Declaration restitution for HU-territory-born persons who acquired no foreign nationality / became stateless — §5/A(1)(b) és (d)

§5/A(1)(b) eligibility — THREE cumulative conditions: (i) born in Hungarian territory (Magyarország területén); (ii) did not acquire any foreign nationality at birth; (iii) satisfies the residence/age threshold — must have resided in Hungary continuously since birth OR since turning 18, OR must have had at least 5 years of lawful Hungarian residence. Additionally must NOT have subsequently voluntarily acquired a foreign nationality.

No Hungarian-language requirement applies to the §5/A(1)(b) or (d) declaration route. The declaration restitution is grounded in historical birth-territory status and subsequent statelessness or no-foreign-nationality circumstances — not linguistic integration. This distinguishes it from the §4(3) diaspora naturalisation (which requires proof of Hungarian language) and from §4(1)(e) (which requires a constitutional-basics exam in Hungarian).

Filing process: the declaration is submitted at the anyakönyvvezető (civil-registry officer) of the applicant's registered Hungarian municipality, at a Kormányhivatal territorial organ, or — if the applicant is abroad — at the competent Hungarian consul (125/1993 Korm. rendelet §13(1)). Applications must be in Hungarian; the applicant appears in person.

No statutory maximum processing time is prescribed for §5/A declaration processing. Practice-based estimate: 6–18 months from complete-application filing to Presidential decision, followed by up to 1 year for the oath. Total estimated minimum-to-effective-acquisition: 7–31 months. Processing times may be longer for applicants whose documentary record spans multiple historical periods.

Illetékmentes (fee-free) since 2021-01-01. First-instance administrative procedures became fee-free; the Itv. (1990. évi XCIII. törvény) Melléklet XV. cím citizenship-fee items were repealed (2017. évi II. törvény onward). The often-cited HUF 133,400 standard-naturalisation fee is SUPERSEDED and does not apply to §5/A declarations. Only consular translation fees may apply for foreign-language source documents.

§5/A(1)(b) and (d) were operative from Act LV EIF 1993-10-01 and remain in force under the consolidated text (hatály 2025.XII.23). The predecessor instruments 1990:XXVII and 1990:XXXII were repealed by Act LV §24(3) at EIF, with §5/A absorbing their substance. No sunset or expiry date applies to either limb. The 2025 reform overlay (Act LXIV/2025 — suspension; Act CXXVI/2025 — foundling extension) does not modify §5/A.

Processing authority: the citizenship-matters organ (állampolgársági ügyekben eljáró szerv), operationally Budapest Főváros Kormányhivatala (BFKH), examines the declaration and prepares the submission. The President of the Republic issues the citizenship certificate (állampolgársági okirat). OIF (Országos Idegenrendészeti Főigazgatóság) has NO competence over citizenship declarations — OIF handles immigration, asylum, and the Guest Investor residence permit only.

Edge-case — §5/A(1)(b) and (d) interaction with §3(3)(a): §3(3)(a) (BTH route) addresses a child born IN Hungary to stateless-resident parents — the Hungarian presumption arises at birth. §5/A(1)(d) addresses a person who was born in Hungary but became stateless LATER in life (e.g., through dissolution of a state, cancellation of a foreign nationality, or other post-birth event). Where a person was born stateless (both parents stateless, in Hungary), §3(3)(a) is the primary route; §5/A(1)(d) applies to post-birth statelessness.