Visa cost

Belgium student visa cost — Long-stay visa D for study plus the contribution fee and the A card

$581 in fees nobody can skip , up to $1,144 if every situational extra applies . Checked August 2026.

How much does a Belgium student visa cost in 2026?

Applying for a student visa in Belgium — the Long-stay visa D for study plus the contribution fee and the A card — costs $581 in fees you cannot skip: Long-stay visa D (study) handling fee ($290) and Contribution fee, public higher education institution ($291). Situational extras (contribution fee, private higher education institution, legalisation of one document at a Belgian post and contribution fee for a spouse or child joining you) add up to $563 more. Tuition, living costs and proof-of-funds sit outside this total. All amounts are US dollars, last checked August 2026.

Long-stay visa D for study plus the contribution fee and the A card cost breakdown

Every line the Belgium application puts on your card, in US dollars, as of August 2026.

Line item Amount (USD) What it is
Long-stay visa D (study) handling fee $290 EUR 250 since 1 July 2026, up from EUR 180 FPS Foreign Affairs — Fees for consular services (schedule published June 2026)
Contribution fee, public higher education institution $291 EUR 251 since 1 January 2026, paid to the Immigration Office before you apply Immigration Office (dofi.ibz.be) — Contribution fee, amounts as of 1 January 2026
Mandatory total $581 What the Long-stay visa D for study plus the contribution fee and the A card costs before any optional service.
Situational extras — only if they apply to you
Contribution fee, private higher education institution $281 EUR 242 instead of EUR 251 where the institution is private Immigration Office (dofi.ibz.be) — Contribution fee, amounts as of 1 January 2026
Legalisation of one document at a Belgian post $29 EUR 25 per document from 1 August 2026, up from EUR 20 FPS Foreign Affairs — Fees for consular services (schedule published June 2026)
Contribution fee for a spouse or child joining you $253 EUR 218 per family member of a foreign national staying as a student Immigration Office (dofi.ibz.be) — Contribution fee, amounts as of 1 January 2026
If every extra applied $1,144 Worst case — most applicants pay none or one of these.

Amounts are US dollars. Belgium bills in its own currency, so the exact charge moves with the exchange rate — the native figures are in the notes column where the fee schedule publishes them.

Things to watch

  • The contribution fee is not the visa fee. It is a separate payment to the Immigration Office, it has to be transferred before you lodge the file, and an application without proof of full payment is inadmissible.
  • Neither charge is refunded if the visa is refused or if you drop the application, and a fresh application means paying the contribution fee again.
  • Scholarship holders listed in Article 1/1 of the Royal Decree of 8 October 1981 pay no contribution fee, and students on a cooperation scholarship pay no visa fee either.
  • The commune issues the A card after arrival and sets its own charge for producing it. That amount is decided locally and is not published centrally, so ask the commune you will live in.
  • Where an external provider such as VFS Global or TLScontact takes the application, its service fee is extra, and applicants exempt from the handling fee still pay it.
  • USD figures convert at EUR 1 = USD 1.16, the rate on 29 August 2026.

How much bank balance do you need for a Belgium student visa?

For the Long-stay visa D for study (Article 60, Act of 15 December 1980), Belgium asks you to show EUR 1,062 (about $1,232). The accepted form is Blocked account opened by the institution or an approved provider, a scholarship attestation, or an Annexe 32 undertaking of financial support, and it covers One month of living costs for the 2026-2027 academic year. A blocked account has to hold twelve times that amount, EUR 12,744, for the year ahead.. This is money you show, not money you pay, so it never appears in the fee table above. The figure comes from Immigration Office (dofi.ibz.be) — Sufficient means of subsistence for students, checked August 2026.

Immigration Office (dofi.ibz.be) — Sufficient means of subsistence for students · checked August 2026

Belgium student visa requirements

  • Enrolment certificate on the official standard form

    The higher education institution issues it on the model set by the ministerial decree of 28 March 2022. It can attest full enrolment, admission, registration for an entrance examination, or enrolment in a preparatory year.

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  • Proof that the contribution fee has been paid in full

    The fee goes to the Immigration Office by bank transfer before you apply, with your name, first name, nationality and date of birth as the payment reference. An application without proof of full payment is declared inadmissible and is not examined.

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  • Proof of sufficient means of subsistence

    You must show EUR 1,062 net a month for the 2026-2027 academic year, through a blocked account, a scholarship attestation or an Annexe 32 undertaking. The test is whether you would become a burden on Belgian social assistance.

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  • Health insurance covering all risks in Belgium

    Without it your authorisation is cut to four months regardless of the enrolment certificate you filed, and you must give the commune proof of cover at least 15 days before that runs out.

