Dear Graduating Students,
If you are planning to use your Hungarian diploma abroad, getting your diploma and transcript apostilled is one of the most important tasks to complete before leaving Hungary. Please note that this page provides not official information, but rather practical assistance from student experiences.
Before you start:
You should know that there are two steps to getting your documents apostilled.
The first step: Educational Authority / Oktatási Hivatal
The second step: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade / Konzuli Szolgálat
Below are the detailed instructions on how to move forward with your appointments.
Step 1: Educational Authority / Oktatási Hivatal
The educational authority authenticates your educational documents.
Make an appointment
The first step is to contact the Educational Authority/ Oktatási Hivatal to schedule an appointment. This can be done through their official e-mail address: Idopontfoglalas@oh.gov.hu. Once you email this address stating that you need an appointment, they will reply with an automatic email asking you for personal information. Fill in your personal information and send an email back.
An example of personal information might look like this:
* Client or authorized representative name: Soproni Student
* Please indicate how many people are coming with their documents (only yours or are you bringing documents for additional people as well): Only mine
* Total number of documents: 2
* Email address: sopronistudent@gmail.com
* Phone number: +36 70 436 75 22
*Possible dates of administration requested:
June 22nd, any time
June 23rd, any time
You can reply with “2” for the number of documents, as the Educational Authority counts both your Hungarian and English diplomas as one document, and the second document would be your transcript. (This information can also be useful when making your payment, as you would need to specify how many documents you are going to pay for).
Complete the form provided
When you get an appointment, you will receive another email regarding the details. In this email, you will receive a document you need to fill in and bring to your appointment, either handwritten or typed. Print that document later to be taken to your appointment.
Make the payment
Lastly, you will need to make your payment. You can make the payment through the official website of the Educational Authority / Oktatási Hivatal after you register on the website: https://www.oktatas.hu/ofpshop/!OFPShop/dokh.
There is also a guideline on how to make the payment provided in the email they will send you: https://www.oktatas.hu/pub_bin/dload/felsooktatas/apostille/ugyfelszolgalat/Guide_online_payment_intermediate_legalisation.pdf.
If you have trouble making the payment (or have doubts about how much you should pay), you can do it during your appointment with the officers' guidance; they are very helpful. Either way, register beforehand on the website to speed up the process.
Finally, what to bring to the appointment?
The original documents you want to apostille
Your Identity Card/ Passport
The printed form you filled in previously
Warning: The website of Oktatási Hivatal sometimes does not work through Wi-fi due to digital security reasons. You can turn on your own data to access the website.
Step 2: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade / Konzuli Szolgálat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is where you get the final apostille and legalize your diploma to be used abroad. Be careful: if you have not completed the first step, you cannot get an apostille on your documents.
Make an appointment
In order to make an appointment in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, you should go to this address: Konzinfo Booking. After selecting a consulate and choosing MFA Legalisation (max. 5 pieces), enter your personal data.
Here, the website will ask for the number of documents as well. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, unlike the Educational Authority, counts your Hungarian and English diploma as two separate documents. Therefore, you can make the decision here yourself whether you want to apostille your Hungarian document or not. It is advised by the officers to only apostille the English document and your transcript.
Warning: Especially during the months of June and July, many students try to make an appointment. The best time to find an appointment on the website might be at midnight. If you cannot find an open date to book an appointment, try again at midnight.
Warning: The website of Konzinfo Booking sometimes does not work through Wi-fi due to digital security reasons. You can turn on your own data to access the website.
After you complete booking your appointment, you will receive a confirmation email. If you would like to change or cancel your appointment, you can do so with the email provided.
Fill in the Application Form
After you book your appointment, you should fill in the application form at this link: https://konzinfostart.mfa.gov.hu. Log in and select Legalisation (in Hungary).
Enter your personal data in the section Data of Person Submitting the Application.
In the section of Invoicing Data, you choose the option say yes if this applies to you.
In the section Data of Documents to be Legalized, make sure to fill in the information for each document you want to apostille (e.g., if you are only going to apostille your English diploma and your transcript, add two documents). You can choose diploma degree for the type of document, and type University of Sopron for the authority to be legalized. The file number of the document is the number written on your diploma, which states your certificate number. Lastly, type the name of your country for the destination country.
Lastly, you can choose whether you would like to do this submission in person or via post, and make a comment if you would like.
After you fill in the form, the website will create a QR code for you and send it as a PDF file to your email. Print out this application form and bring it to your appointment.
It is worth noting that while it is important to give information to the best of your ability, it is possible to make mistakes during the process; do not panic, minor mistakes usually do not cause big problems as long as you have all the necessary documents.
The payment
The payment can be made at the consulate; you must pay by card.
Finally, what to bring to the appointment?
The original documents you want to apostille
Your Identity Card/ Passport
The printed QR code application form
Your bank card to make payment
These are the steps you need to follow to successfully legalize your documents. During the legalization process, make sure you go to all your appointments on time and read all your emails regarding your bookings.
If you want to learn more about the legalization process, find the official guidelines by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Legalisation Procedure of Documents to Be Used Abroad | Konzuli tájékoztatás.
Good luck/Jó szerencsét!
İdil Tanrıöver
