance to find a job in Bcn if you barely speak Spanish? I mean as professional. I work in Supply Chain. Of course I started to learn Spanish but based on my experience (moving to AU) it takes a few years to be able to make a proper conversation or good jokes if you start from scratch..And I'm not getting any younger either


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Catalunya22 said:


> Spanish bureaucracy is a nightmare.Good luck....



I often chuckle when I read comments like this. Try getting residence in a former socialist/Communist country like Poland or the Czech Republic.

I could write a book about the Kafka-esque experiences I had with bureaucracy whilst living in Prague.

By contrast, all the dealings I've had in Spain with 'bureaucrats' aka as often very lowly-paid and over-worked office workers have been a doddle. It's a lot simpler if you find out exactly what paperwork is needed beforehand for the purpose of your visit and make sure it's all correct. This Forum was an invaluable source of help for me in obtaining NIE, Residencia, changing driving licence, getting padron and changing to Spanish regional 'free' health care from NHS. When I didn't have the correct number of photocopies they were done for me on the spot. Never used a gestor.

And always with a smile. Unlike the sour-faced Czech female bureaucrat who, in spite of having my UK passport in her hand, told me that as an American citizen I should go to my Embassy for help. In an office dealing with people of all nationalities where large handwritten notices proclaimed: 'Only Czech spoken here'.
And Czech isn't exactly one of the world's most widely-spoken languages.

Politeness, a smile, knowledge of Spanish helps but not essential, treat people as you would expect to be treated...all helps give a pleasant experience. Of course there will be the odd official who's had a bad day, row with partner, slept badly etc.etc. but then there are people on the other side of the desk who are impatient, arrogant and with a sense of entitlement that according to a Spanish friend who works in the Seg Soc office, Brits and French often have.


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

Try getting residence in Australia


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

EverHopeful said:


> Try getting residence in Australia


I went with someone who moved to Spain from Australia (albeit with a British passport) to the Extranjeria office to translate for her when she applied for her NIE. She said she was astonished at how pleasant and helpful the staff were, not only to her but to the other people she'd seen being dealt with ahead of her, compared to the attitude of immigration officials in Australia (and she had some experience in that area in work she had done with refugees).

I agree with Mary, I have never experienced a problem with "Spanish bureaucracy" because each time I've had to apply for something I've made sure that I have every document I might possibly need with me. Sometimes I've had great difficulty in persuading people who have asked me to go with them to translate that they will need some document or other, their attitude is "well, it won't matter, I'll just go and ask anyway". My response is "you might like to go and waste your time, but I'm not going to waste mine until you have x, y and z".


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## fortrose52 (Nov 29, 2018)

I got my EHIC online and did not pay for it. I suppose as it is for emergencies etc, you would need to get it from a home address. Just shows there are many differences in healthcare systems in Europe though. I didn't know you had to pay privately in Hungary


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

As EHIC costs the issuing government money when a citizen falls ill or is injured abroad, because they need to reimburse the treating country for medical costs, there are all sorts of rules regarding eligibility and methods of application, depending on the public health system in operation. In countries like UK where there is universal health provision paid for by general taxation (NHS), there is minimum qualification. In countries where there is a health insurance scheme to which people have to contribute through deduction from their pay, only those who are contributing members or otherwise eligible (e.g. the retired, disabled, on social security etc) are allowed to hold EHIC. So just having an address isn't enough.


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