Inter Relocation Group Named to Short List of Recipients for Prestigious Cartus Masters Cup Award

Highest Honor Bestowed by Cartus Global Network will Recognize Winner’s Outstanding Service and Performance

The Inter Relocation Group has been named to the short list of finalists for the Cartus Masters Cup Award at its 2016 Global Network Conference to be held on October 3-4, in Washington, DC at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

The Cartus Global Network is Cartus’ industry-leading worldwide service provider network. Each year, Cartus recognizes the companies and individuals in the Network that have provided extraordinary service.

Inter Relocation Group has been nominated for the Cartus Masters Cup

The Inter Relocation Group has been nominated for the Cartus Masters Cup in the category of home-related services. Presented annually, only to high achieving Global Network members who have previously received top awards, the Cartus Masters Cup recognizes a service provider that has achieved exceptionally high standards of quality.

Winners must show collaboration in developing cost effective and innovative approaches for Cartus clients, and demonstrate outstanding performance and commitment – not only to Cartus’ vision and values, but also to Cartus’ mission statement: “We come to work every day to help our customers and clients succeed.”

Platinum Commitment to Excellence

The Inter Relocation Group has achieved Cartus’ highest award for customer service, the Platinum Commitment to Excellence award for the last three years.

Moreover, there is an expectation that this achievement will be repeated in 2016. Inter Relocation has also achieved major cost savings for Cartus’ clients over the course of the last 12 months, in line with its goal to demonstrate real value to the clients it serves.

“Cartus’ rigorous criteria and performance standards make nomination for this award an honor in and of itself,” said Stuart McAlister, Managing Director. “We believe in providing the highest levels of service. This nomination underscores that dedication – and also reflects our companies’ common goals.”

Learn who won the award here!

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About Cartus

For more than 60 years, Cartus has provided trusted guidance to organizations that require global relocation solutions. Providing the full spectrum of relocation services, including language and intercultural training, Cartus serves more than half of the Fortune 50 and has moved employees into and out of 185 countries.

Cartus is part of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services. To find out how our greater experience, reach, and hands-on guidance can help your company, visit www.cartus.com for more information.

About Inter Relocation

Inter Relocation was founded in March 2002. It is a provider of relocation destination services and immigration compliance in Budapest, Hungary. The company was established with three full-time members of staff and has since grown to its current staff of 16.

In addition, in 2003 the international side of the company, called the Inter Relocation Group. From humble beginnings with the company offering relocation services in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Inter Relocation now boasts franchise group members in 22 countries across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The Budapest office acts as the group headquarters.

Salute The Amazing Athletes of the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games

Every Olympic year since 1960, the Paralympics have been held along with the regular Olympic Games. Take a brief look at how Hungary has performed in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.

Hungary has 43 Paralympic athletes competing in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games in Rio Janeiro, Brazil, which run from September 7-18.

They compete in such events as swimming, table tennis, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair tennis, shooting, powerlifting, paracanoeing, judo and cycling.

 So far this year, Hungary has won eight medals, as follows:  

Silver:

  • Swimming Men’s 200m Individual Medley – SORS Tamás
  • Swimming Women’s 100m Backstroke – PAP Bianka
  • Table Tennis – CSONKA András

Bronze:

  • Swimming Women’s 200m Individual Medley – PAP Bianka
  • Table Tennis – PÁLOS Péter
  • Swimming Men’s  100m Freestyle – TÓTH Tamás

Once again, our little Central European country continues to produce Olympic-caliber athletes who overcome all manner of difficulties to compete in their specialties. Hungary made its Paralympic Games debut at Heidelberg in 1972 and since then has won 123 medals (29 gold, 40 silver and 54 bronze), more than half of which came in swimming (22 Gold, 21 Silver and 28 Bronze).

Fencer Pál Szekeres and swimmers Géza Dukai and Zsolt Vereczkei are Hungary’s most successful Paralympians in individual events, each claiming three gold and three bronze medals. In addition, Krisztina David is one to watch in 2016; she won silver at the 2014 IPC Shooting World Championships in the women’s 10m air pistol event and could win Hungary’s first Paralympic medal in shooting.

Hungary also shines at wheelchair fencing, with athletes such as Zsuzsanna Krajnyak.

History of Paralympics

Sport for athletes with an impairment has existed for more than 100 years, but it was not until after World War II that its popularity expanded. The purpose of it at that time was to assist the large number of war veterans and civilians who had been injured during wartime.

On 29 July 1948, the day of the Opening Ceremony of the London 1948 Olympic Games, the first unofficial competition for wheelchair athletes was organized. It involved 16 injured servicemen and women who took part in archery.

The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome, Italy, in 1960 and featured 400 athletes from 23 countries. In 1976 Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, staged the first Paralympic Winter Games. The Games are now the second biggest sporting event in the world.

The word “Paralympic” derives from the Greek preposition “para” (beside or alongside) and the word “Olympic”. Its meaning is that Paralympics are the parallel Games to the Olympics and illustrates how the two movements exist side-by-side.

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories: amputation; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes; visual impairment; Les autres (i.e., any others, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis).

