TAJ Card

As a Stipendium Hungaricum or Christian Young Scholarship holder, you are eligible for free health care in Hungary, once you have your TAJ card. Your TAJ number is also necessary to be legally employed in Hungary.  Please read below for more information!

First Application

TAJ Renewal

Application procedure

First application

Once you have your Hungarian residence permit, you are able to apply for a TAJ card.

 We organize regular TAJ APPLICATION APPOINTMENTS in the Stipendium Hungaricum Student Office (Room 10 on the ground floor of building R).

Please bring the following documents – PRINTED & FILLED – with you to our appointments to apply for a TAJ card. We do not accept incomplete applications!

The following documents are needed:

  • This application form
  • A copy of your passport (valid for at least 3 months),
  • A copy of your residence permit card (both sides, valid for at least 3 months),
  • A copy of your address card (both sides, stamped by the Immigration Office),
  • An original student status certificate with both signature and stamp, that you can get only by visiting the CAO personally. It has to be issued no longer than 30 days ago,
  • Your Letter of Award (a document that proves that you are receiving a monthly stipend),
  • Letter of authorization: You need to fill it out, print it and sign it. You will also need two witnesses to sign it, they can be anyone you know (“tanú” means witness). We have a guide on how to fill out. 

We will be having many TAJ application appointments, please check out our calendar for dates!

    Renewal – TAJ card expired

    To renew your TAJ card please follow the instructions below:

    (1) Make sure that your residence permit is valid!
    (The expiration date of your TAJ card is usually the same as that of your residence permit. Also, to renew your residence permit you must have valid health insurance, so you should start the process by renewing your residence permit before your TAJ card would expire!)

    (2) Print out all of the listed documents:

    • this application form (fill it out according to our guide)
    • A copy of your passport (valid for at least 3 months),
    • A copy of your residence permit card (both sides, valid for at least 3 months),
    • A copy of your address card (both sides, stamped by the Immigration Office),
    • An original student status certificate from the CAO that was issued no longer than 30 days ago,
    • Your Letter of Award (a document that proves that you are receiving a monthly stipend),

    (3) Visit the NEAK office in person with all the documents listed in (2):
    address of the NEAK office: 1139 Budapest, Teve Street, 1/a-c. Google Maps link: http://bit.ly/2vZHcWA    ).

    (4) Bring your NEW TAJ card to the CAO office, (BME, building R) during the opening hours (found on their website) to register your new TAJ card in Neptun.

    Downloadable documents for the application

    Visiting hours are placed in the Stipendium Hungaricum Student Office, located on the ground floor of Building R. Check the appointments on the sheet below!

    Print out, fill and sign, bring to the SH office (Building R, room 10)

    k

    Fill this out, print it, and get it signed by two witnesses

    Letter of Authorization

    Guide

    Other documents needed for the online application:

    h

    Please try to fill out this first. Sign it with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

    Application form (PDF)

    h

    If the PDF does not work, please fill out and sign this one using Microsoft Word.

    Application form (Word)

    l

    Print it out, fill it and do not forget to sign it!

    Application form guide

    More info about the process

    1. The International Mentor Team gathers your applications and forwards them to the TAJ office (NEAK office).
    2. A clerk at the TAJ office logs your data on their digital system and generates your TAJ number.
    3. Your number is sent to BME and added to your Neptun (you can find it on the ‘My Data’ tab as ‘Social security number’). At this point, your number is still inactive and hence you cannot access healthcare with it, but you can apply for jobs.
    4. After your TAJ number is added to Neptun, the Central Information System for Higher Education processes your application and decides whether you are eligible for it, or need further supporting documents.
    5. Once the TAJ office receives a notice from the Central Information System, they can launch the production of your TAJ card.
    6. When ready, your card is sent to BME. You receive a Neptun message once your card is ready for collection.

    For the renewal procedure, step 3 is omitted.

     

    What can you do if your card gets destroyed, damaged or lost?

    In case of loss, theft, destruction or damage of the TAJ card, you can request a new TAJ card by filling in an application form (downloadable from the homepage of the National Health Insurance Fund Management Company) (TAJ card duplicate).

    Once you filled in the application form, it must be filed at the government agency of District XIII., Budapest (address: 1139 Budapest, Teve Street, 1/a-c.,
    Google Maps link: http://bit.ly/2vZHcWA).

    Please note that the replacement cost of the TAJ card is 3,000 HUF (administrative service charge). In case your card is stolen, you need to report the loss at your local Police station and the replacement will be free of charge.

    If the TAJ card issuing office becomes aware of the theft of the TAJ card, it will arrange the replacement of the card without special request. In the event of police accusations, the police will always notify the health insurer of the theft of the TAJ card.

    What about fee-paying students?

    As a regular student, you are not entitled to free health care in Hungary. NEAK, which is the governmental body responsible for issuing TAJ cards, cannot take your application without a payment that equals 30% of the Hungarian minimum wage for 24 months. This sum currently equals 44,700 HUF/month, or 1,072,800 HUF altogether, as of October 2019. You can set up payment schemes that fit as closely to your needs as possible (paying in one sum, or monthly instalments for a specific number of months, etc.). If you opt for paying monthly, you need to pay until the 12th of each month. You are only eligible for emergency treatment before paying the above-mentioned sum unless you have private insurance.

    Even after getting your TAJ card, your use of it is restricted

    • You can only use emergency dental care.
    • Your TAJ card is only valid in Hungary, you cannot get free treatment in any other country with it (not even EEA member states).
    • You cannot sign up for transplantation and surgical waiting lists.

    Application

    You can apply for a TAJ card in NEAK’s central office (address: 1139 Budapest, Teve Street, 1/a-c, Google Maps link: http://bit.ly/2vZHcWA). You need to present the following documents (they may ask for some more, depending on your country of origin):

    • Residence permit AND a photocopy of both of its sides
    • Passport AND a photocopy of its personal data page
    • Address card AND a copy of both of its sides
    • An original student status certificate (from the CAO)

    Healthcare in Hungary

    Everyone, who is entitled to the Hungarian National Health Insurance, has the right to have access to adequate, permanently accessible (24 hours a day) medical care within the limits set by the law. The health care service must meet the requirements of equal treatment.

    There are certain health care benefits which are free of charge, and there are some for which you need to pay a supplementary fee.

    Please read our Medical Help guide, it contains a lot of useful information!

     

    Contact us

    If you have any questions please check the FAQ or contact us using the form below! We aim to provide answers as detailed as possible, which can take some time. Please be patient, we cannot respond instantaneously.

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