take or toss?

It is a really common question in immigration areas, especially when it comes to studying on what to expect when taking a passive semester during university studies and how does it affect the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship. This is a short summary on what to expect in these cases:

1. Residence permit

The residence permit will probably be revoked.
According to the judicial practice, the residence permit for study purposes may be withdrawn if the third country national suspends or even temporarily interrupts the studies. The immigration authority will know about the passive semester as the university has to inform it. There are several court decisions on this issue stating this, but if the passive semester is for a very specific reason (e.g. medical reason, serious family issues) and leaving the country is necessary, the immigration authority might accept the reason if informed about it and not revoke the permit, however the chances are really low.

2. Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship

According to the currently effective rules, the SH scholarship is terminated after two consecutive passive semester and the registration for the third passive semester is not possible, only in cases indicated in the SH Implementation Guide. So, one or two passive semesters do not result in losing the SH scholarship.

This means that even one semester can make the residence permit invalid, but it does not mean losing the SH scholarship. If the residence permit is invalid, you need to leave Hungary as soon as possible, otherwise an expulsion procedure will take place with several negative consequences.