Hungarian Government Approves First GIP Fund, Four More to Follow in 2025

The Hungarian government licensed its first real estate investment fund, the SPRINT Hungary Real Estate Development and Investment Fund, for the Guest Investor Program (GIP) on October 29, 2024, ten months after launching the program.

This milestone is a crucial update to the program, as, since its July launch, the GIP began without any approved investment options.

Fund managers must meet rigorous standards to qualify under the GIP. The Constitution Protection Office must qualify each as a “market operator” through preliminary national security screening – a requirement the government announced just weeks before the GIP’s July launch.

This late notice created a bottleneck, leaving the program without qualified fund managers at its start.

The criteria go beyond security screening. Alternative investment fund managers must oversee assets of at least €100 million, or €500 million for funds without leverage, and five-year minimum investment periods.

Non-alternative investment fund managers qualify if they manage real estate funds exceeding €600 million in value.

Mo Shaban, Sales Director at immigration consultancy Helpers Hungary, explains that “the visa application process has been active since July, but investors were waiting for the actual investment vehicles to become available.”

Now that the government has approved the first fund, investors holding valid six-month visas can proceed with their €250,000 investment. They must enter Hungary within their visa validity period and complete their investment within three months of entry.

The GIP offers qualifying investors and their families Hungarian residency through three approved investment channels:

• €250,000 in real estate funds
• €500,000 in residential property
• €1M donation to higher education institutions supporting public interest activities

Investors receive a ten-year residence permit, which covers their spouse and children. Shaban estimates investors can obtain their permits “in a matter of weeks” after completing their investments.

Four additional investment funds await licensing. However, the government did not provide any potential timelines for approving these funds.

These applications are “in the pipeline” but unlikely to receive authorization before the new year, according to Shaban.