Belgium

Belgium has a relatively good record on accession to relevant human rights instruments, but it entered declarations to the 1961 Convention, which limit the scope of some provisions to prevent statelessness, and it has not acceded the relevant Council of Europe Conventions. Some data on the stateless population is available and improvements have been made, but there are some remaining gaps. Statelessness may be determined through a judicial procedure and, since September 2024, it is possible to apply for a residence permit on the grounds of statelessness through a new administrative procedure. However, in the judicial procedure procedural rules and safeguards are limited, the burden and standard of proof do not comply with international standards, and recognition of statelessness by the courts does not lead to a residence permit nor additional protection, beyond the right to a social allowance. The new administrative procedure introduced a residence permit on the grounds of statelessness for the first time, but due to strict conditions and limited procedural guarantees, does not constitute a fair, effective, and accessible procedure for stateless people to access their rights. There are also gaps in safeguards to prevent the arbitrary detention of stateless people, and people released from detention are not provided with identification documents or rights.

There are some safeguards to prevent and reduce statelessness established in Belgian law, including a provision to automatically grant nationality to otherwise stateless children born on the territory, but there are issues with how this operates in practice and there have been reports of certain groups facing challenges, for example children born in Belgium to Palestinian and Paraguayan parents. There is a foundlings provision, but it applies only to newborn children. There may be a risk of statelessness in adoption proceedings due to rules on loss and acquisition of Belgian nationality. Although all births should be registered in Belgium irrespective of parents’ status, public servants must report undocumented people to the immigration authorities, which may prevent some undocumented people from registering their children’s births. Parents must also be lawfully residing to subsequently register a child in the National Registry, a precondition for access to many rights, including full access to education and healthcare. On loss and deprivation of nationality, there are safeguards to prevent statelessness in most cases, except where nationality is acquired through fraud.

The original version of this country profile is the English version. In case of any discrepancies with the translated version, the English version should take primacy.

Zuletzt aktualisiert: 
Febr. 2025
Landesexperte/n: 

Hania Ouhnaoui and Julie Lejeune, NANSEN

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ZUSÄTZLICHE INFORMATIONEN

-Rechtsgrundlagen und bewährte Verfahren

 

Internationale und regionale Instrumente

Assesses whether countries are State party to the relevant international and regional instruments, including whether reservations have an impact on statelessness, and whether instruments are incorporated into domestic law. The four core statelessness treaties (1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; European Convention on Nationality; Council of Europe Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession) carry more weight than other relevant human rights instruments in the assessment.

Belgium is State party to both the 1954 and 1961 statelessness conventions, although it entered declarations relating to foundlings and withdrawal of nationality at the time of acceding to the 1961 Convention. Belgium has not acceded to the relevant Council of Europe Conventions, the European Convention on Nationality and the Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession. However, it is party to most other relevant human rights instruments except for the International Convention on Migrant Workers.

  • Belgium is State party to the 1954 Convention with no reservations and the convention has direct effect.
  • Belgium is State party to the 1961 Convention and the convention has direct effect. 
  • Belgium made two declarations on accession to the convention clarifying that it considers the foundlings provision to apply only to ‘new-borns’; and, that it reserves the right to deprive people of Belgian nationality in certain circumstances.
  • Belgium is State party to most relevant international and regional human rights treaties and is bound by the EU Returns Directive. 
  • However, Belgium is not State party to the Council of Europe Conventions relating to statelessness, the European Convention on Nationality and the Europe Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession; nor is it party to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
  • Belgium is State party to all other relevant human rights treaties with no reservations impacting on statelessness, although it did enter an interpretive declaration to the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the time of ratification stating that its understanding of non-discrimination on grounds of national origin does not imply the obligation to automatically guarantee foreigners the same rights as nationals.

Statistiken zur staatenlosen Bevölkerung

Examines the availability and sources of disaggregated population data on statelessness. Provides recent figures and assesses reliability of measures countries have in place to count stateless persons, including in the census, population registries, and migration databases. Notes whether statelessness has been mapped in the country and whether there are sufficient measures in place to count stateless persons in detention.