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  • Medical certificate from a doctor accredited by the post

    The standard certificate must be drawn up within the six months before the application and must state you are free of the diseases listed in the annex to the Act of 15 December 1980. Each post publishes its list of accredited doctors, and a certificate from a doctor who is not on the list must be authenticated locally and then by the Belgian embassy.

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  • Criminal record extract if you are over eighteen

    It must come from your country of origin or of last residence, be less than six months old, and confirm you have no convictions for crimes or malpractices under common law.

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  • Parental consent if you are under eighteen

    Proof of consent from your parents, or from whoever exercises guardianship, forms part of the file.

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  • Sworn translation into German, English, French or Dutch

    Any document drawn up in another language must be accompanied by a sworn translation into one of those four languages.

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  • Equivalence of your secondary diploma for undergraduate entry

    To enrol in a bachelor programme in the normal way you need a qualification recognised as equivalent to the Belgian Certificate of Higher Secondary Education. The equivalence procedure is run separately by the education authorities.

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How to apply for a Belgium student visa

  1. Get the enrolment certificate on the standard form

    Ask the institution for the attestation on the ministerial standard form. Which version you get, full enrolment or admission and entrance examination, decides whether you are authorised to stay for a year or for four months.

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  2. Pay the contribution fee and keep the proof

    Transfer EUR 251 for a public higher education institution or EUR 242 for a private one to the Immigration Office account, then keep the bank record. If you pay too little you get 30 days to transfer the balance before the application is refused for good.

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  3. Submit the visa D application in person

    Applications normally go to the Belgian post for your place of residence, or to the external provider it works with. You attend in person to give fingerprints and to answer a questionnaire on how coherent your academic history and study plan are.

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  4. Wait for the decision, counted from the receipt

    The authorities must decide within 90 days of the date the post issued the receipt for a complete file. If documents are missing you get 30 days to supply them, otherwise the application can be declared inadmissible.

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  5. Report to your commune within eight days of arriving

    After a positive residence check the commune issues an A card marked "Student" and "Labour market: limited", valid for one year. If you came on an admission certificate or without insurance proof you get a four-month certificate of immatriculation instead.

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  6. Renew at the commune 15 days before the A card expires

    The renewal file adds an attestation on your study progress to the usual enrolment, means and insurance proof. The commune can renew the card itself, and where it refers the file to the Immigration Office the decision takes up to 90 days.

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Belgium student visa work rights, dependants and processing time

Work rights

A student residence permit lets you work up to 20 hours a week without a work permit, provided the work is compatible with your studies and your electronic A card is valid. The 20-hour ceiling does not apply during school holidays, when you may work full time.

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Dependants

Family members of a foreign national authorised to stay in Belgium as a student apply under Article 10bis of the Act of 15 December 1980 and pay a contribution fee of EUR 218 each. The fee is charged per person, though a married couple or legal cohabitants applying jointly on the same legal basis pay only one, and applicants under 18 are exempt.

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Processing time

The decision is due within 90 days of the receipt issued for a complete file. The Immigration Office warns that its capacity is not unlimited and that applicants who apply late may not get a decision before the date they are expected in Belgium; the embassy in Abuja puts long-stay processing at several months.

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After graduation

Graduates can apply to extend their stay by up to twelve months to look for work or set up a company, the "search year". You apply at your commune at least 15 days before the A card expires with your degree, health insurance and proof of means, and the Immigration Office decides within 90 days. The resulting A card is marked "job seeker", runs twelve months from issue, and carries unrestricted access to the labour market, but the stay can be ended if you cannot show a reasonable chance of being hired or of starting a business.

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Language requirement

Belgium sets no single language test for the visa itself, and the institution's own admission rules carry that weight. Two language rules do bite on the file: every document in another language needs a sworn translation into German, English, French or Dutch, and applicants going to a non-recognised private institution must additionally prove they know the language the course is taught in.

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Belgium student visa requirements for Indian students

A sponsor in India must be a relative to the first, second or third degree

The post in New Delhi only accepts Annexe 32 support from a family member within those degrees, and you have to prove the relationship with birth and marriage certificates carrying an apostille issued less than six months earlier. A sponsor based in Belgium instead has the Annexe 32 legalised by their Belgian commune.

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The Annexe 32 is signed at the embassy or consulate, not at home

An India-based sponsor's undertaking has to be legalised by the Belgian Embassy in New Delhi or the Belgian Consulate in Mumbai. Alongside it the sponsor files a notarised family composition affidavit with apostille, proof of professional activity, three months of pay slips and the latest income tax return.

