Archives Overview
Collecting documents from ancestors' countries of origin is the most common practical challenge in Hungarian citizenship applications. This page explains the logic of the archive system before you start contacting specific countries.
Why You Need Official Copies
Online scans, digitized records on Familysearch.org or Matricula Online, and photographs of documents are useful for research — but they are not accepted as supporting documents for citizenship applications.
The consulate requires official certified copies (hiteles másolat) issued by the archive or civil registry office that holds the original record. An official copy has a stamp, signature, and often a raised seal.
There is one important exception: Hungarian records from after 1895 can be obtained through the Hungarian consulate itself, free of charge. See Hungary.
The 1895 Dividing Line
Hungary introduced civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths on 1 October 1895. This date divides archive research into two very different situations:
After 1895: Records are held in civil registry offices (anyakönyvek). In Hungary, these records are now centralized and can be requested through the consulate. In successor states (Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine), they are held in local civil registry offices or regional state archives.
Before 1895: Only church records (egyházi anyakönyvek) exist. These were kept by the parish of the relevant denomination — Catholic, Reformed (Calvinist), Lutheran, Jewish, Greek Catholic, Orthodox. They are often handwritten in Latin or Hungarian and may or may not be digitized.
Where Records Ended Up After Trianon
After the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, historical Hungary was divided between several successor states. Records stayed where the parish or registry office was located — not where the family moved.
If your ancestor was born in a village that is now in Slovakia, the records are in Slovakia — even if the family has been living in the United States for 100 years.
| Region (historical) | Now in | Archive system |
|---|---|---|
| Felvidék (Upper Hungary) | Slovakia | Slovak State Archives |
| Erdély (Transylvania) | Romania | Romanian County Archives |
| Délvidék (Southern Hungary) | Serbia | Serbian Municipal Archives |
| Kárpátalja (Subcarpathian Ruthenia) | Ukraine | DAZO (Zakarpattia Oblast Archive) |
| Central Hungary | Hungary | Hungarian National Archives / consulate |
Official Copies vs. Online Scans
| Type | Accepted for application? | Where to find |
|---|---|---|
| Official certified copy | ✅ Yes | Archive / civil registry office |
| Digitized record (Matricula, Familysearch) | ❌ No | Online, free |
| Photograph of original | ❌ No | — |
| Notarized photocopy of a copy | Depends on consulate | — |
Use online scans to identify the record and confirm it exists before contacting the archive. It saves time and money.
General Tips Before Contacting Archives
- Identify the specific village, not just the region. The village name (and its historical Hungarian name) determines which archive holds the records.
- Know the approximate year of the event (birth, marriage). Archives need this to locate the record.
- Use the historical Hungarian village name when writing to Hungarian or Slovak archives. For example: Kassa (Slovak: Košice), Kolozsvár (Romanian: Cluj-Napoca), Ungvár (Ukrainian: Uzhhorod).
- Write in the local language when possible. Some archives will not respond to English-only requests.
- Be patient. Response times range from a few weeks (Serbia) to several months (Slovakia, Ukraine).