Some data on the stateless population in Belgium is available. The Belgian National Registry records people who have been recognised as stateless and issued long-term residence permits in the country, but it also contains categories that may overlap with ‘stateless’ and does not count people awaiting determination of their statelessness, recognised as stateless but not granted a residence permit (although data on applications and decisions under the judicial procedure is published by the Justice Department), stateless people holding a short-term residence permit, nor people recognised as stateless in the asylum procedure. Asylum seekers are registered separately within the National Register, specifically in the ‘waiting register’, and figures for the number of ‘stateless’ asylum seekers per month are reported to Eurostat. The Belgian Immigration Office collects some data on the nationality of people held in immigration detention, but these figures are not routinely published.

  • Belgium includes a 'stateless' category in its National Registry, which records people who have been recognised as stateless under the judicial procedure and issued long-term residence permits in Belgium. Figures are also available for stateless refugees. The latest available figures are for January 2024, when there were 628 stateless people with long-term residence, including 62 stateless refugees registered in the National Registry. Data is disaggregated by sex and age.  The National Registry also includes the categories 'undetermined nationality' (21,523 people in January 2024), which records people who declare themselves stateless or await determination of their statelessness, among others, and 'Palestine' (9,821 people in January 2024 with a valid residence permit).
  • The Immigration Office also publishes the number of stateless people, people with undetermined nationality’, and people registered as ‘Palestine’ who have been granted a residence right on any grounds including humanitarian grounds. 
  • There are also groups of stateless people who are not counted in the National Registry data, for example, people awaiting a decision on their residence permit application on the ground of statelessness, people recognised as stateless but not (yet) granted a residence permit, and stateless people holding a short-term residence permit.
  • Asylum seekers are registered separately, within the National Register, specifically in the waiting register. As required by EUROSTAT, figures are available monthly on  the number of asylum seekers, beneficiaries of international protection, and recognised refugees recorded as ‘stateless’ or ‘undetermined nationality’ by the Belgian authorities. Applications and decisions, appeals, and decisions on appeals under the judicial procedure are published annually by the Justice Department.
  • UNHCR published a mapping study of statelessness in Belgium in 2012. Its latest estimate of the size of the stateless population under its mandate in Belgium is 936 people in 2023 and 836 as of mid-2024. This is significantly reduced from previous years, mainly due to a change in measurement categories, as people recorded by the Belgian authorities as of ‘undetermined nationality’ are no longer included in these figures.
  • The Belgian Immigration Office (Office des étrangers/Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken) does not routinely publish figures on stateless people held in immigration detention, though some figures have been issued in answer to parliamentary questions, which implies that the Office does internally hold data on stateless people in detention; however, figures are only available on request.

Verfahren zur Feststellung von Staatenlosigkeit und Rechtsstellung

Identifies whether countries have a definition of a stateless person in national law that aligns with the 1954 Convention, and whether they have a dedicated statelessness determination procedure (SDP) leading to a dedicated stateless status. If an SDP is not place, it assesses whether there are other procedures in which statelessness can be identified or other routes through which stateless people could regularise their stay or access their rights. Countries are subdivided in three groups to enable comparison between those with an SDP leading to protection, those with other procedures, and those with a statelessness status but no clear mechanism to access protection. The existing procedures and rights granted to stateless persons are examined and assessed against international norms and good practice. Assesses whether stateless people fleeing war have access to temporary protection.

Belgian law does not set out a definition of a stateless person, but since the 1954 Convention has direct effect, the Convention definition applies. There is a judicial procedure through which statelessness can be determined by the family courts in Belgium and, since September 2024, an administrative procedure to apply for a residence permit on the grounds of statelessness. However, the judicial procedure lacks procedural safeguards and rules, and a person recognised as stateless does not derive any additional rights from this. Access to the judicial procedure is not facilitated, the burden of proof lies with the applicant, the standard of proof is unclear and there is no clear guidance for decision-makers. There are some procedural safeguards but very limited protection during the procedure, so applicants may be at risk of detention and expulsion. Recognition as stateless by the Courts does not automatically lead to residence, although a permit and right to a social allowance may be granted if other conditions can be met. While the new administrative procedure to enable stateless people to apply for a residence permit is a welcome development, there are challenges with access to the procedure, the burden of proof lies with the applicant, applicants are not protected during the procedure, and procedural safeguards are limited. Stateless people who do not have a residence permit are only guaranteed access to urgent healthcare and education for minors. Limited access to housing in asylum reception facilities is available in specific circumstances and access to a minimum allowance is possible on request.

