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Updated 9 October 2026BG-EXPERT

BRIDGES expert

Irina Shtern

Head of Hungary Office, BRIDGES

I head the BRIDGES office in Budapest: Hungarian residence through a fund, Cyprus PR and the Greek Golden Visa for families from Central Europe and the CIS. I think not only about how to enter a programme, but about how to exit it. In Sergey Evdokimov’s team since 2013.

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Irina Shtern, Head of Hungary Office, BRIDGES
18 yearsin Hungary: banking, immigration, investment programmes
since 2013in Sergey Evdokimov’s team, since the first Hungarian programmes
BudapestBRIDGES Hungary office
4 languagesRussian, Hungarian, English, German

Path

Moscow, Budapest

Moscow, Budapest. First a private bank in Hungary, then the first Hungarian investment programmes, now the BRIDGES Hungary office.

  1. 1983Moscow

    Born in Moscow. Her great-grandfather came from Budapest, and Hungarian was heard in the family at holidays and in old letters.

  2. 2000-2005Moscow

    Faculty of economics, specialising in the world economy. In her final year she learned Hungarian properly.

  3. 2005-2013Budapest

    Moved to Budapest for a master’s degree and stayed. Eight years at a private bank: non-resident accounts, transfers, source-of-funds evidence for families from Russia and Kazakhstan.

  4. 2013Sergey Evdokimov’s team

    When Hungary opened residence through bonds, she joined Sergey’s team. She ran the first Hungarian matters: bonds, accounts, filing, cards.

  5. 2016-2023Budapest

    Guided clients from Central Europe and the CIS through the Cyprus, Greek and Maltese programmes. From 2024, the new Hungarian programme through regulated property funds.

  6. TodayBudapest

    Head of the BRIDGES Hungary office. Hungarian matters and families choosing between Hungary, Cyprus and Greece go through Irina.

Approach to cases

Six rules that do not depend on the country

Six rules Irina applies to every matter.

  1. 01Plan the exit at the entry

    Hungarian residence means fund units, not an apartment. We look at once at the holding period, redemption terms and what happens to the status afterwards.

  2. 02A fund is checked like a bank

    The management company, licence, reporting, payout history. The client’s money goes only into a regulated fund.

  3. 03The whole family, parents included

    Where parents of both spouses can be included, we include everyone. Nobody is left behind.

  4. 04We compare, not sell one country

    Hungary, Cyprus and Greece side by side on one page: amounts, timelines, who is in the application, what happens with tax.

  5. 05The bank before the filing

    The account and the transfer are prepared in advance. A payment stuck in compliance is the most common cause of delay.

  6. 06In touch in Russian and Hungarian

    The client talks to us in Russian, the authority receives documents in Hungarian. Nothing gets lost in translation.

Talks and media

Exhibitions and meetings

Irina travels to exhibitions in Central Asia and Moscow and meets families there. You can book a meeting in advance.

Upcoming conferences

Irina online

BRIDGES on Instagram BRIDGES on LinkedIn BRIDGES YouTube channel

Beyond work

Budapest, the baths and old letters

At BRIDGES I am responsible for Hungary and for families choosing Central Europe. I love it when a client comes to Budapest for their card and I show them the city not as a tourist but as a future neighbour.

I am from Moscow; I came to Budapest to study for a year and stayed for eighteen. I live in Buda with my Hungarian husband and a teenage daughter who thinks I am far too Muscovite.

On Saturdays I go to the Széchenyi baths, on Sundays to the market. I collect my great-grandfather’s old family letters and piece together the family history from them, and in summer we go to Balaton.

HungaryBudapestBathsFamily historyBalaton

Situations

What people come with

These are the questions clients most often bring to Irina.

Hungarian residence through a regulated fund How to exit the fund and keep the statusCyprus PR with both spouses’ parentsHungary, Cyprus or Greece for a family A Hungarian bank account and moving money Hungarian citizenship by descent A second passport and EU residenceRenewing a Hungarian card Moving to Budapest: school, rental, doctors

Case stories

Three matters in Irina’s own words

How We Planned the Exit from a Hungarian Fund (Share Redemption) After 5 Years Without Losing Residence Permit

Hungary · residence

How to exit a fund without losing residence

Marina understood that Hungarian investor residence means units in a property fund, not an apartment. Her main question was not how to enter but how to exit in five years.

We went through the fund’s terms before investing: the holding period, the redemption procedure, what happens to the status after redemption. Marina invested about 250,000 euros already knowing her exit plan.

Outcome: A clear exit plan from the fund, Hungarian residence kept

Read the full case

How parents of both spouses were included in Cyprus permanent residence - without age limit

Cyprus · PR

Both sets of parents in one application

For Alexander and his wife it was a matter of principle: either they go with both sets of parents, or there is no point. They feared someone’s parents would have to stay behind.