Congratulations to all the amazing Paralympic athletes!

Calling all British citizens in Hungary

Calling all British citizens in Hungary!

Unless you’ve been hiding out in a cave for the last few months, you’ll know that on 23rd June the United Kingdom votes whether to leave the European Union or not.

Expatriate Brits in Hungary may register to vote by post if they have legally resided abroad less than 15 years. 

This is extremely relevant for anyone enjoying the simplified immigration benefits that membership of the EU brings.

We’d like to encourage any eligible UK citizens who have not yet done so to register for a postal vote from Hungary HERE.

NOTE: You must register by 7 June if you want to vote in the EU referendum on 23 June.

The process is easy. Our very own Stuart McAlister successfully registered and he assures it takes no more than 10 minutes!

Our Journey to Hungary

Read about Marylin Ball-Brown & Gene Brown, their journey to Hungary, how they retired here and the challenges they overcame.

By Marylin Ball-Brown & Gene Brown

We married in March of 1980 in the Pacific NW. Shortly after, Marylin had to have emergency surgery which put an end to any hope of having children of our own.

During our marriage we traveled a lot and were fascinated by other cultures.

We decided to begin hosting foreign exchange students to fill the childless void. Starting out with a Japanese short stay exchange program, we hosted 25 students, who stayed with us from 4-8 weeks at a time.

We decided that this type of program was unfulfilling due to the short time we spent with the students. We decided to host full year students so we could have more time to get to know them. Over the years we hosted 10 full-year students and became very close with them, their friends, and their families.

Where to spend our golden years

As we neared retirement, we talked about how we wanted to spend our golden years. When we realized the time had come to make a decision about the rest of our lives we began exploring our options. We had traveled to Mexico and had enjoyed our time there and thought, because Belize was nearby, and was an English speaking country we might settle there.

A trip to Belize in August made us change our minds. The heat, humidity and the bugs were too much for us Northwesterners. We had scheduled back to back trips at that time and the second trip was to Europe. We visited three of our European exchange students on that trip and realized the weather was similar to what we were used to and Eastern Europe was affordable.

Hungary had all

While visiting our Hungarian student that September, we realized Hungary had all the attributes of the retirement destination we were looking for, with friends and family, decent infrastructure, well educated professionals, good health care, a favorable climate, reasonable cost of living (which would allow us to continue our travels) and it is in a central position so we could visit all of our European students easily.

It has the most beautiful scenery and architecture we have found anywhere in the world. It was a perfect solution. We went back to United States and Gene gave retirement notice to his employer.

Our Journey to Hungary

We sold everything we couldn’t put into a 20 ft container. It was a bold move and with the help of our friends and family we were able to pull it off and were living in Hungary by December 2013. Neither one of us had Hungarian ancestors so we do not qualify for dual citizenship. We investigated the requirements of permanent residency in Hungary and began to assemble the necessary documents.

Our Hungarian son and his family were very helpful with translating the myriad government documents that were required and went with us to the Immigration office, insurance office and other various government agencies each time we found we were missing documents to complete the process. Even the Hungarians aren’t aware of and don’t understand all of the rules and regulations. The Parliament changes the rules so quickly that the bureaucrats have a difficult time keeping up on the current information.

Had we known about Inter Relocation

Had we known about the services that Stuart McAlister provides to expats for the process of establishing permanent residency, it would have made our experience so much easier, but we plowed through it with, yes, tears and many trips to Budapest before the residency documents were issued to us. We purchased a house in a small town approximately 25 km from Budapest as we had never been “city” people.

This process was made easier due to an extraordinary real estate agent, Edit Porkolab, who was recommended to us by our Hungarian family, and she helped us through every step.

The most memorable residency application process

The cost to purchase a house in Hungary was about 1/3 the cost of a similar house in the US. The surprises we encountered throughout the whole residency application process were many but the most memorable are:

1. We were planning to buy into the Hungarian National Health Insurance Program but were told that we couldn’t get the National Health Insurance without permanent residency status. In order to get our permanent residency we had to prove we were insured. Catch 22. We therefore had to purchase private insurance for the first year.

We were also told, by a bureaucrat in the National Health Insurance office, that after paying for the Hungarian National Insurance for one year at a rate of approximately $250 each per month, that after one year the cost would decrease to approximately $40 each per month. Not true. After one year we went back to the Hungarian National Insurance office and were told it was for a minimum of three years that we had to pay the higher amount. Big difference!

2. While still in the U.S., we sold all of our vehicles, except for our Harley Davidson motorcycle, as we planned to purchase a car in Hungary after we arrived. When we went to register the freshly purchased vehicle we were told we couldn’t register it in our name. However, with a little grease, we were able to secure the title in our name.

Since the Hungarian laws changed in August 2014, that is no longer possible. We purchased a trailer for the motorcycle in September, 2014 and had to register it in our Hungarian “sons” name. We are not allowed to register the Harley in our own names at this time. Registration of vehicles requires that one have the plastic Hungarian address card, but we had to find all of this out by trial and error.