  • There is no definition of a stateless person in Belgian Law; however, as the 1954 Convention has direct effect, the Convention definition is applied.
  • UNHCR provides ad hoc training to family court judges (in cooperation with the Institute for Judicial Training), public prosecutors and local civil registrars. UNHCR also provided training on statelessness as part of the implementation of the new law on residence of stateless people for the Commissioner-General for Refugees and Stateless persons and Foreigner's Office in July 2024.
  • NANSEN organises regular peer-support and exchange of information for lawyers specialised in immigration law, including on statelessness. UNHCR organises training for lawyers on an ad hoc basis.
  • The Association for the Right of Foreigners (ADDE) provides annual trainings for lawyers, social workers, and public officials on migration law and nationality issues, including on statelessness.
  • Training is not routinely provided to different government bodies on statelessness and relevant procedures.
  • Belgium has a judicial procedure through which statelessness can be determined by one of six family courts and a new administrative procedure enabling stateless people to apply for a residence permit. 
  • However, in the judicial procedure, there are no specific procedural safeguards or rules in place, and a person recognised as stateless does not typically derive any additional rights (beyond those accessible to undocumented migrants) from this recognition. There are also challenges with the new administrative procedure, including strict admissibility and substantive conditions, and limited procedural guarantees, so it does not constitute a fair, effective, and accessible procedure for stateless persons to access their rights.
  • Belgium has a judicial procedure through which statelessness can be determined by one of six family courts. However, recognition of statelessness does not lead to any protection or rights, although in some cases civil courts oblige the State to deliver a residence permit to people recognised stateless under this procedure.
  • In parallel to the judicial procedure, since September 2024, Belgium has a new administrative procedure under which an individual can apply for a residence permit on the grounds of statelessness. However, while this is an improvement, this procedure is not a statelessness determination procedure per se as it includes several challenges, including strict admissibility and substantive conditions and limited procedural guarantees.
  • People whose statelessness has not been determined by a court nor under the new administrative procedure can in theory apply for family reunification, if they have family members in Belgium, or for a permission to stay on humanitarian grounds. In practice, however, this is difficult if they do not have identity and civil status documents, and there are no criteria set in law for humanitarian stay. 
  • Statelessness may also be identified during the asylum procedure and stateless asylum-seekers are sometimes referred to the judicial procedure for determination of their statelessness. As the administrative procedure only entered into force in September 2024, referral to that procedure is not yet evidenced.
  • Under the judicial procedure, claims for statelessness are centralised to some extent in that they are conducted by six family courts around the country. However, the courts have limited expertise on the determination of statelessness.  There are no instructions on how to make a claim for recognition of statelessness. Applications under the judicial procedure must be made in writing in the language of the competent court, and must take the form of a unilateral petition, which is very formalistic and requires several technical legal entries, such as the object of the petition and the jurisdiction. The assistance of a qualified lawyer is required for the petition to have any chance of success. There is a fee of 165 Euro, which may be waived if the applicant has insufficient means.  
  • There is no time limit, nor a lawful stay requirement, and the court is obliged to consider an application but only if the submission is valid (i.e. correct format, language, technicalities).
  • There is no safeguard in place to allow the Belgian authorities to initiate a judicial or administrative procedure ex officio, nor are there any referral mechanisms in place, although local authorities may advise people with undetermined nationality to seek statelessness determination on an ad hoc basis.
  • Under the administrative procedure, claims are assessed by the Immigration Office. They decide if the claim is admissible, and then ask for an opinion from the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons. There are no instructions on how to make a claim, except that applications must be submitted by registered mail. The applicant must have had previous lawful residence (over three months or as an applicant for international protection), although they are not required to lawfully reside in Belgium at the time of their application. The Immigration Office will decide to consider the application only if all formal requirements are fulfilled.
