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
Reproduction is authorised.
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