3. After we had secured all of the documents the Immigration office requested we went to the office for the final time, or so we thought. This was the fifth trip to the Immigration office by this time and we were told we still needed one document. A document that, up to this time, we were never told would be required. We needed a letter from our Hungarian son that stated his family was happy that we were moving to Hungary. I guess the immigration officials thought we might be stalking the family.

Cost of living in Hungary is much lower than it was in the US

Our paper address cards, which were issued by the immigration authorities, are good for three years. After 3 years, we now understand we will be allowed to obtain permanent (plastic) address cards which will afford us lower cost insurance and, as we are senior citizens, free public transportation, and other senior benefits. Now that we are here in Hungary permanently, our cost of living is much lower than it was in the US.

We own our house outright, and our monthly expenses, including homeowners-auto-motorcycle insurance, health insurance, utilities, cell phone, cable, internet, gardener, and housekeeper average a little over $1000 per month. The property taxes are about $200/year (no, I didn’t leave out a digit).

Enjoying the beauty of Hungary

Our retirement funds allow us to travel extensively and, as we are located in central Europe, we can easily visit our European exchange students. We do miss our friends and family in the US but since we are in a vacation destination they can come and enjoy the beauty that is Hungary.

We were concerned that the language barrier would be difficult but have found the Hungarians to be helpful to the point of going out of their way to make it easier for us. We are taking Hungarian lessons and our Hungarian friends are taking English lessons so we can all better understand each other.

We have found that most people speak a little English and Gene speaks German so we haven’t had many instances where we haven’t been able to communicate and those few times we have needed help our Hungarian son is only a telephone call away! The lesson we learned during our move and the residency process was to leave it to the professionals.

We will be contacting Stuart McAlister to assist us through this next step and know it will be a much easier and less stressful process.

Local challenges – interview with Stuart McAlister, vice president of the European Relocation Association

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Adapting to a new country and culture can take several weeks or even months, but with appropriate help, the transition can be a lot smoother.

2015/2 – by Ágnes Horváth, in Business Traveller Hungary /interview with Stuart McAlister

Finding and furnishing the suitable home, handling the documents necessary for legal employment and residence, getting to know the new place of residence and the local customs as well as finding a school and doctor pose serious challenges for foreigners when moving to another country, especially if they do not speak the local language.

Inter Relocation Group has considerable experience in helping newly-hired foreigners and their family members settle down in Hungary or any of another 19 countries. Its founder and managing director, Stuart McAlister, came to Hungary as a young and adventurous expat in the mid-1990s, before founding his own company in 2002. Over more than 20 years in Hungary, he has not only become accustomed to the culture but also mastered the language.

“We are not movers – although we can provide this type of service too with the help of our partners – we facilitate the integration of foreign employees coming to Hungary” explains Stuart McAlister.

“The majority of our work is made up of the administration of official documents, but we also focus on destination services, i.e. services related to settling down, namely residential, school and other services necessary for living in Hungary, as well as providing help with local orientation and bridging the cultural gap.”

To start with, how long does it take to obtain the documents necessary for legal employment in Hungary?

For citizens of the European Union and the European Economic Community the situation is more straightforward because the administration related to the required documents – social security card, tax card and documents necessary for employment – only has to begin after arriving in Hungary, which is less time-consuming.

For those coming from third countries, i.e. citizens of non-EU and non-EEC countries, however, the procedure is much longer because a visa is needed in many cases before even applying for a residence permit.

To this end, the purpose of the residence must be documented and fulfilment of the housing conditions must be proved (e.g. with a lease contract, title deed or address registration form) whilst verifying that there are sufficient funds on the bank account until the first salary payment is received – if a unified residence permit for work has been requested. Health insurance needs to be obtained too.

This procedure takes about four months, so it is advisable to launch it in good time as work cannot begin without a residence permit. For those who would like to drive a car it is also good to know that they can do so for one year after the legal acceptance of their residence, provided they hold an international driving licence issued by their own country. Thereafter, however, they have to request a Hungarian driving licence if their home country did not sign the 1968 Vienna Convention.

What are the first unexpected challenges facing those who come here?

Finding accommodation is particularly difficult, for example. Even more so if they do not know the language and the legal rules pertaining to lease contracts that should be observed. Another peculiarity of this issue in Hungary is that real estate agents only receive a commission from the landlord, instead of both parties or just from the tenant as in other countries.

Representing tenants we seek accommodation that satisfies demands in the best possible way, while our lawyers express opinions on the lease contract and we conduct negotiations on the rent to obtain the most favourable result for the tenant. Yet public utility contracts often have to be transferred into the tenant’s name after moving in, which can mean queuing for days.

Internet access and cable TV with appropriate channels are also frequently requested by foreigners, while they increasingly want to access online content available in their own country using their Hungarian IP address too. If something goes wrong, finding and communicating with a competent professional is likewise difficult due to the lack of language proficiency and local knowledge, not to mention recommendations for a reliable hairdresser, beautician, chiropractor or babysitter.

Families most frequently ask that their children be enrolled in schools and nurseries. Although there are plenty of “national” and international educational institutions in Budapest, they were fully occupied before the crisis with long waiting lists, since not only expats’ children attended. These institutions continuously expand, but waiting lists can still be expected.

