Registration

At least one Belgian parent must be registered with the embassy in London before we can register your child.

Choose the scenario that best fits your situation below.

Your child has the Belgian nationality at birth. You should follow the information below to complete their first-time registration.

A. Your child was born in Belgium

Please contact us by email with a copy of the child’s birth certificate to enquire about their registration: londonpassports@diplobel.fed.be

B. Your child was born in the UK

Please send the following documents by post to the Population department:

• A registration form for minors, completed and signed by both parents/legal guardians: DUTCH (PDF, 189.61 KB) / FRENCH (PDF, 165.78 KB)
• An official copy of the birth certificate, no older than six months (the original document, not a photocopy or scan)
• A certified translation of the birth certificate into a Belgian national language (Dutch, French or German), performed by a recognised sworn translator. To find a sworn translator recognised by Belgium, please consult the website of the FPS Justice
• A copy of both parents’ passports (or Belgian identity cards)
• Proof of both parents’ right to remain in the UK: please provide the share code to confirm your immigration status. You can request this on the website of the British government. This doesn’t apply if the parent is British
• A copy of any other passport of the child, should they also have another nationality
• A prepaid Special Delivery envelope addressed to yourself
  
  Embassy of Belgium (Population) 
  17 Grosvenor Crescent
  LONDON
  SW1X 7EE

If the parents were unmarried on the day of the child’s birth, we will also require the following for the non-Belgian parent (this doesn’t apply if both parents are Belgian):

• Confirmation of their civil status on the date of the child’s birth. The non-Belgian parent does this by means of a certificate of civil status issued by their embassy in the UK. If the parent is British, they have to present an apostilled ‘statutory declaration’, which can be obtained through a British solicitor/notary public
• If the non-Belgian parent is the father: confirmation that the child's paternal filiation complies with the laws applicable in the father’s country of nationality. He should contact his embassy in the UK for this. If the father is British, he should include this in his statutory declaration (see above)

C. Your child was not born in Belgium or the UK

You should provide the documents listed in section B above.

If the birth occurred in the European Union, the birth certificate will not need to be legalised. If the birth certificate is not in a Belgian national language, you should request the local authority that issued your document in an EU country to provide a multilingual standard form. You can then present this form (instead of a certified translation) together with the birth certificate.

If the birth occurred outside the EU and the UK, the birth certificate may need to be legalised. For more information on the use of a foreign document, please consult the website of FPS Foreign Affairs.

Your child did not obtain Belgian citizenship from birth. You can, if you so wish, give your child Belgian citizenship before his/her fifth birthday by means of a declaration of attribution of citizenship.

In order to start the procedure of ‘attribution of citizenship’, please send by post a letter to the Nationality Department in which you request further information regarding the procedure to be sent to you. Clearly indicate your contact details in the letter and include the following documents:

• Photocopy of your passport or ID card
• Photocopy of the passport of the other parent (including a copy of the UK residence permit in case you are not an EU national)
• Photocopy of the birth certificate of the child (long version which includes the names of both parents)
• Verification code from the Home Office to prove your (pre)settled status. On 01.07.21 submission of proof of legal residence in the UK becomes mandatory. You should be able to generate it here: www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status  
  Alternatively, if you have rather acquired British citizenship, please send a clear scanned copy of your British certificate of naturalisation/registration and British passport.

TO: 

Embassy of Belgium - Nationality Department
17 Grosvenor Crescent
London SW1X 7EE

Note that no ‘attribution of citizenship’ files will be accepted by email. At this stage only copies are required. If your child is over the age of 5, our services can only note that the legal deadline for signing the declaration of attribution of Belgian nationality has passed.