One letter the Budapest office sends in support of your visa application concerns your lodging in Budapest. Your temporary address in Hungary will be "1071. Budapest, Bethlen Gabor ter 2, HUNGARY"

In particular, fill out line 4 as

• ZIP code -- 1071
• City/Town -- Budapest
• Name of public space -- Bethlen Gabor
• Type of public space -- ter
• House number -- 2
• building -- leave blank
• Legal title of residence -- check "other". You may add: "see support letter from Budapest Semesters in Mathematics"

The point is to show that you have a valid insurance in Europe. The best is to provide a letter from your insurance company stating that you will be covered for at least $ 50.000 during your stay in Europe for any medical and repatriation (evacuation home) expenses or a travel medical insurance (a travel insurance providing cover for at least $ 50.000 for financing urgent health services and homeward transportation due to medical reasons, valid for the whole period of stay and for the territory of every Schengen State)". If your insurance covers you in Europe up to this amount and evacuation home, that is fine, but you have to provide some evidence of that.
Eg your insurance card and a brochure may be sufficient, but the best is to have a letter from your insurance company. Here are two examples of letters that insurance companies provided for BSM students in the past: Click here for example 1, Click here for example 2. Note, once again, that your insurance card and brochure may be sufficient, but having a letter as these is the best.
Also, the consul will go over your documents during the interview and if there are any papers missing you can send those in to the Consulate after your interview, by mail. (But it slows the visa process somewhat.)

Otherwise there are companies that specialize in covering teachers/students when traveling abroad such as

• https://cmi-insurance.com/travel-medical-insurance/view-all-plans/global-medical-usa.aspx
• http://www.imglobal.com/en/img-insurance.aspx

The Immigration Office wants to see that you have sufficient income to support yourself while in Hungary. There is en estimate of living costs on the BSM homepage at http://www.budapestsemesters.com/program-costs/. You have to show the consul a copy of your bank statement showing that you have money for living expenses Or money for the first month + explain what income you have. However, the consulate may not ask you for a single statement but rather statements for the last three months showing that you have a sufficent amount to live on over a period of time. You will have to provide the statements preferably at the time of the interview or you will have to send them shortly after. They will not start processing your application until you provide the statmen(s).The best is to ask the consulate if they could specify what kind and how many statements they want.

You can also show your parents' account summary or somebody else's but then they have to write a letter stating that they will support you and you can use their account.

Note that we do not know how much monthly living expenses the Immigration Office considers a minimum. But if you have for living expenses about 2000 USD/month, that should be sufficient.

Here are answers to this question from past Chinese students. Note that what kind of bank statements are accepted may also depend on where you are applying for the residency permit.

• It's better if the student has the bank document under his or her name. Otherwise, they will need to provide for an extra document stating that their parents will pay for all expenses while they are in Hungary. I had mine under the name of my mom's, and I provided an extra document saying that she would pay for all expenses for my trip in Hungary. Her bank statement came from a Chinese bank, and I believe most of the Chinese banks offer services to translate the document to English.
• I had my Chinese bank statement translated on the website Day translations (link: https://www.daytranslations.com/services/certified-translation-services) since they can offer certified translations. If you go to the website, and upload your documents, you will see the estimated price. It depends on the pages and characters. After you pay they will send you translation in one day but make sure to check the translation by yourself. I asked them to change couple of mistakes. It took me approximately 200 dollars. Also, if you have a valid 3 - month American bank statement, that would make your life much easier.

No. But some consulates may ask for a reservation. Ask the consulate to make sure.

"My port of entry into the Schengen Zone must be in Hungary" - this is the rule if you will be staying more than 90 days in Hungary (i.e. you are planning to reside there) and if you do not have a D visa (i.e. you did not apply for a residency permit before arriving to Hungary).

But it is perfectly legal for you to go directly to Norway as a tourist, if you will or at least intend to leave the Schengen zone within 90 days.

The point is to convince the Immigration Officer when you first enter the Schengen region that you will be doing tourism = staying short term.

How can you do that?

1. you could come to Budapest from Norway through London or other non-Schengen country. Then when you fly from Norway to London you will be leaving the Schengen zone and you can show your outgoing ticket to the Officer as a proof (if asked to show proof).

2. you may come to Budapest directly from Norway as part of your tourist trip, even start the BSM program if timing works out that way and leave the Schengen zone later - but within 90 days, or at least intend to do that. For example, you may be planning to go to Croatia or London at some point, where your tourist trip would end. When you return that will be your entrance to Hungary for the long term stay.

In this case - if asked - you should tell the Officer your itinerary and - if asked - have prints of reservations, tickets etc to show as proof of your plans of leaving the Schengen zone within 90 days.

You do not need to actually buy the tickets to go out of the Zone in advance. You may be planning to buy the tickets in Hungary. You can show timetables if necessary to support claim of intend, and hotel reservations. Similarly, you may have a rental car reserved to go to e.g. to Croatia and can show the reservation -- all this **if asked**.

Once again, for a potential zealous Immigration Officer it does not matter if you leave the Schengen zone prior to the start of the semester or not. He/she will only check if your departure is within 90 days. You may be traveling to London for example on a later weekend.

Note: it happened before that BSM students could not actually go out in the end (since they got sick or for another reason). But the Hungarian Immigration office does not care how you got to Hungary, you can still apply for (and get) a residency permit in Hungary. (This is because they want to allow tourists to change their minds and apply for residency when they are in Hungary.)

there is no need to exchange money in advance or at the airport. Moreover, you would get a bad exchange rate in both cases.

You will be met by a student helper at the airport who will take you to your lodging and can help you exchange money for the first few days at a change booth with better rates, close to your apartment.

There are ATMs around the city so you can take out money using your card just like in the US, however it costs money too. You should find out from your bank how much international withdrawal costs.

No, the apartments where you will be staying are fully equipped including linen and towels. The kitchens are also fully equipped.