♦ Essential guide - Student ID ♦

About the Permanent Student ID card

• If you are a student staying at ELTE longer than 12 months, (e.g. full-time students), you can't have a temporary student certificate without making an application for a permanent student card (a plastic card).
• We recommend you to initiate the process right after your the visit to the Immigration Office. Sooner you apply, the sooner you will get your card. Do not forget: in September, thousands of students apply for student ID which slow down the process. Submit your application in time before the crowd.
• Once your application is in process (your NEK number is uploaded in Neptun, you may request a temporary student ID – a document which is eqivalent to the permanent student ID- that enables you to use the discounts of the permanent student ID for 60 days.
• For further information about the discounts please visit the following website:

public transport discounts

(Permanent) Student Card

• The student card is a plastic orange-brown card, in size similar to a bank card. The card contains your data (name, place and date of birth, address, type of student status), name of the university (Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem), and period of validity. The card is only valid with a validation sticker for the actual semester.
• You are eligible for a plastic student card, if
  • you are a student staying at ELTE longer than 12 months; 
  • your status for the semester is active and your Education ID has already appeared in Neptun: Check My data > Personal Information menu
  •  you initiated a student card request.

The Temporary Student certificate = Temporary student Card

• The temporary student certificate is an A4-sized CERTIFICATE (“Igazolás”). It contains your data (name, place and date of birth, address, type of student status). This document is valid for 60 days and you need to renew it every 60 days, you need to go back to Quaestura Office after each 60 days.
• Always keep the original, stamped, and signed document with you! Without the certificate your monthly pass is invalid, you are not entitled for discounts. Copies, scans, or photos of the actual document are not accepted!
• When you purchase your monthly pass add your Education ID number as your student ID number (see on the picture). By using the Education ID number you will can use your monthly pass continously once your student ID arrives.
• In case you travel without a valid Student ID, your monthly pass will be considered invalid and the controllers can fine you.

Keeping track of the expiry date is your responsibility!

Application for Permantent Student ID card

1. Go to one of the offices of the Hungarian Integrated Customer Service (Kormányablak in Hungarian) and apply for a so-called NEK document.

• Select an office nearby from this list and go there with your passport and a valid Certificate of Student Status.
• At the office tell the officer that you would like to apply for a student card and they will help.
• There they will take a photo of you and have your main data registered. You get a NEK form with a unique code in the top right corner called NEK identifier. 

Please double-check all your data on the issued NEK document! The data on the NEK document has to be exactly the same as the data registered in the Neptun system (if not, your student card request will be rejected)! 

2. Make an electronic copy of your NEK form (by scanning it or taking a photo of it) and upload it in the Neptun system.

• In Neptun click on Information / Documents then Upload document.
• Select the type of the document called NEK-data sheet (NEK-document) from the drop-down menu.

• Click on Upload file and select the copy of your NEK form from your computer/phone.
• Click on the Save button.

3. Register your application electronically in the Neptun system.

• In Neptun click on Administration / Student Card request then Add new.
• Here you need to add the data as follows:

• Type in your NEK identifier (mandatory) from the top right corner of the NEK form using capital letters and without any hyphens.
• Select the demand type (mandatory) from the drop-down menu (e.g. first application, due to data change, lost, new request due to false data).
• Select your address (mandatory) from the drop-down menu.

If you only have an Accommodation Reporting Form for Third Country Nationals, but no document called Lakcímet igazoló hatósági igazolvány, do NOT select your Hungarian address but your permanent address in your home country from the drop-down menu. If you do so, the manufactured student card will contain the phrase 'Külföldi cím' ('foreign address').

• If you study at another university besides ELTE, you can add the secondary institution (optional) to your request by selecting the university from the drop-down menu and typing in the printing code of the secondary institution.
• Click on the NEK data sheet attachment, find the previously uploaded electronic copy of the NEK sheet, click on '+' at the right end of the line and click on Select.
• Click on the Save button to finish the process.

4. Wait for your student card to be manufactured.

5. Pick up your student card.

After you've started the student card request, your card will be ready hopefully in 2 months if there are no complications (Make sure the data on the NEK document are correct!)