  • By law and in practice the applicant has the burden of proof, though in the judicial procedure the Crown Prosecutor may in very exceptional cases make enquiries with consular authorities in its advisory role in the procedure. In the new administrative procedure, the applicant must demonstrate that they meet the definition of a stateless person, their identity and origin, that they involuntarily lost their nationality or have never possessed any, that they cannot acquire or regain another nationality, that they are unable to obtain permanent residence in another State with which they have links, and that they are not a threat to public order or national securitý.
  • There is no clear guidance for decision-makers, no accurate and reliable country of origin information relating to statelessness, and the standard of proof is unclear under both the judicial and the administrative procedures, though it is accepted through jurisprudence that enquiries into a person’s nationality status can be limited to States with which applicants have relevant links. 
  • Under the administrative procedure, if the Immigration Office decides to consider the application, it will request an opinion from the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons on the basis of which it will make a decision on the application. While a previous judicial decision by the family courts is not required, the administrative authorities are bound by any prior decision of the family courts.
  • There are no specific measures in place to guarantee equality in decision-making for women, children or other groups, though general legal provisions on non-discrimination apply.
  • Free legal aid is available under both the judicial and administrative procedures for applicants who have insufficient means, both at first instance and on appeal. However, there is no presumption of insufficient means for applicants for statelessness determination (as in the case of asylum seekers), and there are barriers to accessing free legal aid in practice. 
  • The family court judge may invite the applicant to a hearing, and, in practice, this usually occurs. However, this does not have the same procedural guarantees as an interview outside the court context. In the new administrative procedure, there is no obligation for the authorities to interview the applicant.
  • There is no set timeframe for the judicial procedure in law or policy, and it appears to vary from one court to another, though on average it takes around a year. The administrative procedure should be completed within six months from the moment the Immigration Office requests an opinion from the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, although there is no time limit for the initial decision on admissibility. The six-month time limit is only indicative and there are no sanctions if it is not met.
  • Free interpreting is not automatic under either procedure. The applicant's lawyer may request translation and an interpreter and ask that fees be covered by the State if the applicant has insufficient means. In the administrative procedure, free interpreting is only available when authorities decide to invite the applicant for an interview.
  • Decisions are given in writing with reasons.
  • There is an automatic right of appeal in the judicial procedure, but the regular fee for court appeals is applied, which is currently 400 Euro. In the administrative procedure, the law does not foresee the possibility to appeal, but by default, an appeal can be lodged with the Council for Alien Law Litigation under the immigration law, although this only entails a check on the legality of the decision.
  • If the application submitted under the administrative procedure is rejected, the applicant is not referred to the judicial procedure and is not informed of it.
    Quality assurance audits of the procedures are not routinely undertaken. There is some evidence of errors in decision-making in the judicial procedure, notably in cases of people of Palestinian origin, although only a limited number of decisions are published. 
  • UNHCR may play a role in the procedures by monitoring and/or intervening in individual cases brought to its attention, although this is not explicitly provided in law for the administrative procedure and therefore will be left to UNHCR’s discretion.
  • Applicants do not have an automatic right to stay while their statelessness claim is assessed under either procedure. Applicants who do not have a residence permit on any other basis are not entitled to work and are only entitled to urgent medical assistance on the same basis as undocumented migrants. They also face a risk of detention and expulsion due to lack of documentation.
