2020 was a year of reflection for many of us. Sidney, for example, spent a lot of time thinking about his Hungarian ancestry, and became interested in acquiring Hungarian citizenship. Because of that, he contacted Helpers Hungary to arrange his citizenship application. After submitting his request for citizenship, he sat down with our account manager Barbara to discuss his Hungarian ancestry, his reasons to apply for citizenship, and his experiences with the application process.
Sidney’s Hungarian ancestry
Sidney is an American citizen in his 80s whose parents left Hungary in the 1920s due to economic reasons. His father emigrated to the US at the age of 18 and met his mother there when she was visiting her sisters. In the 1930s, they got married, and Sidney was born. They have always kept in touch with the Hungarian family and sent them several care packages in difficult times. Sidney visited Hungary for the first time in 1991, and met several of his Hungarian relatives, which made him interested in his cultural heritage and the Hungarian language.
Hungarian language and heritage
Sidney grew up using Hungarian as the household language, and remembers his parents telling him “Vigyázz magadra” (Take care). In 1993, he returned to Hungary for a longer visit to learn Hungarian during a summer course organized by the University of Debrecen, in the second largest city of Hungary. He says that he still understands quite a lot of the language, but his command is more passive now. His favorite Hungarian word is “nagyszerű” (excellent), but he tries not to overuse it. He also likes to cook stuffed cabbage and chicken paprikas, traditional Hungarian dishes that remind him of his childhood.
Citizenship application and plans
Sidney applied for Hungarian citizenship with our help. He says that his citizenship application went smoothly, and he felt prepared for his interview with the consul thanks to the language classes provided by our partner Hungarian Language Solutions. He is in contact with his relatives in Hungary and would like to visit them once the travel restrictions are relaxed. He highly values his family as well as the strong connections to his relatives, and considers it important to pass on his cultural heritage to his children and grandchildren.
Planning to submit a citizenship application?
If you are inspired by Sidney’s story and would like to apply for Hungarian citizenship, contact the experts of Helpers Hungary for a detailed breakdown of the procedure. You can learn more about our services here. You can ask for a consultation by calling our office on +36 1 317 8570, by e-mailing citizenship@helpers.hu or by filling in our contact form. You can also like us on Facebook to never miss our blog posts.