Manufactured student cards are sent to the central Quaestura Office. Quaestura will send you a Neptun message when your student card arrives at the office and can be picked up.

Validating the Student Card

When can the ID card be validated?
From the first day of each study term, continuously until the last day of its validity period (31 October/ 31 March).
If it is not urgent, please do not do the validation in the first few days to avoid long queues.

In which cases can the student card be validated?
The student ID can be validated if

• the student has an active student status in the given semester (i.e. not passive) in the same mode of study as that shown on the ID (evening, full-time, correspondence)
• the student card is physically intact
• The student ID has not expired.
• The student card can be used in higher education until March 31 of the 9th year from the date of issue, i.e. they can be validated with a sticker for the last time in the year the certificate expires. (Please note: You can see the end of the validity of the ID in Neptun in the data of your student ID or on the back of the student ID.)
• The ID can be validated free of charge at the Quaestura Office and the SEK Education Office throughout the year  (subject to the abovementioned conditions). Based on the provisions of Section 134 (1) of the HKR, the repeated validation of the same student card in the same semester entails a service fee.
• The address on the student card of students with Hungarian citizenship must be an official address, such as the "permanent" or "residence" address on the residential address card as well as in Neptun. This also applies to students with dual citizenship.

What should I bring with me for the validation?
In case of administration in person: official photo ID, permanent student card.
 In the case of administration by an authorized person: the permanent student card to be validated, and an authorization signed by two witnesses. A downloadable authorization form can be found here. In this case, the authorized person can act in the administration.

Please do NOT remove the validation sticker from the previous semester! Upon request, our colleagues will remove the sticker from the ID after the inspection.

What should I do if my sticker is damaged (torn, washed out)?
The service fee for the repeated validation of the same student card in the same semester is HUF 3,500. The condition for issuing a new sticker is the payment of this fee. You must report damage to the validation sticker on the qter.elte.hu website under the menu item Online administration, Student ID card > Other questions regarding the Student Card.

Student ID - FAQ

• I have lost my validated Student Card. What should I do?
  In case you lost your validated student card or somebody stole it, you need to report it in this case category. The date of loss is the date of submission, thus make sure that you report the loss as soon as possible. After processing your case, you will be charged for not returning the card with the validation sticker (3500 HUF). 
  However, in case you have a police report about the theft of the student card, please upload it to the submitted case and the Office will delete the charge. In this case, the date of loss will be the issue date of the police report.
  The loss of the student card is immediately reported to the Educational Authority and the lost student card is invalidated so it can't be used any longer. In case the student card is found you have to hand it in at Quaestura Office.
   
• I found my lost student card. What should I do?
  If you found the card, you need to show it in person. As the card had been registered as invalid, it cannot be used anymore.
   
• Loss of the valid Temporary Student Certificate
  In case you lost your valid Temporary Student Card, or it is damaged, it has no charges. You can ask for a new copy issued at Quaestura.

Student ID – FAQ - Szombathely

•  I study in Szombathely at Savaria Campus. Should I go to Budapest in order to apply for a student card or report my lost student ID?
  The Registration Office of Savaria Campus deals with your student card management.
   
• If you have any other questions, please contact them.
  Webpages (only in Hungarian): Savaria Campus can help you.
  Address: H-9700 Szombathely, Károlyi Gáspár tér 4., A building
  E-mail address:  tanulmanyi@sek.elte.hu

Tips and Tricks for student card application

• Initiate the procedure as soon as you can. You will be able to apply for a student card once you visit the Immigration Office and your status is active. In September there are thousands of students applying for student ID, which slows down the process. The sooner you submit your request in Neptun, the sooner you receive your card.
• Do not leave the Municipality Office until you check your data on the NEK document! Make sure the data on the form and the data in Neptun My data > Personal information menu is matching by the letter! If it is not, your application will not go through, you have to go back to the Municipality Office and request another NEK document.
• Keep your NEK document until the end of your studies: in case you lose your student ID, you can reapply with the same NEK identifier.
• In case you studied at ELTE in your BSc and you continue your studies in MSc without, or with only a year of gap in your studies, you do not have to apply for a student card, you can continue to use your BSc card. In case your personal data changes (new address, name change etc.), you have to submit a request for a new ID though.