  • Recognition of statelessness by the family courts does not result in automatic permission to stay nor residence rights, although jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court has established that recognised stateless people who can meet certain requirements - (a) involuntarily lost their nationality and (b) cannot obtain a legal and durable right of residence in another state - may receive a limited duration residence permit.
  • In practice, stateless people recognised through the judicial procedure still need to apply for permission to stay on humanitarian grounds and there are no established criteria for this. The length of a residence permit granted on humanitarian grounds is at the discretion of the Immigration Office, but generally a renewable limited duration permit for one year is granted.
  • Applicants refused a residence permit under the administrative statelessness procedure are denied access to permission to stay on humanitarian grounds.
  • People recognised as stateless by the courts can apply for a financial allocation equivalent to the minimum wage.
  • Other rights granted to people recognised as stateless depend on whether they are granted a residence permit (rather than the recognition of statelessness per se). If they hold a residence permit, a travel document is issued; they qualify for family reunification under the general regime applicable to third-country nationals; they are entitled to work and education under the general regime; and they have access to social security and healthcare under the same conditions as third country nationals.
  • An applicant who has been issued a positive decision under the administrative procedure is granted residence for five years, after which the residence becomes unlimited and permanent. People granted this residence permit have the right to healthcare, social security, education, housing and to vote. They will only be granted the right to work if secondary legislation is amended, and it is unclear when this will be done. They should also be granted the right to family reunification but this is not the case in practice and conditions for granting this right are not harmonised with those for recognised refugees due to a gap in the new legislation. Issuance of a travel document and an identity document remains unclear as, under the Belgian Constitution, only courts can decide on nationality status and therefore a person without a court decision on their statelessness may not be granted such document.
  • Stateless people without a residence permit only have access to primary and secondary education if they are minors and are only eligible for urgent healthcare. In line with general rules for non-EU nationals, stateless people may request to vote in local elections under certain conditions, including having been lawfully and uninterruptedly residing in Belgium for five years.
  • Belgium offers three routes to protection for people fleeing Ukraine, including eligible stateless people: refugee status, subsidiary protection, or temporary protection.
  • Stateless people are only eligible for temporary protection if they were recognised as stateless persons in Ukraine or were beneficiaries of international protection or equivalent national protection in Ukraine. They may otherwise apply for refugee status or subsidiary protection.
  • Beneficiaries of international protection and recognised stateless persons in Ukraine must provide proof of status in Ukraine and an identity document with a photograph.
  • They may also need to prove family relationship, cohabitation, or dependency if applying for protection together with another eligible person. There is a certain degree of flexibility in documentation requirements, and the authorities proceed on a case-by-case basis.
  • Rights upon recognition of temporary protection include the right to reside (for one year); right to work; right to suitable accommodation; social welfare; medical care; education for children and temporary education for adults; transfers of family members to another Member State for reunification; and the right to apply for asylum at any time.
  • The Belgian Statistics Office indicates that 86,046 refugees from Ukraine have registered for temporary protection in Belgium (as of July 2024), but the lack of disaggregated data makes it impossible to know how many of these are stateless people. Anecdotal evidence mentions that less than six stateless people were granted temporary protection. 211 people granted temporary protection were registered as having ‘undetermined nationality’ in 2022 and 125 in 2023.
  • There are no longer-term solutions except that the right to reside in the country for beneficiaries of temporary protection has been extended until 4 March 2026 and they have the right to apply for asylum after temporary protection expires, although their application will only be assessed upon the expiry of the temporary protection regime.

