Background information

Effective 1 January 2024, Act XC of 2023 on the entry to Hungary of third-country nationals states in its preamble that Hungary only accepts guest workers under “the strictest conditions”. It also states that a guest worker can only be employed if no Hungarian applicant is available, which must be examined in the case of every vacant job to be filled. It also states that guest workers can only arrive in numbers not exceeding vacant jobs and that their stay in Hungary is limited and must “serve the interests of Hungarian society”. Article 28(4) states that the minister in charge of employment policy may set quotas for work permits to be issued.

Content of measure

Although Act XC of 2023 already stated that the number of foreign workers cannot exceed the number of vacant jobs in Hungary, this was further specified in a ministerial decree. Under decree 8/2024 (1 March 2024) of the Ministry of the Economy (NGM) the number of work permits to be issued to third-country nationals including guest-worker permits cannot exceed 65,000 in 2024 (Article 1). As an additional rule (Article 1(2)) the number of permits cannot exceed the average number of vacant jobs registered over the previous four quarters by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office KSH. The requests are filed to the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (OFI).

Use of measure

In 2023 the number of work permits requested totalled 106,377, up 25% from 2022. In 2024 69,025 requests were received, including 24,067 for guest workers, according to data from the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (OFI).

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Migrants or refugees in employment	Other businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No involvement was reported.

Views and reactions

The withdrawal of the first Act signalled rushed planning, as legislators balanced having strict rules, aligned with the government’s anti-immigration stance, while ensuring needed workforce. Restrictions followed: a quota was introduced, then cut in half effective 2025, while the scope of source countries was narrowed from 15 to 10 as of July 2024 (Hárs, 2025, Govt decree 180/2024).

Sources

• 01 January 2024: Hárs, Á. Migration, labour shortage, guest workers (doi.org)
• 01 January 2024: Act XC of 2023 on immigration (njt.hu)
• 01 March 2024: Decree 8/2024 EconMin (njt.hu)
• 06 May 2024: OIF statistics 2023 (oif.gov.hu)
• 01 January 2025: Hárs, Á. Many or few? Guest worker recruitment in Hungary (doi.org)
• 01 January 2025: Govt decree 450/2024 on employment of guest workers (njt.hu)
• 01 January 2025: Decree 51/2024 (EconMin) (njt.hu)
• 21 February 2025: OIF Statistics 2024 (oif.gov.hu)