Every person born in this country can obtain Belgian citizenship. There are also several other interesting ways. Belgian legislation is distinguished by its softness and democracy in relation to foreigners who want to “establish themselves” in the territory of this state.

Panorama of the city of Antwerp

Anyone who meets the existing criteria can obtain Belgian citizenship.

There are 4 main ways to obtain Belgian citizenship in 2019:


The fourth method is slightly less popular than naturalization. In this case, the person has the right to obtain a Belgian passport after seven years of stay in the Kingdom.

Also, a person applying to become a full citizen of the Kingdom must fulfill the following conditions:

  1. Create a financial organization with a concern structure.
  2. Have share capital in the amount of 12.4 thousand euros.
  3. Have an annual salary of 35.0 thousand euros.

Naturalization options

The basis for obtaining Belgian citizenship in this case is even a short period of residence in this state. The main criterion for obtaining citizenship under this scheme is the age of majority of the candidate.
At the time of submitting the relevant documents, the candidate must be eighteen years old.

In general, a hypothetical Belgian citizen must live in the country for two to four years. During the first two years, a person has the opportunity to obtain a civil passport.

If the applicant for a Belgian passport is a refugee, then naturalization is valid after two years of his stay in the country.

Exceptional Feature

A pleasant bonus of the country’s legislation is that starting from 2007, a foreign person arriving here does not have to renounce his “native” citizenship.

That is, unlike many other countries, not only European ones, dual citizenship is allowed in the Kingdom. Dual citizenship can also be obtained by ter. sign of origin.

Family of the King of Belgium

Children, upon reaching adulthood, can either retain their second citizenship or renounce it in favor of Belgian citizenship.

Advantages

Belgium is one of the “old-timers” of the European Union. In this regard, a Belgian citizen has every right to live and work in any other EU country.

Citizenship by birthright of the candidate

A person born in the Kingdom can only obtain the status of “Belgian citizen” if:

  1. He has no other citizenship.
  2. He loses citizenship upon reaching adulthood.
  3. One of his parents was born in the country and lived here five to ten years before the birth of the candidate.
  4. Before reaching the age of eighteen, he was adopted by a guardian born in the country (the hypothetical adoptive parent must confirm the fact of residence in the country for the last five to ten years).

This is what a Belgian citizen's passport looks like

Thus, a person born to immigrants permanently residing here can receive the honorary status of “Belgian citizen” by birth. The grandson of a Belgian immigrant can also become the owner of a Belgian passport by birthright.

It is important to know that even those born out of wedlock can become an official subject of the Belgian Kingdom. To do this, you will need to provide all certificates confirming paternity or maternity.