Haft

Analyses law, policy and practice relating to immigration detention generally, but focusing on protections in place to prevent the arbitrary detention of stateless people during removal and deportation procedures. Subthemes examine areas such as the identification of statelessness and assessment of whether there is a reasonable prospect of removal, procedural safeguards such as time limits, judicial oversight, and effective remedies, as well as the rights granted to stateless people upon release from detention and protection against re-detention.

There are gaps in protections to prevent the arbitrary detention of stateless people in Belgium. There is no mechanism to identify statelessness in decisions to detain, and people seeking international protection are routinely detained at the border including on grounds of statelessness. A proposed country of removal should be identified prior to detention and detention should only be a measure of last resort, but current practice suggests otherwise. Some procedural safeguards are in place, including a time limit and free legal aid, but there is no automatic periodic review of any detention for less than five months. People released from detention are not provided with identification documents and therefore have very few rights.  Since July 2024, there is an obligation on the detainee to cooperate in any return process, for example by providing the information needed to verify their identity, including their nationality.

  • The Immigration Act provides for detention of asylum seekers at the border and on the territory, as well as detention on the territory of people subject to an order to leave the territory. Detention of asylum seekers at the border is systematic. The law states that detention should only be used as a measure of last resort and that alternatives to detention shall be established by Royal Decree, but no such decree has been enacted. The Belgian Government pledged in 2020 to make alternatives to detention effective.
  • In practice, however, alternatives are generally not considered prior to detention.
  • In principle, a proposed country of removal should be identified prior to detention. However, in practice a person can be detained under an initial (temporary) order to leave the territory in which no country of removal is identified pending examination and a further 'removal decision' being issued, which does contain a proposed country of removal. The ‘refoulement’ order issued when people are detained at the border does not include a country of removal and people are usually informed of their country of removal when issued a flight ticket, which does not exclude refoulement to a subsequent destination.
  • According to the law, a place of residence may be designated for the time necessary to carry out a particular measure; but, in practice, alternatives are not considered prior to detention except in the case of families with minor children who may be held in 'return houses' before being detained in closed family units, although these are not true alternatives to detention.
  • There is no dedicated mechanism in place to identify stateless people or those at risk of statelessness in decisions to detain. People seeking international protection are routinely detained at the border including on grounds of statelessness.
  • Referral to a procedure to determine statelessness could be a possibility, but long delays in obtaining a court date for the judicial procedure and the lack of suspensive effect mean that the person could be removed before a decision is made.
  • There is no mechanism in place to assess vulnerability prior to the detention decision and statelessness is not listed as a category of vulnerable persons.
  • A time limit is set in law. Detention is permitted for an initial two months. Detention can only be extended if the necessary steps for removal have been taken within seven days of the deprivation of liberty, with due diligence, and if there is a reasonable prospect of removal within a reasonable time. The detention can be prolonged by the Minister for a further month but cannot exceed five months except in cases of public order or national security, when it cannot exceed eight months.
    Release is automatic once the maximum period of detention has expired. Statelessness could be taken into account in considerations about extending detention, but in practice is not.
  • The law states that detainees should be informed in writing of the legal basis for detention and how to challenge it. In practice, the communication of reasons for extending detention is sometimes delayed. 
  • Detainees receive information on their rights and services available to them in detention centres, but interpreters are not used so this is ineffective in practice and no information is provided about statelessness determination.
  • There is no automatic, periodic review of detention before a court or independent body, unless the detention is prolonged to five months by the Minister, in which case the lawfulness of the extension must be reviewed by the court.
  • Detainees have access to a court to challenge their detention, but a qualified lawyer is needed, the judicial review is limited to the lawfulness of detention (not the appropriateness) and the responsible courts are not necessarily specialised in immigration law.
  • Free legal aid is available and guaranteed by the Constitution. 
  • Since July 2024, there is an obligation on the detainee to cooperate in any return process, for example by providing the information needed to verify their identity, including their nationality, and failure to comply can be sanctioned with preventive measures or detention if it is suspected that a less coercive measure would not be effective, and is taken into consideration for a possible entry ban. The law also tightened the individual monitoring of people ordered to leave the territory, extended the time limit to transfer an application to the responsible Member States for the application examination, and enshrined in law the ban on keeping families with minor children in closed centres.
  • There are no guidelines in place for the process of redocumentation, which is ad hoc and based on the practice of relevant consular authorities.
  • People released from detention are issued with an order to leave the territory and are not provided with identification documents. 
  • Without documentation, people released from detention have very limited rights, such as access to urgent medical care only.
  • Cumulative time spent in detention is not counted towards the maximum time limit as a new decision is issued each time a person is re-detained.
  • Only limited information is available about whether statelessness is addressed in return and readmission agreements Belgium has entered into as an EU Member State, Benelux Member State or bilaterally with third countries. The text of EU agreements is publicly available, and Benelux agreements may be consulted on request. As well as readmission agreements, Belgium has entered into bilateral readmission MoUs, which are not publicly available. The Immigration Office refused permission to review the text of relevant MoUs but says that statelessness is not systematically addressed in these agreements.
  • According to the Immigration Act, the Minister shall take into account the best interest of the child in a removal decision, but there is no information on whether this is applied with regards to the right to a nationality.

Prävention und Reduktion

Assesses the adequacy of safeguards in nationality laws to prevent and reduce statelessness, including facilitated routes to naturalisation for stateless people, and protections for otherwise stateless children born on the territory or to nationals abroad, foundlings and adopted children. Examines law, policy, and practice on birth registration, including access to late birth registration, and reduction measures taken by States to prevent and reduce in situ statelessness. Analyses provisions on deprivation of nationality and whether there are safeguards related to renunciation and deprivation of nationality to prevent statelessness from occurring.

