FAQ

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  1. How much is the handling fee (cost for processing your visa application)?
  2. What documents do I need to submit for my visa application?
  3. Checking the status of your visa application
  4. Medical certificate - Certified doctors
  5. Certificate of good conduct
  6. Student Sponsorship
  7. Professional card
  8. School trips
  9. Brexit and its consequences
  10. I hold a UK travel document (blue, black or red cover), do I need a visa?
  11. My visa application was refused

 

1) How much is the handling fee (cost for processing your visa application)?

  1. The exact amount of the current handling fee can be found here (PDF, 179.77 KB). Please note that the handling fee, is to be paid at the time of the application. In case the applicant is exempt from paying the handling fee, he or she is not automatically exempted from paying the additional contribution. You will find all conditions on the website of the only competent authority for the admittance, stay, residence and removal of foreigners: FPS Home Affairs Immigration Office website  

  2. When using the VAC, a service fee must be paid. Persons that are exempt from the handling fee are not exempt from paying this service fee. 

  3. An additional contribution is required for the processing of certain visa D applications, in which case you will be requested to submit a proof of payment (bank transfer) of this additional contribution as a part of your visa application. If you are unable to do so at the time of the submission of your application, the application will  be considered inadmissible.

 

2) What documents do I need to submit for my visa application?

You will find all conditions on the website of the only competent authority for the admittance, stay, residence and removal of foreigners: FPS Home Affairs Immigration Office website  

You will also be able to find out information on the Visa Application Centre TLScontact website. You will find information about short stay (<90 days) also called C or Schengen visa on the one hand and long stay (>90 days) on the other hand. 

 

3) Checking the status of your visa application 

The embassy aims to process visa applications within ten working days once the files are physically received. You can find further details about processing times on the Visa Application Centre TLScontact website

Belgian embassies and consulates general must submit certain visa applications to the Immigration Office of the Federal Public Service Home Affairs for a final decision, that process can take up to 85 days. It is the only competent authority with regards to the admittance, stay, residence and removal of foreigners from Belgian territory. In such a case, your file number will be communicated to you by email upon the submission of your file to the Immigration Office. From this stage onwards, the Immigration Office is the only authority to contact, if you wish to know the status of your application. you can check the status of your visa application on the Immigration Office website or T: +32.2.793.80.00, E: infodesk@ibz.fgov.be). Once a decision has been taken, The Belgian Embassy will inform you via the VAC. 

The Embassy is not in a position to provide any further updates on your application while the decision is pending with the Ministry. Should you require your passport back in the meantime, please contact the VAC to request a temporary withdrawal of your passport via email to contact.gb2be@tlscontact.com

 

4) Medical certificate - Certified doctors

If you need a medical certificate, we invite you to contact one of the doctors certified by the Embassy. Please click here (PDF, 169.4 KB) to obtain the list. 

We understand that certain applicants have difficulties to obtain a medical certificate due to the strain put on the UK health services. The obligation to submit a medical certificate remains a legal requirement in certain visa applications. The Embassy has a very extensive list of accredited doctors and medical centres where these certificates can be obtained.  

We cannot allow applicants to go to non-accredited doctors as the procedure to approve a doctor and receive the necessary insurances that the certificates are genuine and respect all the legal conditions is impossible to realise with the current level of applications. 

 

5) Certificate of good conduct

A certificate of good conduct/police certificate must submitted for a long stay visa, work permit or professional card application and applied for by anyone 18 years old and over, and covering at least the last year. 

Please click here to find information on how to obtain your certificate of good conduct. In order to be valid in Belgium the Certificate of Good Conduct must be legalised. You can get certain official UK documents ‘legalised’ by asking the UK LEGALISATION OFFICE to confirm that the signature, stamp or seal is from a UK public official. 

 

6) Student Sponsorship

We have a dedicated section for Student Sponsorship (Annex 32), please click here.

 

7) Professional Card

There is a specific procedure for this type of application, to find out about it please click here.  

 

8) School trips

School trip Information Sheet, please click here (PDF, 105.47 KB)

 

9) Brexit and its consequences for British passport holders

As of the 1st of January 2021, which marks the end of the transition period, European law will no longer apply within the UK. British citizens do not require a visa if spending up to 90 days over a 180 days period in the Schengen area. You may however be asked like any other third country nationals to justify your travel by the Immigration Officer (means of living, address of stay, medical travel insurance…).

As of the 1st of January 2021, UK citizens will need a Long Stay visa if staying in Belgium for more than 90 days whatever the purpose of stay (work, studies, Au Pairing, family reunification, foreign family members of Belgian nationals, etc.).

For a number of years now, work related matters in Belgium are not a competence of the Federal level. All questions regarding work permit, single permit, professional card* and possible exemptions thereof should be addressed directly to the competent region.

Once the single permit, blue card, work permit type B or the exemption is granted then can the visa application be submitted at the Visa Application Centre TLScontact. You will find on their website all the information relating to appointments, requirements, fees and processing times. 

* Professional card: there is a specific procedure for this type of application, to find out about it please click here

 

10) I hold a UK travel document (blue, black or red cover), do I need a visa?

A Schengen visa must be applied for if you are a holder of the below travel document : 

If you hold a blue travel document (Conventions of Geneva 1951) issued by the United Kingdom, You do require a visa to travel to Belgium. If you are traveling by Eurostar, some ferry routes, bus… you will need to contact the French authorities as France will be the first point of entry. 

If you hold a red travel document (Conventions of New York 1954) issued by the United Kingdom, you do need a visa to travel to Belgium. Please note that the process will take a minimum of 10 days. 

If you hold a black travel document issued by the United Kingdom, please note that the travel document is not recognised by the Benelux authorities. A visa application can still be submitted, however we will need to get an authorisation from the Immigration Office in Belgium which can take up to 85 days. 

You can find all the information on the procedure, requirements and appointments on the TLScontact visa application centre website  Belgium Visa Application Centre | TLScontact

 

11) My visa application was refused

In the event that your visa application is refused by the Ministry of the Interior, you will be issued with a refusal notification. The coordinated law of 18 July 1966 on the use of languages in administrative cases legally binds the Ministry of the Interior to take a decision in one of the three national languages of Belgium (Dutch, French or German). The official refusal notification, which is an administrative decision, is therefore in one of the three cited languages above.

In order to assist applicants, the Embassy has provided a free translation (PDF, 96.07 KB) (of which no rights can be derived) of the template document. This will allow applicants to have some basic information regarding the reasons of the refusal. Each refusal notification also has an accompanying motivation in Dutch, French or German, but this is individual to each refusal notification and it is therefore impossible for the Embassy to provide translations on an individual basis.

Should you have any further questions (regarding the refusal or the appeals process), please direct them to the Ministry of the Interior or the Council for Alien Law Litigation.

The Embassy is not in a position to comment further on any refusal. There is therefore no need to contact the Embassy about refusals or appeals.

In case of refusal decision by the Belgium Consular Authorities of the visa you applied for, you can either choose to:

  • To appeal the decision, please refer to the procedure mentioned in your refusal letter;
  • Or submit a new visa application (there are no time delays before a new application can be submitted).

For easy and fast processing of your visa application, the application needs to be submitted at one of the 'Visa Application Centres' (VAC) and not at the embassy. The addresses in London, Edinburgh and Manchester, as well as all other information, can be found here: London; Edinburgh and Manchester.