Where do most foreign employees come from?

Hungary is becoming increasingly popular. While it was typically Europeans and North Americans that used to come here, today we now have citizens of more distant nations appearing, ranging from the Middle East to South-East Asia, while Indians are arriving in great numbers too.

But British pensioners are also able to live better here from their pensions than at home, and so we often help them in their integration and relocation.

Why has the number of Indians surged?

They mainly work in the IT sector and are needed because of their special software knowledge. They usually remain here for a couple of months, or a year, to teach the local staff, and then they leave because expats cost a lot in the long term.

Yet their departure is not always smooth since they need to claw back the deposit paid for the leased property, resolve any disputes with the landlord or even sell the car they bought here.

How has the composition of expats changed over the past years?

While it used to be mainly senior managers coming with their families, many expats are now single, have no children, and are not necessarily top managers.

Their relocation package does not always contain the presentation of elite private hospitals along with their services, as they need to settle for general Hungarian health-care services. Consequently they often ask for the contact details of an English-speaking GP or other doctor.

What problems do foreigners face most often having settled down in Hungary?

They mostly need help with repair jobs in their accommodation since repairmen and service providers don’t really speak foreign languages, though I must admit the situation has improved considerably over recent years.

On a positive note, the scandals “stinging tourists” around the turn of the millennium have now disappeared, since word gets around thanks to Tripadvisor and everybody stays away from places where this happens.

Above all things, the cultural differences present the biggest challenge.

In everyday life or at work?

Both. For example, they are not used to greetings from shop staff, so they don’t understand why they are welcomed like this. Managers of an American company recently complained that they could not find reliable Hungarian workers for months, because despite telling them what to do, the employees automatically reverted to their old habits after a couple of days.

It turned out they only gave instructions without explaining the reasons – as is usual in the USA – and so it was really difficult to put their intentions across. Following my advice, they talked at length with the employees and sought their opinions, which eventually made the communication and workflow much smoother.

To prevent and handle such cases we introduced our cultural training service, where a much-travelled and experienced professional prepares managers for communicating effectively with Hungarian colleagues. As for everyday life, we have our own publication, a special guide detailing the most important things foreigners ought to know, such as the telephone number for the ambulance service and local customs.

How can expats relax and make contacts after work?

Foreigners can choose from a variety of special networks for friends and businesses, ranging from Expats Hungary and International Meeting Point to Internations or Friday Night Crowds.

The individual chambers of commerce also bring together the Irish, the Americans, the British or the Germans living here, women can always turn to the British Women’s Association, NAWA Budapest, the Professional Women’s Club or the International Women’s Club, while Hash House Harriers combine running with entertainment.

Many people remark that a lot of Hungarians attend expat clubs in Budapest, but I think this is perfectly understandable. If you have lived abroad for quite a while, it is difficult to find the rhythm of your own town again, and you just feel better among foreigners. To be honest, if I went back to England, I would definitely join such groups myself.

Relocation Trends in the CEE region- Addressing Challenges and Changes

It’s fair to say that the relocation profession is developing at a rapid rate. The world has changed since 5-6 years ago, where most international assignments were for typically middle-aged men with a wife and two children.

Now this kind of expatriate is increasingly the exception and relocation service providers have to adapt their business models if they are to remain competitive and relevant. This is a report on the relocation trends in the Central and Eastern Europe region.

Main Challenges for the Industry in the next 3 – 5 years and How to Address them 

Challenge 1: Perception of the relocation trends

A common challenge we face in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region is one of perception. The concept of what relocation destination services are is still not well known.

To add to this challenge, organisations close to the DSP world such as law firms, real estate agents, tour guides and household goods moving companies have started to offer services similar to destination services. These services are offered at varying levels of quality and dilute the professionalism of the industry.

We must address this with HR departments so the professionals we work with understand the value of the services we provide and why outsourcing offers real value for money. One solution is to form an association of relocation companies, similar to the Association of Belgian Relocation Agents.

This body can then work to educate the market about the benefits of our services. Another answer is to get involved with HR forums by offering free consulting support to HR departments in our countries. This would allow us to show the expertise and value we offer, both in terms of housing and local service expertise and in terms of immigration compliance knowledge.

Challenge 2: Commoditisation of our Services

We see a trend towards breaking down our services to the level of a day or even an hour of work. There is a tendency to simply view our services in terms of there being a relocation consultant with a car, with no consideration given to the cost of the office base, management, systems, insurance, compliance requirements and so on.

Similarly to the previous challenge, our services are not seen in terms of the value of our expertise. Clients are not informed about the cost savings we can generate by negotiating a lower rental price or the peace of mind we offer by making sure an assignee is legally able to work by a set deadline.

To address this, we now collect cost saving data and present it to our clients on an annual basis. We also set a limit on when immigration document processing becomes immigration compliance and we enter into a consulting role, rather than that of being expert administrators. These practices allow us to present ourselves as experts in the field, meaning that our clients will take our work seriously and pay a fee commensurate with that expertise.