There are some safeguards to prevent and reduce statelessness in Belgium, but there are also some gaps. Some facilitation of naturalisation is established by law for stateless people with an unlimited residence permit, but this is rarely applied in practice. A child born on the territory without any other nationality is Belgian by law, but further action is required in practice to prove eligibility, and the burden of proof lies with the applicant. There have been reports of certain groups facing challenges accessing this safeguard or even having their Belgian nationality withdrawn, for example children born in Belgium to Palestinian parents. Foundlings automatically acquire Belgian nationality, but the Government has declared the provision applies only to new-borns. There may also be a risk of statelessness in the adoption process due to rules on loss and acquisition of Belgian nationality. For a child born to Belgian parents abroad to acquire Belgian nationality automatically, at least one parent must also have been born in Belgium, otherwise the parents must take further action before the child turns five. All births must be registered in Belgium regardless of the parents’ status, but civil registrars must report undocumented people to the immigration authorities, and subsequent registration in the National Registry (a precondition for access to other rights) is only possible if at least one parent (or the child) has lawful residence or is registered for another reason in the National Registry. There are safeguards to prevent statelessness in all provisions of Belgian law related to loss and deprivation of nationality except in the case of fraud.

  • Stateless people can apply for naturalisation through Parliament after two years of lawful residence if their right of residence is of unlimited duration. Most stateless people initially hold a limited duration humanitarian residence permit or no residence permit at all, so the facilitated regime is hardly ever applied in practice. However, the residence permit for stateless people introduced by the new administrative procedure grants stay for five years once applicants are issued a positive decision, after which residence of unlimited, permanent duration is granted.
  • In the facilitated parliamentary procedure, residence is the only requirement, but in practice, language and integration requirements are applied at the discretion of the competent parliamentary commission.
  • Stateless people can also apply for nationality through the regular procedure (after five years' residence), but there are no exemptions for stateless people and there is a fee of 150 EUR per application that applies to all adults. 
  • Access to nationality can be refused on account of 'reprehensible behaviour', which is an ill-defined concept and is applied broadly in practice. 
  • The Constitutional Court ruled in March 2023 that certain provisions of the Nationality Code were discriminatory as they did not provide for an exemption to the language requirement for those who are illiterate, leading to amendments to the Nationality Code in 2024 to add exemptions to comply with this ruling.
  • Belgian law provides that a child born in Belgium is a Belgian national if they would otherwise not have any other nationality at any moment before they reach the age of 18 (or emancipation). 
  • The provision is automatic in law, but in practice it must be proven that the conditions and requirements imposed by the law are met, and the burden of proof lies on the applicant/their legal representative.
  • There is no requirement that the parents are also stateless, nor that they or the child fulfil a period of (lawful) residence.
  • The law states that the child is not Belgian if they can obtain another nationality through the action of their parents (e.g. approaching consular authorities), but jurisprudence has clarified that this should be considered an exception and does not apply if the parents are unable to apply to the consular authorities of their country of origin, for example if they are refugees.
  • There is no federal fee for such applications by children, but some municipalities request the payment of an administrative fee.
  • Since August 2023, the Immigration Office has instructed several municipalities to withdraw the Belgian nationality of children born in Belgium to Palestinian parents, who had acquired it on the basis that they were otherwise stateless (Article 10, Nationality Code). The instructions issued by the Immigration Office are considered illegal by legal experts as it does not have competency on this matter.
  • Over winter 2024, there have been reports of refusals to grant Belgian nationality to children born in Belgium to Paraguayan parents who would otherwise be stateless based on Article 10 of the Nationality Code, on the grounds that their parents allegedly committed fraud and that children could easily obtain Paraguayan nationality, which, according to experts, is based on an erroneous interpretation of the law.
  • Foundlings are automatically presumed to be Belgian at birth until proven otherwise.
  • In a declaration at the time of acceding to the 1961 Convention, Belgium stated that the foundlings’ provision would apply only to a new-born child found in Belgium. It is not clear how this is implemented in practice.
  • Nationality can only be withdrawn from foundlings upon acquisition of another before the child is 18 (or emancipated).
  • A minor adopted by national(s) of another country who acquires or already possesses the nationality of that country loses Belgian nationality. 
  • There could be a risk of statelessness in the procedure, but no information is available about how this operates in practice. 
  • A foreign child under the age of 18 adopted by national parents acquires nationality the day the adoption takes effect either automatically if either the child or one of the adoptive parents was born in Belgium or if the child has not acquired the nationality of any other country; or by declaration if neither the child nor the parent was born in Belgium. In this case, the parent must make a declaration within five years of the adoption taking effect and before the child turns 18.
