‘Belgian student status’ is conferred on those who are not Belgian nationals but are legally recognized as having the rights of a Belgian student. To hold Belgian student status you must meet the following criteria:
- you are a national of the European Union;
OR
- you have Belgian unlimited right of residence or long-term residence status;
- you are a candidate for or have refugee status, are stateless or have been granted subsidiary protection;
- you have a residency permit of more than three months and receive professional or other revenue;
- you are the responsibility of the CPAS (Centre public d'action social) or a CPAS home or are represented by the CPAS;
- your father, mother, legal guardian, spouse or legal cohabitant is a national of an EU member state or meets one of the four preceding criteria;
- you have a scholarship cited in Article 105 § 2 of the 7 November 2013 French Community of Belgium Decree;
- you are a long-term resident of another EU country.
How do I prove my Belgian student status?
Prior to university enrolment, you must submit proof of one of the following:
- nationality of an EU member state: copy of your valid identification or recent certificate of nationality (‘assimilation 0’);
- Belgian unlimited right of residence or long-term residence status: copy of your ‘long-term resident permit’ (permit D), foreigner identification permit/unlimited right of residence permit (permit B or C) or EU citizen family member’s residence permit (permit F) (‘assimilation 1’);
- candidacy for or actual refugee status, statelessness or subsidiary protection:
- refugee status candidate: copy of Annexe 26;
- refugee: copy of refugee permit, recent household composition certificate, or recent residence certificate and birth certificate;
- stateless: Belgian commune or Foreigners Office official document proving statelessness;
- subsidiary protection: one-year renewable certificate of registration in the Belgian foreigners registry, Foreigners Office decision proving subsidiary protection status, or a minimum one-year residence permit (‘assimilation 2’);
- residency permit of more than three months and receive professional or other revenue: recent household composition certificate, six salary statements from the 12 preceding months enrolment and proving your salary equals at least half the guaranteed average minimum gross monthly salary established by CNT, and a recent copy of your identification card (‘assimilation 3’);
- you are the responsibility of the CPAS or a CPAS home or are represented by the CPAS: a recent CPAS certificate (‘assimilation 4’);
- your father, mother, legal guardian, legal spouse or legal cohabitant is a national of an EU member state or meets one of the preceding four Belgian student status criteria: copy of valid identification card (permit F or permit F+) and/or documents requested for the student to adapt for the person concerned; moreover, the legal cohabitation must be justified by a certificate from the communal administration and the legal guardianship by a guardianship decision (NB: age of majority can differ per nationality) (‘assimilation 5’);
- scholarship cited in Article 105 § 2 of the 7 November 2013 French Community of Belgium Decree: scholarship certificate from the French Community of Belgium or Belgian Development Cooperation (‘assimilation 6’);
- long-term residence of another EU country: ‘long-term resident’ certificate of the EU country (‘assimilation 7’).