Market Trends

Inbound Transferees

We see a rapid increase in inbound transferees and foreign new hires from outside the EU filling gaps in the labour market with people willing to work for less. Countries within our region are seen as sources of cheap, skilled labour but increasingly there are shortages for companies already entrenched. Their solution is to look further afield to fill those labour talent gaps.

One client in Hungary presents an excellent example: Their need for native French speaking call centre staff has exhausted local resources. To add to this, it is extremely hard to find workers from Western Europe who are willing to work for Hungarian wages. The company’s solution is to source employees from French speaking African countries.

The current migrant crisis makes certain nationalities less than popular with the immigration authorities. Thus the individuals being hired tend not to be sufficiently educated from an immigration point of view for the positions required and the salaries offered in Hungary. One of the challenges is getting the required work and residence permit when the applicants have few formal qualifications.

Another is finding landlords willing to rent their properties out to African citizens. Our solution is an unprecedented interaction between HR, the company’s recruiters, and ourselves to ensure that the employees the company chooses to hire are most likely to be able to gain the required permits and find a home in the destination city.

Housing Availability

This links into another trend that is presenting increasing challenges in cities like Budapest. We refer to this issue as Airbnb-ification. Landlords in cities in our region that are popular with tourists have realised that Airbnb and similar websites can generate far more revenue from short-term rentals than by renting out long-term to expatriate tenants.

There are tax avoidance implications as well. Landlords would much rather receive rent via PayPal to a bank account in another country and not declare the income to the local tax authority. This is easier than rent the property out locally, where tax obligations are far harder to circumvent.

This phenomenon has severely impacted the availability and the asking price of lower to mid range properties on the local housing markets over the last 12 months. The trend is developing so fast that the data corporate clients have on the housing market is often inaccurate. The data experts state about what properties should be available is no longer in line with the reality on the ground.

This leads to questions about our competence as providers of suitable housing, However, assignees who go online expecting to find cheap and plentiful accommodation are generally disappointed and turn to us for support.

Exchange Rate Fluctuation – Russia and Ukraine

The conflict in South-East Ukraine has led to a general economic decline across the whole country. The number of companies wishing to relocate assignees to Ukraine, even to Kiev, which is 700km from the Donetsk Oblast, where the conflict is focused, has significantly reduced. Business is slow to say the least.

The economic downturn has led to a weakening of the Ukrainian currency, the Hryvnia against major currencies like the Euro. This is good news for tenants with existing leases set in Euro or U.S. Dollars since when leases come up for renewal the tenant has the opportunity to significantly reduce their rent. The current solution to avoid frequent modifications to lease contracts is to set the rent in Hryvnia.

The same thing is happening in Russia, although property demand in Moscow remains high, Western economic sanctions against Russia depressed the Rouble in the period from September 2014 to February 2015. This was followed by a relatively strong recovery and then another major drop from June to August this year.

As in Ukraine, our colleagues have been working hard to re-negotiate leases where the agreed Dollar or Euro rental amounts are now far higher in local currency terms. We then work to set them in Roubles to avoid the need to modify the lease contract on a regular basis one way or the other.

How Inter Relocation is changing its business model to address the needs of the next generation of “movers and shakers”

Housing Needs

The kind of assignee we deal with is changing rapidly. The traditional expatriate, probably male, probably middle or upper management and probably married with a couple of children is an increasingly rare beast. Instead we’re seeing younger assignees, couples without children, short-term assignments, and a large number of foreign new hires.

The focus from expatriate accommodation typically being a family house near an international school or kindergarten has been replaced by the need for ready-to-occupy furnished accommodation available now. This rapid increase in demand has, as already mentioned, led to significant supply issues and demand pressure on rental levels. It also presents practical issues where a corporate lease is involved.

Not only are corporate clients setting budgets based on out of date data, they find themselves losing properties because landlords no longer see the value in the stability of a corporate tenant.

Landlords are no longer willing to wait weeks for a complex due diligence process to be completed on the lease contract. Speed can be the key to securing a property and corporate tenants can be slow and cumbersome in this modern world.

Our solution is to find landlords who see the value in a corporate lease. Or to encourage clients to allow leases to be in the individual’s name when dealing with 1-2 bedroom apartments in popular areas of capital cities.

Social Media

The rise of social media has led to so many emails, posts, blogs and newsletters clamouring for our limited attention. This means that emails with large blocks of text are likely to be ignored. We are trying to keep informational emails as short and to the point as is possible.

This is to increase the better chance of the recipient reading everything. Using bullet points, coloured and bold text to highlight what an assignee has to do grabs their attention, making them better informed.

In addition, we’re in the process of developing our social media channels and changing our website so that it meets with today’s standards in terms of brevity, focus and ease of navigation.

Expansion to Second Tier Cities

With the exception of Russia and Poland, relocation within the CEE region has until recently been almost exclusively to capital cities. However, housing in those has cities become more expensive, the labour markets more saturated, and salary expectations higher. This has led to multi-national companies finding second tier cities to locate their businesses in.

