Moving to Belgium – Registration procedures

First step to take (irrespective of duration of stay)

When you arrive in Belgium you must notify the local authority (administration communale) of your presence within ten working days following your date of arrival, presenting your passport or identity card. You will then receive a specific document entitled ‘declaration of presence’.

Short Stay for EEA Nationals (declaration of presence)

In principle, a ‘declaration of presence’ is sufficient for a stay on Belgian territory for a period of less than three months.

NB: in some cases, you will still be obliged to follow the procedure for obtaining Annex 19 (see below), for example:

• if you come to seek work in Belgium, Annex 19 is required in order to register at the public labour services
• if you come as a salaried worker, your employer may ask for Annex 19. Ask at your local authority

Temporary Stay of Over 3 Months for EEA nationals

Annex 19 (certificate of registration application)

If you want to stay in Belgium for more than three months, you must submit a registration application to the local authority (Annex 19) within a period of three months from the date of your arrival in Belgium. Go to the local authority with your passport or valid identity card and your ‘declaration of presence’. The local authority will ask you to specify the reason for your stay (salaried worker, self-employed worker, jobseeker, student, EEA citizen with proof of adequate means, family member of an EEA citizen).

Annex 8 (certificate of registration)

To obtain Annex 8 (certificate of registration), you must submit various documents to the local authority (these documents are specified in Annex 19). You will have 3 months (from the date of submission of your application) to transmit all the documents required. Then, depending on the case, the local authority has three options:

1st case: immediate delivery of the ‘certificate of registration’ (Annex 8) by the local authority.
If all the documents required have been transmitted immediately or within the specified deadline, the municipality may give its immediate approval without requiring the intervention of the Aliens Bureau. The following cases apply:

• salaried workers
• self-employed workers
• persons with adequate means of subsistence
• students
• family members who are themselves EEA citizens
• The local authority will immediately deliver a certificate of registration in paper form. If your address has already been checked and found to be positive, the person concerned is entered in the aliens register. If the check proves to be negative, or your address has not yet been checked, the certificate of registration will state that the person is entered on the waiting list

2nd case: the local authority sends the application to the Aliens Bureau.
If all the documents required have been transmitted but the local authority is not authorised to take a decision, it must send the application to the Aliens Bureau. This may concern the following cases:

• jobseekers
• persons with adequate means of subsistence (persons of independent means or with means via the intermediary of another person)
• family members who are themselves citizens of the EEA, but who are unable to prove their family link.

3rd case: refusal by the local authority.
If you have not transmitted the documents required within the required deadlines, the local authority will issue you a preliminary Annex 20, which stipulates that you have an extra month to complete your dossier. If, after this extra month, you have transmitted all the documents required, depending on your case, the local authority will issue you directly Annex 8 or send the application to the Aliens Bureau (see 1st and 2nd cases).
If, on the other hand, you have not submitted your documents in time, you will receive a second Annex 20, this time together with an order to leave Belgian territory with a period of 30 days.

Swiss Nationals

These registration rules do not apply to Swiss nationals, who must follow a different registration procedure. Ask at your local authority.

Text last edited on: 05/2009

Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2009
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