Diplomas obtained at Hungarian universities, including Budapest Business University can be used abroad - either for the purposes of further studies, or employment - after a legalisation procedure has been completed.
Diplomas obtained in Hungary are legalised by the Customer Service Office of the Department of Consular Affairs and Citizenship of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, as soon as the documents issued by the universities receive the so-called internal legalisation by the Educational Authority.
Based on the country where the document will be used, the legalisation of documents can be divided into two categories: there is the so-called Apostille Certificate and the ‘classic’ ministerial legalisation.
Apostille Certificate
If you wish to use a Hungarian document in a foreign country that signed the so-called Apostille Convention, then the document is legalised by issuing the so-called Apostille Certificate.
The list of countries which accept this Certificate can be found here: https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/authorities1/?cid=41
While considering your options keep in mind not only your home country but other countries as well where you might work in the future and check the above list accordingly.
Ministerial legalisation
For other countries which are not included in the above list, additional legalisation is needed which is carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This is the ministerial legalisation of documents. In these cases, after the first legalisation, the documents have to be diplomatically legalised by the Embassy/Consulate of the target country in Hungary. In this case, the procedure ends with the legalisation by the foreign mission.
The fee for legalisation is HUF 5,500, for the Apostille Certificate and the ministerial legalisation as well. If you need to have both legalisations on your diploma since you would be working in a country which is not part of the Apostille Convention, the cost is HUF 11,000.
It is one of the key priorities of our university to make administrative issues smooth for foreign students, therefore we wish to offer our help in the legalisation procedure of diplomas. For foreign students who have not applied to our university via Felvi.hu (Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship, Scholarship Programme for Christian Young People, Self-funded foreign students).
Process of applying for the legalisation of a diploma
1. Only those students can request the legalisation of their diploma who registered for the final examination in the Neptun system in the current semester.
2. Students have to decide which legalisation procedure they would apply for, and based on that pay the item of HUF 5,500/legalisation stipulated in the Neptun system. If you wish to apply for both procedures, you have to pay 2 x HUF 5,500, HUF 11,000 altogether.
Your payment is the confirmation that you wish to apply for the procedure(s) so those who do not make the necessary payment(s) till the given deadline won’t be able to use this opportunity and will have to manage the legalisation on their own. This also means that sending a confirmation via email is not necessary.
Similarly, if you do not wish to apply for the procedure, just ignore the payment items, it’s not required to send an additional email.
3. Deadline of payment:
- In the case of a final examination in the autumn semester: 10th January
- In the case of a final examination in the spring semester: 10th June
4. The outstanding payments you will see in Neptun:
- Legalisation by Apostille Certificate (HUF 5,500)
- Ministerial legalisation (HUF 5,500)
5. You will receive your legalised diploma at the graduation ceremony following a successful final examination. The date of the graduation ceremony will be confirmed later.
Important! If you applied for a ministerial legalisation for your diploma, then, after the graduation ceremony, you have to get your diploma further legalised by the Embassy/Consulate of the target country in Hungary.
Since this is the final step of the ministerial legalisation, if you do not complete this, the legalisation won’t be official. Students have to book an appointment at the Embassy/Consulate themselves and have to manage this procedure on their own. The procedure has a separate fee which must be paid directly to the Embassy/Consulate. Please contact them directly to learn more about the fees and any document you might need to bring along. Only book an appointment once the date of the graduation ceremony has been confirmed.
Also keep in mind that you will have to secure accommodation and funds for the additional time you will need to spend in Hungary to join the graduation ceremony and complete the procedure. Those who need to extend their residence permit will receive further information once the date of the ceremony has been confirmed.
Should you have any further questions, please contact our staff at the legalisation@uni-bge.hu e-mail address!