Expanding into a city that has little or no expatriate housing market, no international schooling, and more or less no local amenities available in English can be a real challenge. Corporate clients often decide on a destination based on financial and labour market motivations. They don’t always consider the practical aspects of how their assignees will live in said location.

As service providers we have had to learn how to become experts on a new city. We learn how the local housing market works and find out what local facilities there are for expatriates and in some cases. Sometimes we actually engage with the local city council to encourage certain resources to be developed. Housing can be the largest challenge and occasionally resorts to our consultants or partner real estate agents knocking on doors of suitable looking properties.

Changes we’re seeing in our clients’ policies and programs

New employees

As mentioned earlier, we are seeing a trend towards clients filling gaps in the labour market by hiring new employees from abroad. One challenge with this area is that we may be hired to complete the immigration paperwork only, with the employee finding their own accommodation.

This is a problem in countries with complex bureaucracy like Ukraine and Hungary. We have to ensure that the lease contract the employee signs is legal in the eyes of the immigration authority. We also must ensure that the landlord is willing to allow their tenant to legally register at the property.

These issues are so essential that we push hard to be allowed to negotiate the lease. Even if we are not hired to manage the home search we ensure that the employee rents a home where they can legally reside.

Less Employee Autonomy

Major changes have been made to the amount of choice an employee has when choosing a home. This includes clients either limiting the employee’s right to choose a home to half a day of accompanied search.

It can also mean limiting the number of properties they can choose between to 4-5. Or it can mean renting properties on rolling leases and then placing new employees in an available property without giving them any choice.

Both of these cases can impact the satisfaction of the assignee, especially if their role in choosing housing has not been explained to them by their own HR department or RMC before arrival. Managing expectations is a watchword in our industry already and in such cases can be quite challenging.

Relocations for personal growth and life experience

We work with an increasing number of private individuals who relocate without a job offer or who wish to work from home, typically online and who will not work for a local entity.

For relocations where there is no clear employment in the destination country, it can be a challenge to find a justifiable case to issue a residence permit. For EU-EU transfers this is not a challenge since a simple registration is all that is required. However, online work is often not compatible with local immigration requirements for cases where evidence for reason of stay must be presented.

The Impact of Online Tools

We’ve seen very little impact from online tools so far. It’s possible that those assignees who relocate themselves using online tools never even come up on our radar. However, language barriers and the complexities of local immigration processes mean that our services are necessary for immigration compliance. Even in the cases where, we lose out on the destination services work.

A secondary impact of such self help tools is a regular push to lower our fees by RMCs. When a corporate client is looking at self help options, their RMC may wish to dissuade said client from moving away from a supported model by reducing cost or streamlining the package their assignees receive.

As a result, we are expected to do less at a lower cost but client and assignee expectations for quality remain high.

Getting legal in Hungary? – Survival tips and useful pieces of advice

The business of getting legal in Hungary is easy if you’re an EU, EEA, or Swiss citizen. For non-residents of the old continent, it is not so simple.

8. September 2013 – by Stuart McAlister in Budapest Times

Work Permit

The obtainment of a work permit through your employer is the first step to gaining legal status. After this, you can apply for a residence permit based on your employment status.

A work permit is not required for managing directors of corporations. Your company will just need to prove that it has other employees doing the actual work.

Residence Permit

Application for residence can be based on full-time study at a recognised college or university, employment status, or declaration of sufficent savings.

If you apply for residence on the basis that you can finance yourself, you’ll need to show recent bank statements with a healthy cash balance or proof of retirement income. The level of savings generally accepted as being sufficient is around USD 1,000 a month. You’ll need to prove current residence at a legitimate address and proof of international health insurance.

If the purpose of stay is work then you’ll produce a valid work permit and work contract. If you’re being sent to work for the Hungarian office of a multi-national firm and will remain on home payroll, then you will need a letter of assignment.

 Residence Application Process

Theoretically the residence permit application for a non-EU citizen should take place at the Hungarian Embassy in their country of origin or current legal residence. However, certain nationalities are viewed more favourably by the authorities.

For people of these nationalities, an application for a residence permit in-country is often accepted. This is on the condition that the applicant has been in the country for under the 90-day limit for a stay in the Schengen Zone.

The process overall is not extraordinarily complicated, it just requires all your paperwork to be in order. There’s nothing worse than queuing for a couple of hours, only to find one of your documents is not up to scratch.

To simplify the process, it may be wise to engage an immigration service provider. They can ensure the application goes right first time and to save you time dealing with bureaucratic hang ups.

Retire to Hungary? Why Not?

When the time comes to retire will you be ready to live in the same country in which you have always lived? Can you afford your house payments on just your retirement income?

by Gary Lukatch

How about renting an apartment in the middle of town? Payments, upkeep and maintenance on your car(s)? Food, utilities, entertainment? As costs increase, your fixed retirement income may not be enough to keep up with all the changes.

But there are still places in the world where your retirement money will stretch further than at home. Today I’ll tell you about one of them: Hungary. To be specific, Budapest, Hungary. I moved here in 1999 to teach English as a foreign language, with retirement in mind. Prices for everything were super cheap back then; people who lived in Vienna even came to Budapest to shop.