  • Children born to nationals abroad acquire nationality by descent automatically if at least one parent is a national and born in the country, or if the child has not acquired the nationality of any other country; or by declaration if neither of the parents was born in Belgium. In this case, the parent/s must make a declaration within five years of birth for the child to acquire nationality.
  • There are no discriminatory conditions.
  • The law provides that all births are registered in the Birth Registry and a birth certificate issued by the civil registrar of the municipality of birth within 15 days of the birth, regardless of the legal status and/or documentation of the parent. All birth certificates are kept in a central registry of electronic records (Database of Civil Status Deeds) and are only issued to parents on request.
  • If the parents do not register the birth within 15 days, the civil registrar will draw up the birth certificate ex officio based on the information provided in the notification of birth. If there were no witnesses to the birth and registrars were not notified within 15 days, the registration could take place later following a court judgment, for which court fees would apply.
  • Births are routinely registered, but there is evidence that some children face barriers to accurate birth registration in Belgium, including in cases of children born through surrogacy abroad or when there have been issues in establishing parentage. Practice has recently improved to some extent with respect to children born to surrogate mothers.
  • The child's nationality is not recorded upon birth registration but should be determined at birth registration to resolve questions of private international law (such as filiation and name). In practice this is not always possible, in which case Belgian law is applied. 
  • Nationality is recorded during the subsequent registration in the National Registry, which is carried out by the municipality of residence of the parents (or the Immigration Office if they are registered asylum seekers). Registration in the National Registry is only possible if at least one of the parents has lawful residence status (or if the child can obtain lawful residence on their own) or is registered for another reason in the National Registry, for example if granted a Belgian civil status record after having a child.
  • Nationality is registered based on a national passport or a certificate of nationality. If nationality cannot be determined, the child will be registered as having 'undetermined nationality'. If the child cannot be registered in the National Registry, they will effectively be undocumented and have only limited access to healthcare, schooling etc.
    Public servants, including civil registrars, are required to report undocumented migrants to the immigration authorities.
  • There is no evidence of specific actions on the part of the Belgian authorities to implement reforms aimed at reducing statelessness, nor to promote birth registration among high-risk groups (such as Palestinians, Kurds and children at risk of statelessness due to difficulties in proving filiation or due to gender-discriminatory nationality laws).
  • There have been reports of certain groups’ children born on the territory facing challenges accessing Belgian nationality, for example children born to Paraguayan parents being refused Belgian nationality and children born to Palestinian parents having their Belgian nationality withdrawn.
  • The competent authority is the Court of Appeal. There is a safeguard against statelessness in all provisions permitting deprivation of Belgian nationality, except if nationality was acquired by fraud. In this case, even if the person does not have another nationality, deprivation of nationality will be ordered after the expiry of a reasonable period determined by the Court to allow the person to try to recover their original nationality.
  • Belgian law permits deprivation of nationality in a national security context (violation of serious duties, conviction of certain crimes, terrorist offences, etc.), although there is a safeguard against statelessness in these cases.
  • Since January 2024, the deadline for appealing the decision of the Court of Appeal to revoke Belgian nationality is one month, increased from eight days following a Constitutional Court ruling finding that it was contrary to the right of access to a court enshrined in the Constitution.
  • Children do not lose their nationality upon a parent being deprived of Belgian nationality. If a parent loses Belgian nationality other than by deprivation, children under 18 years of age who are not emancipated automatically lose their Belgian nationality, except if that would render them stateless. After being duly informed, a child will automatically lose their Belgian nationality if the parent-child relationship with the Belgian parent is annulled on the grounds of fraud, which they can challenge in court, whereas they will retain it after reaching the age of majority. This provision was deemed non-discriminatory by the Constitutional Court.
  • Belgian law treats naturalised nationals less favourably than those who acquired nationality by descent/birth in that it protects the latter from deprivation in certain cases.

Ressourcen

Library of resources, legal instruments, publications and training materials on statelessness, specifically relevant to this country. More regional and international materials, as well as resources from other countries, are available on the Resources library. Domestic case law can be consulted in the Statelessness Case Law Database (with summaries available in English).

Please note that we are in the process of adding new resources, so check back soon.

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