Minimum wage for 2026: HUF 322,800 – what it means for proving subsistence

On 23 December 2025 the Government promulgated Government Decree 426/2025. (XII. 23.) on setting the mandatory minimum wage and the guaranteed minimum wage. The decree entered into force on 1 January 2026 and applies for the first time to wages for January 2026.

According to the information page of the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing (OIF), an applicant for a residence permit for the purpose of family reunification must have sufficient financial means, "so that from lawfully obtained income and savings they can cover the costs of subsistence, accommodation, departure and health care". A condition of the national residence card is, among others, that the applicant's "accommodation and subsistence in the territory of Hungary are secured". Under section 9 of the implementing decree, subsistence may be proven, among other things, by income from employment or business in Hungary, by regular income paid from abroad, or by a notarial declaration of a family member undertaking to provide maintenance.

The minimum wage appears in the implementing decree in a single place, for residence for the purpose of guest self-employment: the annual income from the sole proprietorship must exceed twenty-four times the prevailing minimum wage.