Well, things never stay the same. Over the years prices have, of course, risen, although not as much as you’d think. Hungary is no longer dirt-cheap. But Budapest is still good value for people who want to have a high standard of living for less. Retirees moving to Budapest from a similarly-sized city in Western Europe or North America can easily cut their expenses in half. And the rest of the country costs even less.

Estimates of how many expatriates live here range from 30,000 to 50,000; in fact, there are enough “expats” in Budapest to support business newspapers and magazines in English. So you won’t be all alone if you choose to move here.

I was earning more than 13 million forints (in 1999 Hungarian money – HUF, or forints) annual gross in the United States, working in the financial industry. It was always steady, reliable work, but not the best-paid industry available. When I moved to Budapest and began teaching English, my monthly net earnings after one year were around 135,000 forints per month. Then increasing to around 338,000 forints per month after five years. I took a huge initial pay cut, but I was one-thousand percent happier. Why? Read on.

Why Retire to Hungary?

After teaching English in Budapest for eight years, I retired and I still live a much better life than I could in the US with comparable spending. The cost of monthly house payments, plus car expenses, would be more than my monthly retirement income, which is around 475,000 HUF net. Here in Budapest, my monthly flat rental, plus utilities, averages around 80,000 HUF ($400 US), in the city centre.

Budapest’s public transportation system is excellent, so I don’t need a car; in fact, I haven’t even driven a car since 1999. I eat out several times a week and I still have enough money to travel wherever and whenever I want. I have now been to 58 countries, and I still take around five or six trips each year.

I’ve watched life in Budapest get easier and easier as the years have gone by. This has been partly through my personal adjustments, and partly because the level of English fluency locally has gotten steadily better.

For a step-by-step guide on how to prepare for retirement in Hungary click here!

Hungary joined the European Union in 2004, but the country still uses the Forint, which is a volatile currency. Prices quoted here are now based on 280 forints to the dollar, but I’ve seen it as low as 148 and as high as 300. So check the current rate before cursing my name because prices have changed.

The countryside of Hungary is still quite cheap, but few expats live in the rural areas unless they’re in the wine industry. Most choose to live in Budapest, around Lake Balaton, or in one of the smaller cities like Egér or Pécs.

Hungary got hit hard in the European economic crisis like many other nations on the continent, but has recovered faster. The official unemployment rate was 8% in mid-2014, which looks downright glorious compared to Italy, Spain, Greece, or Portugal. Hungary feels like a nation on the rise and young people are displaying something not seen much in the past couple hundred years of Hungary’s history: optimism.

Housing Costs in Hungary

The residents of Hungary figure their rent costs in hundreds, not thousands, of dollars. You won’t find many single people or couples paying more than $1,200 (about 270,000 HUF per month), even in the capital. When you get into smaller towns, you can get a house for that. In fact, most locals pay between $200 and $500 a month rent for an apartment, not including utility charges. In the southern wine region, there are houses with a nice garden going for the same monthly rental.

I know an expat from New Zealand working for a winery by Lake Balaton, who was paying $210 (47,250 HUF) a month for his two-bedroom apartment with a lake-view balcony. I pay just under $300 for my apartment in District 5, one of the most desirable and central areas of the city. If you decide to buy something eventually, which you can do freely as a foreigner, a typical apartment in Budapest will cost around 80 million HUF, dependent on size and location.

Health Care Costs

In Hungary, medical care is good, dental care is great. With the rise of cross-border medical treatment happening in many places in the world, Hungary has jumped on the trend with both feet. Many residents of the UK and Ireland come here to have dental work done or to receive good medical care at a discount. I

n addition to standard dental care over the years, I had to have dental implants a few years ago. While in the US, I would have had to pay several thousand dollars; in Budapest, the charge for two implants was just over $800.

Getting a cleaning and check-up at the dentist is around $40; getting a set of x-rays is about that much again.

Food & Drink

Two people can usually have a good cloth-napkin dinner with wine for around $50. If you eat at more humble places, a soup will be a dollar or two and main dishes range from $3 to $7. When you shop in the market, prices are at the low end for Europe. You can get rolls for 10-25 cents each or a huge baguette for a dollar or less. Get 100 grams (around 1/5 of a pound) of good cheese for a dollar, 100 grams of good local sausage for $2, and a jar of pickled veggies for another dollar or so.

For a dollar or less, you can generally buy 100 grams of any of the following items in the market: raisins, peanuts, sunflower seeds, banana chips, or dried apricots. Or you can get a kilo of seasonal fruit or peppers, cabbage, potatoes, radishes, or carrots. A big bunch of white asparagus runs about a dollar. A family of four would probably spend $120-$160 a week on groceries, not including wine.

Hungarian wine

Hungarian wine should be known around the world, but the Soviet occupation days seriously hurt its reputation, so for now it’s some of the best value in the world. You can find a nice drinkable table wine bottle in a store for $4, something quite good for $6 to $8. If you spend over $12 you might end up with something from a “winemaker of the year” who has adorned Hungarian magazine covers.

