Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001 lists the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of a visa when crossing the external borders of the Schengen States and those whose nationals are exempt from this requirement.
You can consult the regulation of the European Union at https://eur-lex.europa.eu
If you have used “Visa on Web” to fill in the visa application form, return to the platform after submitting your application. The reference assigned to your application by the embassy or consulate will be registered there. If you submitted your application at a Visa Application Center (VAC), wait a few days because the VAC must first forward your application to the embassy or consulate.
If you have not used “Visa on Web”, you can contact the embassy or consulate, or send an e-mail to infovisa [at] diplobel.fed.be () indicating the full identity of the applicant and the place where the application was submitted.
If you wish to travel to Belgium, you must apply for a visa at the Belgian embassy or consulate competent for your place of residence. If the embassy or consulate works with an external service provider (VFS Global or TLS Contact) for the reception of applications, you must contact this service provider.
The list of Belgian embassies and consulates is published on the website of the FPS Foreign Affairs www.diplomatie.belgium.be
In some countries, Belgium does not issue visas; it is represented by another Schengen visa State in connection with a planned guardianship or surrender of a child for adoption which processes visa applications for a short stay in Belgium on its behalf (maximum 90 days).
The list of countries in which Belgium is represented by another Schengen State is published on the FPS Foreign Affairs website www.diplomatie.belgium.be.
Applications for short-stay visas for one of the following reasons must always be submitted to the competent Belgian embassy or consulate:
- visa to marry or cohabit legally in Belgium;
- visa for medical reasons;
- visa on humanitarian grounds;
- visa in connection with a planned adoption;
- visa in connection with a planned guardianship or surrender of a child for adoption;
- return visa.
If there is no Belgian embassy or consulate in the country where you live, you must contact the Belgian embassy or consulate responsible for this country.
Useful to know:
Representation agreements are temporarily suspended due to the corona crisis (COVID-19). Until further notice, all visa applications, regardless of the purpose of the trip, must be submitted to a Belgian embassy or consulate.
Applications for a long-stay visa are always processed by a Belgian embassy or consulate.
If the embassy/consulate has forwarded your application to the Immigration Office, you can follow its progress on the website of the Immigration Office via the app "At what stage is my visa application?", which you can find via this link. You must enter the number of the application and the embassy/consulate where the application was submitted
In general, you must submit a complete file when you submit an application for a visa. However, if you wish to attach additional documents, such as salary slips, a new contract (work/rental) or a school exemption, you can send them to infodesk [at] ibz.fgov.be
Always mention the number of your visa application and the embassy or consulate.
If you live abroad, you will be contacted by the embassy/consulate.
You can lodge an appeal against the negative decision with the Council for Alien Law Litigation or you can submit a new visa application taking into account the reason for the refusal. It is not enough to send the missing documents to the Immigration Office to have the decision reviewed. You can find more information about the appeal process on our website.