Hungarian citizenship: an exam about the constitution in Hungarian, and a simplified route with no exam at all
Hungary has two very different doors to citizenship, and they test Hungarian in two very different ways. Ordinary naturalisation, after eight years of residence, asks you to pass an exam in basic constitutional knowledge, taken in Hungarian (alkotmányos alapismeretek vizsga). Simplified naturalisation, for people with a Hungarian ancestor or Hungarian origin, has no residence requirement and no exam at all: the official who takes your application checks your Hungarian and signs to say so.
Everything below was read on 18 October 2026: Act LV of 1993 on Hungarian citizenship and Government Decree 125/1993 on njt.jog.gov.hu, the government's mirror of the National Legislation Database (njt.hu itself would not load for us), the duties act on the same site, and the Budapest Capital Government Office's exam leaflet dated January 2025. The statutory wording is also in our citizenship requirements table.
Who sits the constitutional exam
Section 4(1)(e) of the Act asks an applicant to prove that they passed an exam in constitutional basics in Hungarian, or that the law exempts them and they prove their Hungarian another way. The same condition applies to the shorter preferential routes in sections 4(2) and 4(4), because both refer back to points (b) to (e) of section 4(1).
The language is the medium of the exam, not its subject. No CEFR level is printed anywhere in the Act or the decree.
Exempt from the exam (section 4/A(2)): people with limited or no legal capacity; anyone who obtained a qualification at a Hungarian-language school or university; anyone aged 60 or over on the day they apply; and anyone who proves a lasting, irreversible decline in health that makes the exam impossible. Exempt applicants still have to prove they know Hungarian.
The format: written and oral, the same day, pass or fail
Annex 7 of the decree sets the exam out. It has a written part and an oral part, and both are taken on the same day. Before the oral you get at least 30 minutes to prepare. The Budapest office's leaflet gives the timetable: arrive for 8:45, written exam 9:00 to 10:00, oral from 10:00. At most 25 candidates sit on any one exam day.
The result is pass or fail (megfelelt or nem felelt meg), and the leaflet says the exam is passed only if both parts are passed. We found no published point threshold.
The board has a chair and two members, either civil servants with a law or public-administration degree or a university-qualified teacher who teaches civics in a primary school.
The nine topics
The decree lists what the exam covers: Hungary's place in the Carpathian Basin, Europe and international organisations (UN, Council of Europe, NATO, EU); national symbols and holidays, including the coat of arms, the flag, the crown, the Himnusz and the Szózat; turning points of Hungarian history, from the Conquest and the founding of the state to the change of system in 1990; outstanding Hungarians in fine art, music and science; the defining figures of Hungarian literature; the core institutions of the Fundamental Law (Parliament, the President, the Government, the Constitutional Court, the courts); the structure of public administration; civic rights and duties; and Hungarian citizenship itself.
The leaflet recommends one textbook, Mária Ugróczky's Alkotmányos alapismeretek (9th edition, 2024), listed at 4,600 HUF. The office also runs free one-day preparation sessions before the exam.
Where you sit it, and what it costs
The exam is run by the Budapest Capital Government Office (Budapest Főváros Kormányhivatala), which takes registrations and holds the exam at its Legal and Coordination Department, Váci út 174 in Budapest. Its January 2025 leaflet listed exam days every month from 24 February to 17 December 2025.
The fee is set by the decree at half the monthly minimum wage. The leaflet gives 145,400 HUF from 1 January 2025, payable only by the yellow postal cheque the office issues. The 2026 minimum wage is 322,800 HUF (Government Decree 426/2025), so the decree's own rule gives 161,400 HUF for 2026. That figure is our arithmetic: we found no 2026 leaflet stating it.
A failed exam can be retaken, and we found no limit on attempts. If you failed only one part, you pay half the fee to retake it (72,700 HUF on the 2025 figures).
Naturalisation itself costs nothing. The duties act lists naturalisation, re-naturalisation and renunciation among the procedures not subject to any fee.
Simplified naturalisation: no exam, a check at the counter
Section 4(3) lets a non-Hungarian citizen be naturalised on preferential terms if an ancestor was a Hungarian citizen, or they show Hungarian origin as likely, and they prove their knowledge of Hungarian. Residence in Hungary is not required. Section 4(3a) asks the same Hungarian of spouses of Hungarian citizens married for ten years, or five with a child.
There is no written test. Decree 125/1993 section 2(1) has the official who receives the application (at a district government office, a consulate or a customer-service office) check the applicant's Hungarian and sign the application to certify that the check took place. Neither the Act nor the decree describes a written exam for this route.
What that conversation contains, how long it lasts and what level it expects is not published in the Act or the decree, and the consular notices we tried no longer load. Prepare to hold a conversation in Hungarian with the official, who signs only once satisfied.
Proof of Hungarian can be waived only for people without legal capacity.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Preparing for the constitutional exam as if it were a language test.
Studying the nine topics in Hungarian, for a written paper and an oral the same morning.
The Act tests constitutional knowledge, in Hungarian. Both parts must be passed, and the oral follows the written within the hour.
Expecting a test date for the simplified route.
Preparing to talk in Hungarian when you hand in the application.
The decree has the receiving official check your Hungarian and sign the application. There is no separate exam.
Paying the exam fee by bank transfer.
Waiting for the yellow postal cheque from the Budapest office.
The office's leaflet says the fee can be paid only on the cheque it issues.
Questions
Is there a language test for Hungarian citizenship?
Ordinary naturalisation requires an exam in basic constitutional knowledge, taken in Hungarian. Simplified naturalisation has no exam: the official who receives the application checks your Hungarian and signs to certify it.
How much does the Hungarian constitutional exam cost?
Half the monthly minimum wage: 145,400 HUF from 1 January 2025, according to the Budapest Capital Government Office. Applying the same rule to the 2026 minimum wage gives 161,400 HUF, though we found no 2026 leaflet stating it.
Who is exempt from the Hungarian citizenship exam?
Anyone aged 60 or over when applying, anyone with a qualification from a Hungarian-language school or university, people with limited or no legal capacity, and people whose health makes the exam impossible. Exempt applicants still have to prove they know Hungarian.
What is on the Hungarian constitutional exam?
Nine topics set by Government Decree 125/1993: Hungary's place in Europe, national symbols and holidays, history to 1990, figures of art, music and science, literature, the institutions of the Fundamental Law, public administration, civic rights and duties, and Hungarian citizenship.
Can I retake the Hungarian citizenship exam?
Yes. A failed exam can be repeated, and if only the written or the oral part was failed, the retake costs half the fee.
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