As Hungary was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, you can get a killer coffee and pastry here just as you can in Vienna – but for one third of the price. After you do a double-take at your low bill in a wine bar, finish with a coffee and dessert for another nice surprise.

Transportation Costs

Getting around Hungary is relatively cheap by bus or train when you want to get out of town. Figure on $10-$12 for a trip of two hours, or $30 to go as far as you can possibly go within Hungary. Seniors and young children travel free. The longest ride on the suburban railway out of Budapest (30 kilometers) is just $2.50.

Budapest has a fantastic metro and while it’s no real bargain on a ride-by-ride basis (around $1.40 per ride), a monthly pass that also works for the trams and buses is a good value at around $35. If you’re of retirement age, you might squeak by for free and EU citizens over the age of 65 can legally travel on the entire public transport system, free of charge.

Apart from the ride from the airport, taxis in Hungary are a bargain. In general you can get around the center of Budapest in a cab for $3 to $7. It’s around $1.80 to start and $1 for each kilometer, so it’s hard to spend $10 anywhere unless it’s a long haul. Like much of Europe, this country is set up well for those on a bicycle and some expatriates use a bike as their main means of transport.

In Budapest there are lots of dedicated bike lanes and the city recently introduced the new city bikes, a pay-and-ride bicycle system used successfully in other European capitals. In the countryside there’s not nearly such an abundance of cars as you see in the capital.

Frequent promotions on the train system and Eurolines bus make international travel from here a bargain. If you plan ahead you can get to Vienna for less than $20 or to beach locations of Greece, Bulgaria, or Croatia for around $60.

Other Costs

If you pay your own utilities they can vary greatly by the season. My utilities are a good example, going from $30 in summer to $60 a month in winter. My place is not the best insulated in town, so I pay more in the winter for heat. In the summer, utilities are much lower.

Internet plus television cable service is $15 to $30 per month depending on speed and if you want a great connection, you can usually get it in the cities. The lowest-priced speed is generally 5 mbps, which is fine for a lot of people.

The land of Liszt and Bartok has an abundance of cultural performances going on at all times, from high-brow opera in the capital to an annual festival of wine songs in the south each year. Performances that aren’t free are very cheap by European standards.

The theatre is amazing here; the cost of going to a ballet or opera can nearly bankrupt you in Australia or New York City; here it’s for everyone. Tickets usually start at $5. If you buy really great seats on a weekend for a popular show it might cost you all of $25.

For more information on English language theatre in Budapest click here!

Visas in Hungary

Hungary is part of the Schengen Agreement covering much of the European Union. This means you can’t just stick around here on a tourist visa. You get three months upon entering the zone, but after that you have to leave the whole Schengen area for three months before returning.

No problem if you’re only coming for the summer; terrible if you want to settle down for longer. To get residency without being tied to a specific employer, you generally have to show you’re doing work a local can’t do, like teaching English. Or you have to show that you’re self-supported by income from abroad e.g. a retirement pension.

You can find a link to your embassy at the following site: http://www.kulugyminiszterium.hu/dtwebe/Irodak.aspx Check out your embassy website to see a sample of costs and documents needed and to be warned in case of changing requirements.

A work visa is good for a 3 years and renewable. Expect to endure a lot of bureaucracy and if you don’t have a college diploma, it’s going to be even tougher. You theoretically have to apply in your own country and will then have 30 days after entering Hungary to get the local paperwork sorted out.

If you’re interested in knowing more about the process of gaining legal residence in Hungary as a retiree, please contact Stuart McAlister from Inter Relocation at [email protected].

Most people who want to stick around either get a work permit connected to a specific job and company, or a residence permit that’s not tied to one employer.  If you wish to gain permanent residence, you can apply after being in the country for five years. This costs money for a lawyer and requires a lot of additional paperwork.

Most of the items need to be translated into Hungarian as well, plus you have to show proof of health insurance or buy into the Hungarian health care plan. If you have Hungarian blood, you may have an advantage, but gaining citizenship will still require extensive paperwork and a workable knowledge of the Hungarian language.

Hungarian Language

Hungarian is an especially tough language to crack, but you’ll often need at least some basics when you get outside the capital. Many courses are offered through local language schools in Budapest, which should get you started on what you need to know. Of course, so many more people speak English now than when I moved here that it’s much, much easier to get along these days.

For all of your relocation needs, of course, your friendly English-speaking Representative at Inter Relocation is ready and able to help you define your objectives and arrange for pretty much all documentation.

Still not sure about retirement in Budapest? Pay us a visit and check out the city and environs. Conde Nast travelers recently voted Budapest one of the top places in the world to visit, and The City on the Danube was also voted Europe’s Most Welcoming City. Budapest will no doubt cast its spell on you as it has on me and so many other foreigners. It really is a magical city on the Danube.

Related Resources:

Book: Getting Out: Your Guide to Leaving America, by Mark Ehrman

Book: A Better Life for Half the Price, a new book by Tim Leffel, author of The World’s Cheapest Destinations: 21 Countries Where Your Money is Worth a Fortune.

Various websites offer information on living abroad; look under ‘Expats’ and the country of your choice.