One date worth remembering

Government Decree 145/2026 (IX. 4.), published on 4 September 2026, extended Hungarian temporary protection documents by another year. The new date is 4 March 2028.

Until now that date was 4 March 2027. The change puts into effect the EU decision that prolonged temporary protection for people fleeing the war in Ukraine until March 2028. This governmental decision came sooner than the previous year's.

The date on your card is not the real expiry

A menedékes document is a card certifying the right of residence and identity of the holder, with an expiration date of no more then 1 year in accordance with the relevant regulations. The new rule overrides that printed date: your document is valid until 4 March 2028 even if the card says 4 March 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 or 2027.

So there is nothing you need to do. No extension to apply for, no appointment to book, no new document to request. The validity comes from the law itself.

However, the old date is still printed on the card – and although most places have got used to this in recent years – it can still cause frustration when it comes to understanding the rules. At work, in a bank branch, at a doctor’s surgery or at school, it is quite common for a member of staff to look at the printed date and consider the document to have expired.

In that moment, showing something beats explaining something. The National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing has published a short official notice stating in plain terms that these documents are valid until 4 March 2028, whatever date appears on them. Save it to your phone, or keep a printout with your card — the link is at the end of this article.

So when does anyone get a new document?

There are two situations, and the authority keeps them apart:

  • Substitution, when one of the details on the document has changed — a new surname after marriage, for instance. The card can no longer certify your data, so a new one has to be issued.
  • Replacement, when the card has been lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged.

Neither has anything to do with the current extension: you are not going in because the document expired, but because something happened to the card or your personal data has changed.

Menedékes, or eligible for temporary protection?

Everyday speech blurs the two, but they are not the same:

  • Eligible for temporary protection means someone who may receive protection under the EU decision. At that stage it is a possibility, not a Hungarian status.
  • Menedékes means someone the Hungarian asylum authority has actually recognised, and who holds the document that goes with it.

The 4 March 2028 date belongs to the menedékes document.

The EU narrowed the rules — Hungary did not follow

The EU decision did more than extend. New applicants must now show that they have met their military obligations. The condition does not reach anyone who already held protection in a Member State on or before 30 July 2026 and has kept that status without interruption since.

The Hungarian decree says so unusually plainly in its opening lines: Hungary did not support the decision, because it sees no justification for excluding people who cannot leave Ukraine precisely because of their military obligations there. The group covered by Hungarian rules was therefore left untouched.

The immigration authority has confirmed as much: the conditions for recognition as menedékes in Hungary have not changed, and Ukrainian nationals liable for military service can still obtain temporary protection here under the rules that have applied since 2022.

One exception that may affect many people

The same notice points to another rule, and in practice it bites harder than it sounds. When deciding a Hungarian application, the authority checks whether the applicant has already been granted protection in another EU Member State — and if so, the Hungarian application is refused.

The good news runs the other way: if you obtained temporary protection elsewhere and that status is still live, the new EU rules will not take it from you.

What else the same decree changed

The decree rewrote more than a date. The mandate of the government commissioner for people fleeing the Russian–Ukrainian war has ended, so the work moved elsewhere:

  • the list of war-affected areas is now drawn up by the minister responsible for foreign policy, sent to the local defence committees monthly and published on the official website;
  • accommodation agreements with the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service are approved by the minister responsible for public finances.

This matters mostly to those receiving support tied to municipal or other accommodation, where eligibility often turns on whether the person's home in Ukraine lies in a war-affected area.

Two rules people often confuse with this one

  • Expired Ukrainian passports. A Ukrainian passport that expired after 24 February 2022 counts as valid for as long as EU temporary protection remains in place. That is not pinned to a calendar date, so it is not the same deadline as the one for documents.
  • Menedékes status and a residence permit are separate tracks. As a menedékes you may work in Hungary without a permit, agency work included. Your employer still has to report the employment, exactly as for any other foreign worker.

Worth thinking about now

The 4 March 2028 date buys a year and a half of calm. What it does not buy is a permanent answer: temporary protection still rests on an EU decision, and the word "temporary" is in there for a reason.

If you have settled work, a business or a child in school here, this is a good time to look at what more permanent grounds for residence might be available in the long term as an alternative to menedékes status, and what the requirements are. Unfortunately, this does not yet seem urgent, as the war is still ongoing; however, if you were to obtain a long-term right of residence, the time spent with menedékes status would be lost and could not be counted towards your lawful residence in Hungary.

If you have a question about your own situation, Horizontes Nova is happy to help you find your way.

This article is for information only and reflects the position as at 16 September 2026. It is not individual legal advice; in any specific case, the facts decide.

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