Your first weeks: address card, utilities, banking

The short version

Moving with children? The school, pediatric care, and family-district decisions have their own guide.

In your first weeks, the jobs that unblock the rest are: get a Hungarian tax number, register your address and collect your lakcímkártya (address card), open a bank account, and sort the utilities and the building's közös költség (common charge). Health cover through the TAJ system usually follows from employment or paid contributions. None of this is hard on its own, but the pieces depend on each other, so order matters.

Registering your address and the lakcímkártya

When you move into a home in Hungary, you register that address with the state, and you can ask for a lakcímkártya, the plastic address card that proves where you officially live. Almost every other errand, from banking to a child's school place, may ask to see proof of address, so this is the first domino. Our address card guide covers every route, deadline and fee in detail.

• Where. You register at a government one-stop office (kormányablak) or the district registry. EU and EEA citizens declare their first address in the registration certificate procedure with the immigration authority (OIF); non-EU residence permit holders report their accommodation to OIF online on EnterHungary. See the address card guide for which route fits you.
• The consent you need. The property owner must confirm you may live there. In a rental that means your landlord signs a housing-provider declaration (szállásadói nyilatkozat) or ticks the consent on the form. If you own the flat, your own title is the proof. Most landlords sign it as a matter of routine and a few like to discuss it first, so raise it before you sign the lease; registration needs it.
• What to bring. Your passport or ID, your residence permit if non-EU, the signed address-registration form with the owner's consent, and proof of the address. Registration itself is the legal step; since 1 February 2025 the plastic card is issued on request, for a fee. Published figures are 3,700 HUF (about 10 EUR) for the card plus 2,000 HUF (about 5 EUR) if it is posted to you (biztosdontes.hu, lakcímkártya guide (updated 28 May 2026); Helpers, all about the Hungarian address card (28 February 2025)), and OIF lists 5,700 HUF (about 16 EUR) for EU and EEA citizens receiving their first card through the registration certificate procedure (OIF, change as of 1 May 2025). Confirm the current fee with the office before you pay.
• Result. Your address is registered, and if you requested it, you get the lakcímkártya showing it. Many people do request it, because it is the simplest proof of address at a bank counter. Keep it safe; you will show it often in your first months.

Utilities and the közös költség

Two different things get confused here: the metered utilities you consume, and the building's shared monthly charge.

The metered utilities

• Electricity (áram) and gas (gáz) are supplied through MVM Next for households. If you bought, transfer the contracts into your name (the átírás), generally within about 15 days of handover, using the meter readings recorded at the handover. If you rent, agree with your landlord whether the accounts stay in their name with you reimbursing, or transfer to you.
• Water (víz) in Budapest is billed by the municipal water company (Fővárosi Vízművek). It is often settled through the building rather than a personal contract, so check how your building handles it.
• Internet is a competitive market: Magyar Telekom, One (formerly Vodafone), and DIGI are the main providers. Check what is already wired into the flat, as switching provider can mean an install visit and a contract term.

Whether you buy or rent, always photograph the electricity, gas and water meter readings on the day you take possession, and keep them. That single habit keeps first bills clear and easy to settle.

The közös költség

If you live in a condominium building (társasház), you also pay a monthly common charge, the közös költség, toward shared costs: cleaning, lighting and power for common areas, the lift, the building's insurance, the maintenance reserve, and the building manager. In some buildings it also bundles in water and refuse; in others those are billed separately. Each building sets its own rate per square metre, and there is no official statistic. As a guide, 2026 rate sheets published by two Budapest buildings run from about 180 to 350 HUF per square metre per month where water is metered separately, and about 470 to 620 HUF where water is included, so a typical 50 to 60 m² flat pays about 9,000 to 21,000 HUF a month (about 25 to 58 EUR) with water metered separately, or about 23,500 to 37,000 HUF (about 64 to 101 EUR) with water included. If you rent, check who pays it (usually the owner) and confirm it in the lease. If you own, you pay it to the building.

Opening a bank account

A local account makes everything smoother: receiving a salary, paying rent, and setting up direct debits for the utilities and the közös költség. What a bank will typically ask for:

• A valid passport or national ID.
• Your Hungarian tax number (adóazonosító jel).
• Proof of a Hungarian address, where the lakcímkártya is the cleanest evidence.
• For non-EU nationals, often your residence permit, and sometimes proof of income or employment.

The big retail banks (OTP, Erste, K&H, Raiffeisen, UniCredit, CIB) all offer accounts to foreigners, with English service more reliable at the larger central branches. Many new arrivals bridge the first few days with a Revolut or Wise account for transfers and card spending, then open a full Hungarian account once the tax number and address card are in hand. If you plan to apply for a mortgage, opening the account early also starts the banking relationship; see our financing guide.

TAJ and health cover, at a high level

The TAJ number (Társadalombiztosítási Azonosító Jel) is your Hungarian public health and social-security identifier, and the TAJ card is what state clinics and hospitals ask for. The key point for new arrivals: cover depends on your status, not just on living here, so it is worth sorting early.

• If you are employed by a Hungarian company, your employer registers you and you become entitled to public healthcare through your contributions; you then apply for the TAJ card.
• If you are not employed here (self-employed abroad, remote worker, early-stage arrival), you are typically not covered by default. You either pay voluntary monthly health contributions to join, or carry private or international health insurance in the meantime.
• EU citizens can use a European Health Insurance Card for necessary care while their status settles, but that is not a substitute for proper local cover once you live here.

This is a high-level orientation, not immigration or insurance advice. Confirm your own entitlement with your employer or the health-insurance fund, and keep private cover in place until you are sure you are enrolled.

Your first 30 days: the checklist

A rough order that keeps the dependencies straight:

1. Apply for your Hungarian tax number (adóazonosító jel).
2. Get the landlord's consent and register your address; request the lakcímkártya if you want the card (how it works).
3. Open a bank account once you have the tax number and address card.
4. Transfer or set up the utilities (áram, gáz, víz, internet), with meter photos from day one.
5. Confirm who pays the közös költség and set up the payment.
6. Sort health cover: register for TAJ through work, or arrange contributions or private insurance.
7. Set up direct debits so nothing lapses, and keep copies of every document.

We have turned this into a clean one-page checklist you can print and tick off as you go.