Belgian citizenship by descent

Who qualifies, generation by generation

The dates that matter

1. 1982

   The Constitutional Court held the five-year rule unconstitutional in so far as it leaves no option for a child whose Belgian parent, born abroad, died within the five years without declaring (the parent in that case was born in Turkey in 1982, naturalised Belgian in 2006, and had the child in Turkey in 2014). Constitutional Court, judgment 51/2026 of 23 April 2026 (ECLI:BE:GHCC:2026:ARR.051) ↗

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Belgium’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

• Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Code of Belgian Nationality, Art. 8 (attribution by descent; declaration before age 5 for children born abroad to a parent also born abroad) ↗

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The documents, as the rule lists them

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

• birth

  The commune (gemeente) of birth, état civil / burgerlijke stand. Acts drawn up since 31 March 2019 sit in the central civil-status database (BAEC/DABS) and any commune can issue them.

  The Belgian parent’s commune of birth. Language of the record follows the commune: French, Dutch or German.

  Ask

  By email, in French

  Takes

  2–9 weeks

  Good to know (2)›

  • Write in the commune’s language (Dutch in Flanders, French in Wallonia, either in Brussels) and attach a copy of your ID and proof you descend from the person named. Brussels City issues copies free and answers email requests in 5 working days for acts in the central database; some communes charge (Ohey €4; Etterbeek €15 for non-residents).
  • Older acts are being moved into the central database (BAEC) as communes reissue them; until then only the commune of birth holds an older birth act.

  source ↗

• citizenship

  Proof the Belgian line kept its nationality: the parent’s Belgian passport or eID, a certificate of Belgian nationality from their commune or consular register, and, for a member born abroad after 1966 and now over 28, a Belgian passport/ID issued between 18 and 28 or a declaration of retention.

  Ask

  By email, in French

  Takes

  2–13 weeks

  Good to know (1)›

  • Automatic loss at 28 applies to those born abroad after 1 January 1967 with no main residence in Belgium from 18 to 28, no declaration of retention and another nationality; a passport or ID issued 18–28 saved it for anyone under 28 on 12 July 2018.

  source ↗

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Belgium.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

2 residence programs lead to Belgium without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

• BusinessProfessional card (carte professionnelle / beroepskaart) for self-employment

  Belgium requires any non-EU national who wants to freelance, run a sole proprietorship, or actively direct a Belgian company to hold a regional professional card first.

• Job offerEU Blue Card for highly qualified employment

  A non-EU national with a qualifying offer for highly qualified work in Belgium may apply for a residence and work permit. The salary and qualification tests are country-specific.

Every source on this page

3 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

1. LawCode of Belgian Nationality, Art. 8 (attribution by descent; declaration before age 5 for children born abroad to a parent also born abroad) · Art. 8 §1; Art. 8; Art. 12bis
2. LawConstitutional Court, judgment 51/2026 of 23 April 2026 (ECLI:BE:GHCC:2026:ARR.051)
3. LawBelgian consular service: loss at 28 (Code of Belgian Nationality, Art. 22 §1 5°)
4. RecordsThe commune (gemeente/commune) where they were born, or the Belgian civil registry: Your parent’s Belgian birth certificate or nationality certificate
5. RecordsHow to file: Attribution by descent (Art. 8)
6. RecordsDemande d’inscription dans les registres consulaires de la population d’une personne majeure (U.S. posts’ adult registration form)
7. RecordsBirth records: The commune
8. RecordsCitizenship records: Proof the Belgian line kept its nationality
9. RecordsTranslations into French, Dutch or German (the language of the commune where the act will be transcribed)

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.