Hungarian study visa interview questions: from common to unusual

A visa interview or visa test is a normal part of the immigration procedure when heading to study in Hungary. When you visit your local Hungarian embassy to submit your request and your documents along with it, you can expect either an interview or (usually if the embassy is very busy), rather a written counterpart. In this article we collected many of the common questions and some unusual ones we heard of.

Common student visa interview questions. (You can normally expect these coming up.)

These can be grouped into 5 categories: motivation and knowledge about your chosen university and about chosen study program (the embassy wants to make sure you REALLY want to study in Hungary), knowledge about Hungary (so you are aware of your new country), hardskills (usually Math- normally asked in a form of a test), level of English (they’ll try to make chitchats to see if you can fluently speak your study language) and your personal information (they’ll try to know a little more about you and your background).
So let’s see a couple of common questions:

- Why do you want to study in Hungary? (Answers could include: exciting cultural life, valuable degrees, excellent higher education and interesting specializations, experiencing other cultures, have heard very good things from friends or family etc.)
- Why did you choose your University and your study program? Why don’t you do this program in your own country? (Answers could include: practical education, good rankings and reputation, interesting specializations etc.)
- What subjects do you expect to study at your chosen study program? (To answer this, you should check out the curriculum of the program).
- Have you applied to other universities in Europe too? (Answer this question honestly and include why you ended up picking your chosen university.)
- Tell us a little bit about your opinion on Artificial Intelligence / the current global economy / the state of Cyber Security etc. (They will ask you generic professional questions from your field to see how much you know about your chosen profession.)
- What are your plans after graduation? (Almost anything can be acceptable here, e.g. continue studies on Masters level, gain some professional experience in Europe, move home as there are many opportunities with a European degree etc.)
- Have you ever visited Hungary? Have you ever had a long-term Schengen visa? Have you ever had a visa rejection? (IMPORTANT: never lie. They’ll check everything in their system anyway, so be honest.)
- Have you applied through an educational agency / consultancy? (Normally your answer doesn’t matter too much here, with or without an agency- doesn’t matter. But make sure to be truthful and make sure your chosen agency has a good reputation in your country.)
- Have you had an admission interview at the university? What kind of questions did they ask? (With these questions the embassy is checking if the admission office was thorough enough about the admission procedure. Go ahead, list everything in detail.)
- What currency is used in Hungary? What is the official language of Hungary? What is the capital city? What are the neighboring countries? Who is the prime minister? How many people live in Hungary?
- Introduce yourself in a couple of sentences! What are your parents doing? How many siblings do you have? What kind of highschool did you attend? What is your strongest subject?
- If you are currently working, are you planning to quit or continue working online during your studies?
- Who is sponsoring your studies? How much savings do they have for your education? (Remember, a sponsor can only be a parent or legal guardian! Also, be upfront and honest regarding the savings, the embassy will see your bank statements anyway…)

And then there are other types of questions, that are meant to check your intelligence, or your knowledge about European culture or maybe even to confuse you a bit to see how you can react in unexpected situations. These questions don’t always come up, but don’t worry if you get a weird question, just answer as best as you can!
Some more unusual questions:

- Why should you be given a student visa? (This is not that hard, just summarize your accomplishments and goals in 2-3 sentences.)
- What cities and regions would you like to visit while you are studying in Hungary? (Make sure to include some Hungarian popular destinations, e.g. Lake Balaton, Debrecen, Szeged or Pécs. Also, you can mention that once you have some free time from academic obligations, you’d also like to make weekend trips to some famous European destinations, such as Rome or Paris.)
- What is the most famous painting of Leonardo da Vinci? What are some of the most famous Hungarian inventions? Who is the most famous European female scientist and what did she discover? etc. (These are culture-related questions. Embassies sometimes test your knowledge of European culture, art or science to see if you are even interested in the culture of your new continent.)
- What if your visa request is rejected? (Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that you are rejected, they just want to test you in an uncomfortable situation. Answer calmly, and tell them about your plan B e.g. “I’ll try to develop my skills and apply again next year” or “As I want to start my studies as soon as possible, in that case I’ll pursue my Bachelor studies here in my home country.”)

And finally, don’t forget: prepare well, be avare of your future home country, university and study program, be polite and confident! If you receive an unexpected question, just answer it honestly!

17 Mar 2023