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The police clearance must come from the passport bureau with an apostille

The post asks for a national police clearance certificate issued by the central authorities, no more than six months before the application, apostilled, for anyone aged 18 or over.

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University escrow payments count as proof of means

Where a Belgian university takes the first year's living costs into its own account and pays them out monthly after you arrive, the Immigration Office accepts that as proof, provided the university document says an amount equivalent to the monthly minimum will be transferred to your account.

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Belgium student visa requirements for Nigerian students

Every document passes through the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs first

The embassy in Abuja legalises nothing that has not already been authenticated by the Nigerian MFA, and that authentication is valid for six months only. Academic certificates and transcripts must additionally be authenticated at the Ministry of Education, and the embassy still requires the MFA signature on the originals.

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Birth certificates need an NPC verification token

You request certificate verification on the National Population Commission website, select the Embassy of Belgium, and present the printed verification token with the original certificate. Each token works for one document at one embassy at a time.

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Legalisation costs NGN 41,625 per document and takes at least seven working days

The fee applies to each document, is payable only by bank transfer to the embassy account and only after the embassy emails that the file is ready for payment. Submission is by appointment on Wednesdays and Thursdays, collection on Fridays.

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The Annexe 32 can only be signed at the embassy in Abuja

Student sponsorship forms and parental authorisations are filled in and signed by the sponsor at the Belgian Embassy in Abuja itself, so a sponsor outside Abuja has to travel.

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Applications go through TLScontact and the fee is paid in naira

The file is completed on Visa On Web, printed and lodged at the visa application centre, where the EUR 250 long-stay handling fee is paid in naira. The centre's own service fee is charged on top, and applicants exempt from the handling fee still pay it.

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United States
From $535 all-in
United Kingdom
From $1,760 all-in
Canada
From $175 all-in
Australia
From $2,250 all-in
Germany
From $190 all-in
France
From $183 all-in

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Belgium student visa fee?
The Long-stay visa D for study plus the contribution fee and the A card application charge is $290 (Long-stay visa D (study) handling fee). Add the other mandatory items — Contribution fee, public higher education institution $291 — and the all-in mandatory total is $581. Optional extras add up to $563 on top.
How much bank balance is required for a Belgium student visa?
EUR 1,062 (about $1,232), held as Blocked account opened by the institution or an approved provider, a scholarship attestation, or an Annexe 32 undertaking of financial support, covering One month of living costs for the 2026-2027 academic year. A blocked account has to hold twelve times that amount, EUR 12,744, for the year ahead.. It is money you show rather than money you pay, so it is separate from the visa fees. The minimum is fixed by Royal Decree and indexed every year, so the figure changes each academic year. For the blocked-account route the Immigration Office currently accepts certificates of irrevocable transfer only from Studely and Ready Study Go International, and it stresses it is not contractually bound to either company. Income from a scholarship or from lawful part-time work outside study hours is weighed in the individual assessment. Source: Immigration Office (dofi.ibz.be) — Sufficient means of subsistence for students (August 2026).
Can you work on a Belgium student visa?
A student residence permit lets you work up to 20 hours a week without a work permit, provided the work is compatible with your studies and your electronic A card is valid. The 20-hour ceiling does not apply during school holidays, when you may work full time. Source: Government of Flanders (vlaanderen.be) — Employing a foreign national in Flanders, student work rules (August 2026).
How long does a Belgium student visa take?
The decision is due within 90 days of the receipt issued for a complete file. The Immigration Office warns that its capacity is not unlimited and that applicants who apply late may not get a decision before the date they are expected in Belgium; the embassy in Abuja puts long-stay processing at several months. Source: Immigration Office (dofi.ibz.be) — Study in recognised public higher education, application introduced abroad (visa D) (August 2026).
Can you bring your family on a Belgium student visa?
Family members of a foreign national authorised to stay in Belgium as a student apply under Article 10bis of the Act of 15 December 1980 and pay a contribution fee of EUR 218 each. The fee is charged per person, though a married couple or legal cohabitants applying jointly on the same legal basis pay only one, and applicants under 18 are exempt. Source: Immigration Office (dofi.ibz.be) — Contribution fee, amounts as of 1 January 2026 (August 2026).
What's not included in the Long-stay visa D for study plus the contribution fee and the A card fee?
Tuition, living costs and the money you have to show in your account are separate from the fees on this page. Use our cost-of-study calculator at /tools/cost-calculator for a complete budget.
When are these fees due?
Application and biometric fees are paid before submission. Health surcharges (UK IHS, Australian OSHC) are paid as part of the visa application. Some fees (Anmeldung in Germany, OFII in France) are paid after arrival.

Official sources

Last verified August 2026.