The simplified naturalisation procedure was introduced on January 2, 2011, and 363,795 applications have been submitted to Budapest over the past two years, with a further few thousand still on the way, meaning a total of around 370 thousand applicants. Interest remains high, something that is mirrored in the number of appointments made.

If the current tendency continues, our five hundred thousandth compatriot will submit their application, and may take their oath and receive Hungarian citizenship within the current parliamentary cycle.

Thanks to the efforts of the Hungarian public administration system, the currently very short administrative deadlines are successfully being kept to and over 360 thousand people have now taken their citizenship oath.

The majority of applicants are Hungarians from Transylvania and Vojvodina, but so far citizens from a total of 65 countries have applied for naturalisation at a total of 73 diplomatic representative offices abroad. In general, many applications are submitted at Hungarian Embassies and Consulates, where interest in naturalisation has increased significantly both nominally and proportionally, rising from 38.6 percent to 57 percent of all cases. The most applications were submitted in Csíkszereda (Miercuria Ciuc), Kolozsvár (Cluj) and Szabadka (Subotica).

Parliament has adopted Act CCVII of 2012 aimed at the realisation of the Magyary Simplification Programme, while the related implementation decrees will be issued in the coming days. The new legislation radically simplifies procedures relating to the registration of births (including the domestic registration of foreign births), public records and citizenship, which means simplified administrative procedures and fewer administrative burdens.

We regard openness towards the Hungarian peoples in the diaspora, the cultural and economic significance of which is also immeasurable, as a national policy goal. In accordance with the announcements made at the sessions of the Hungarian Permanent Council (MÁÉRT) and the Diaspora Council, we will be visiting the diaspora's organisations personally in 2013 through our representatives, who will help to preserve and reinforce them with respect to the Hungarian language and culture, and will also be at their disposal in relation to citizenship issues.

Zsolt Semjén
Deputy Prime Minister responsible for National Policy

(Prime Minister’s Office)