Student guide

Arriving: SIM, bank account, transport pass, insurance

Four things are worth doing in the first weeks, and the order matters: a SIM needs a passport, a bank account needs papers, a student pass needs a student ID.

What it costs

A prepaid SIM starts at about 1,000–2,000 HUF; a student bank account is often free up to the age of 24 or 25; the student pass costs roughly 40–60 percent of the full monthly pass.

How long it takes

The SIM on day one, the rest over the first weeks; the student ID card can take up to about 60 days, with a temporary certificate meanwhile.

SIM card

A prepaid SIM is sold at every operator's shop (Yettel, Telekom, One), at post offices and at petrol stations. Registering it with your passport is mandatory, and with foreign documents it can only be done in person in the operator's own shop, so a SIM bought elsewhere still needs a visit there. The registration has to be repeated every year, or the number is cut off. EU roaming works here too, but a Hungarian number helps with the bank and the offices.

Bank account

At a Hungarian bank (OTP, Erste, K&H, MBH, Raiffeisen and others) a student account is often free up to the age of 24 or 25, but opening one usually needs a passport, the residence permit, proof of address (from outside the EU, the accommodation certificate with the QR code; for EU students, the address card) and an enrolment certificate, and some banks ask for a Hungarian phone number. If your scholarship is paid to a Hungarian account you need a Hungarian bank, since some universities, ELTE among them, do not pay to foreign or virtual accounts; ask yours which banks it accepts. Until then, Wise holds forints and gives you Hungarian account details. Revolut now has Hungarian account numbers too, but from outside the EU it asks for the residence permit and an address, so it is no longer a day-one stopgap.

Student transport pass

Each city's operator sells a monthly student pass: BKK in Budapest, SZKT in Szeged, DKV in Debrecen, Tüke Busz in Pécs. It needs a student ID: the Hungarian one is arranged by the university, in Neptun, with a temporary certificate valid for 60 days until the card arrives. In Budapest, since June 2026, a foreign student card or ISIC gets the student pass only for EU, EEA or Swiss citizens with a registered Hungarian address; with a Hungarian student ID there is no such condition. Until then, the full-price monthly pass or single tickets (in Budapest in the BudapestGO app). Prices are on the operator's site.

With a Hungarian student ID the county pass ("megyebérlet") is cheaper still, 945 HUF a month, and it is valid on the city's lines in Budapest (the Pest county pass) and in Debrecen (the Hajdú-Bihar one), not in Szeged or Pécs. For trips home, trains and the MÁV Group's VOLÁN coaches are half price for everyone aged 14 to 25 with photo ID, and passes between towns are 90 percent off with a Hungarian student ID.

Health insurance

As an EU student your EHIC card from home covers necessary care. As a non-EU student the residence permit requires comprehensive insurance. Stipendium Hungaricum holders get the Hungarian health card (TAJ) through the scholarship, plus supplementary insurance. Self-funded students buy a private student policy (some universities sell one), or sign a paid agreement with NEAK, the national health insurance fund: 30 percent of the minimum wage a month (about 97,000 HUF in 2026), with only emergency care for the first 24 months unless they are paid in advance. Your university's international office knows the details. Find the university's medical office in the first weeks regardless.

Step by step

1. Day one: a prepaid SIM, registered with your passport in an operator's shop.
2. After the residence permit and the address: a Hungarian bank account (Wise until then).
3. After the student ID or the temporary certificate: the student pass.
4. Sort insurance as the university advises; find the medical office.

Common questions

Last checked: 2026. 11. 03. Prices and official rules change; always check the official sites before you act.