Before arrival
- Verify whether you require a visa (C-type for short stay and D-type for long stay). Some nationals are exempt if they come for a short-term stay.
- Contact the Belgian embassy or consulate in your country to establish the required procedure and documents. If there is no Belgian embassy, you either need to contact the Belgian embassy based in a neighbouring country which is accredited to your country, or the embassy of a Schengen member state which represents Belgium in your country.
Upon Arrival
- Upon arrival in Belgium, you will be required to register your stay at the town or city hall of the municipality where you will reside.
- If you come for a short-term stay, the maximum duration of your stay depends on any previous visits to the Schengen area in the past 180 days and/or on the restrictions of your visa. You can verify the duration in this calculation tool.
- If you come for a long-term stay, you will need to present some of the documents which you submitted as part of your visa application, so as to verify the maximum duration of your stay (e.g. annex 46/47, scholarship), or so as to establish the relationships in a family reunification procedure (e.g. marriage/birth certificate). If these documents have been issued abroad, particularly civil status records and documents issued by a local authority, they may require a legalisation, as well as a Dutch translation by a sworn translator.
Helpful links
- EU/Schengen Area visa calculator
- Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs Ministry
- Short-stay calculator
- Working in Flanders
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