Cyprus PR allows the parents of both spouses to be included with no age limit, if additional income is shown for each. We gathered the evidence and filed the whole family together.

Outcome: Lifetime Cyprus PR for the couple and both sets of parents

Read the full case

How a long-term client with a Grenada passport obtained Greece residence permit

Greece · residence

With a Grenada passport into Europe

Alexander, an entrepreneur, obtained a Grenada passport with us a few years ago. Now he wanted residence in Europe for himself, his wife and their child.

I compared Hungary and Greece for him. They chose the Greek Golden Visa: with a Caribbean passport the filing is direct and the property can be let. The deal and the filing went through without extra requests.

Outcome: Greek residence added to the Grenada passport

Read the full case

Reviews

What Irina’s clients say

Client reviews from matters Irina ran: who the client is, where they are from, which programme - and a link to the full case.

BRIDGES client reviews

DenisDenisBRIDGES client
Hungary · Residence permit

Austria would not take us without German and a quota. Irina showed us the route through Hungary, and we have EU residence and Schengen.

Read the case
AlexanderAlexanderentrepreneur
Cyprus · Residence permit

Either we go with our parents, mine and my wife’s, or there is no point. Irina found that Cyprus allows the parents of both spouses with no age limit and gathered all the income evidence. We are all going together.

Read the case
AlexanderAlexanderentrepreneur
Greece · Residence permit

I already had a Grenada passport and wanted Europe for the family too. Irina compared Hungary and Greece on one page, we chose Greece, and the filing went through without a single extra request.

Read the case
All client reviews →

Materials

26 materials written by Irina

BRIDGES knowledge base materials signed by Irina: Hungarian residence through funds, exiting the investment, Cyprus and Greece for families.

CitizenshipHungarian Citizenship 2026: All Ways to Obtain an EU PassportJune 2026CitizenshipHungarian Citizenship by Repatriation: Complete Guide to Simplified Naturalization in 2026June 2026CitizenshipHow Long to Wait for Hungary Citizenship: Honest Timeline 2026June 2026CitizenshipHungarian roots: who is eligible for citizenship by descent (2026)June 2026CitizenshipHungarian Language for Citizenship: What They Ask at the Interview in 2026June 2026CitizenshipHow to prove Hungarian origin: archives, vital records, genealogy (2026)June 2026CitizenshipResidence Permit or Citizenship of Hungary: What to Apply For in 2026June 2026CitizenshipFrom Residence Permit to Hungarian Citizenship: A Year-by-Year RouteJune 2026Programme comparisonsCitizenship of Bulgaria or Hungary: EU passport by rootsJune 2026Programme comparisonsEuropean residence permit without mandatory residence: Greece, Cyprus or Hungary in 2026June 2026Programme comparisonsHungary vs Greece vs Portugal Golden Visa: what to choose in 2026June 2026Programme comparisonsRepatriation to the EU: Hungary, Romania or Bulgaria - where is it easier to get a passport in 2026June 2026Programme comparisonsCitizenship of Hungary or Poland by roots: what to choose in 2026June 2026Programme comparisonsHungary or Serbia for Russians: where is it easier to get a residence permit in 2026June 2026Programme comparisonsCitizenship of Hungary or Slovakia by origin: what to choose in 2026June 2026Life abroadThe best areas of Budapest and Hungarian cities for foreignersJune 2026Life abroadCost of living in Hungary 2026: full breakdown of pricesJune 2026Life abroadSafety in Hungary: one of the safest EU countriesJune 2026Life abroadTransport in Hungary: Budapest metro, trains and cars - complete guideJune 2026ResidencyBest Cities in Hungary for Living in 2026: Budapest, Debrecen, Szeged and OthersJune 2026
Showing 20 of 26

BRIDGES sections

Where this practice applies

Residence by investment Citizenship by investment Compare programmes Opening bank accounts Client cases How BRIDGES works

Team

Who runs the work alongside Irina

A matter is never run by one person: the legal position, the filing, the documents and the work on the ground each have a named owner.

Irena SokolovskaIrena SokolovskaHead of European PracticeThe European office and partners in the EUAndres FerreiraAndres FerreiraHead of Investment AdvisoryChecking funds and investmentsAnna KovalevskayaAnna KovalevskayaHead of LegalLegal position and the fileNikos PappasNikos PappasBanking Relations SpecialistAccounts and transfers

All BRIDGES experts

INITIAL ASSESSMENT

Tell us what outcome your family needs

We will design a solution for your case, choose the country and the right status, and take the whole process through to the result.

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Anna Kovalevskaya, lead lawyer at BRIDGES GLOBAL
Anna KovalevskayaLead lawyer, citizenship and residency, 12 years of practice