Studying in Belgium as a German national.

Does a German student need a visa for Belgium?

No. As an EU citizen, a German national enters and resides freely in Belgium: no visa, no immigration fee, no proof of means of subsistence on a blocked account. The steps are municipal. You declare your presence to the municipal administration of your place of residence within ten working days of arrival, then request a registration certificate (annexe 19) no later than the expiry of the three-month period. Exceeding that deadline exposes you to an administrative fine of EUR 200.

The commune asks for proof of enrolment in an organised, recognised or subsidised institution, health cover (the European Health Insurance Card issued by the German fund is accepted, as is an S1 form or membership of a Belgian mutuelle), proof of sufficient resources and proof of citizenship. The decision lies with the commune or, in case of doubt, with the Immigration Office, no later than six months after the application; a European card is then issued. In Brussels, the City announces around three weeks after a positive address check by the police, for municipal fees of EUR 25 for the registration application then EUR 30 for the residence card.

Are the Abitur and the Fachhochschulreife recognised in French-speaking Belgium?

No German diploma is exempt from equivalence in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. The exemption is limited to the European baccalaureate, the Geneva international baccalaureate, the CESS of the SHAPE school and schools following the Belgian curriculum abroad; the ministerial decree of 20 May 1968, which determined the university examinations accessible to holders of German secondary education certificates and diplomas, was repealed by the decree of the Government of the French Community of 17 May 1999. An equivalence application must therefore be lodged, whatever the qualification obtained.

The nature of the qualification then changes how the file is read. The Allgemeine Hochschulreife, the Abitur issued at the end of the gymnasiale Oberstufe, opens access in Germany to all universities and Fachhochschulen. The Fachhochschulreife opens access to the Fachhochschulen, the universities of applied sciences, and the fachgebundene Hochschulreife to the Fachhochschulen as well as to the university programmes corresponding to the field studied. Since the decree of 16 July 2025, the limits that prevented an equivalence from opening in Belgium studies that were not accessible in the country of origin no longer apply to qualifications issued in a member state of the European Union: the legal framework is therefore more favourable than before. The Equivalence Service does not, however, publish qualification by qualification the type of decision it renders.

The file itself is simple for a German candidate. The Service asks for the diploma and the transcript of marks as certified copies, a copy of the identity card, passport or birth certificate, a motivation letter written in French and the original proof of payment of EUR 400, non-refundable. No translation is required, German being among the exempt languages. Certification, on the other hand, follows a strict rule: for Germany, it is done by the municipal administration of the commune of residence, or, in Belgium, by the Equivalence Service on presentation of the originals or by the commune where you live. Copies certified by the police, the school, the post office, a court, a notary or the Belgian embassy are refused. Lodging opens around mid-November and closes on 15 July before enrolment (from 15 November 2025 to 15 July 2026 for the 2026 intake, subsequent dates to be confirmed on equivalences.cfwb.be), for a processing time announced at four to twelve weeks. When the results were proclaimed after 10 July, the royal decree postpones the lodging deadline to 14 September before enrolment.

Can you study in German in Belgium, and do you have to prove your French?

It has to be said plainly: Belgium has a German-speaking Community, but it has no university. The only higher education offer in the German language is the Autonome Hochschule Ostbelgien, in Eupen, which offers bachelor's degrees in pre-school teaching, in primary teaching, in nursing and in social work, as well as a bachelor's degree in financial and administrative sciences organised on a work-study basis with the ZAWM in Eupen. It does not fall under the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. All other Belgian higher education is followed in French, in Dutch or in English. A German candidate targeting a university in French-speaking Belgium will therefore study in French.

On proof of language, no decree provision today imposes a level of French to enter a bachelor's degree: the only rule of that kind, article 108 of the décret paysage, covered only three teacher training bachelor's degrees (agrégé de l'enseignement secondaire inférieur, instituteur primaire, instituteur préscolaire) and its effects were limited to the 2019-2020 to 2022-2023 academic years. Each university may nevertheless ask for proof in its study regulations, often at B2 level, when the diploma was not obtained in French, which is the case of an Abitur taken in German. Requirements vary from one institution to another and are set out in the study regulations for the year concerned. We check them with the university before the admission application, so that the timetable of any French test remains compatible with that of enrolment.

How does the non-resident quota work for a German national?

A student who resides in Germany and comes to Belgium for their studies is a non-resident within the meaning of the decree of 16 June 2006. This status has no effect on the minerval, but it is decisive for quota-limited programmes: the number of first-time non-resident enrolments there is capped, and the admission application is lodged electronically with the chosen institution, during a three-day window at the end of August (25, 26 and 27 August for the 2026 intake, according to the arrangements specific to each institution), followed by a draw under the supervision of a sworn bailiff and results published on Monday 7 September 2026. In those programmes, only one application is possible, in a single programme and a single institution, failing which it is set aside as a duplicate; combining it with the medicine and dentistry entrance exam does, however, remain allowed.

The medicine and dentistry entrance exam is taken in French and in person in Brussels. Non-residents are ranked with the other candidates, but the board stops selecting them as soon as their share reaches 15% of those admissible. Passing the exam exempts you from nothing: the equivalence of the secondary diploma is still required for the enrolment that follows, with its four to twelve weeks of processing. It is not necessary to hold it in order to sit the exam, and the royal decree of 20 July 1971 allows five working days after notification of the pass to lodge the application together with proof of that pass. That deadline is nonetheless very short, and the processing time itself does not shrink: we therefore prepare the equivalence file before the exam so that all that remains is to lodge it.

How much does a year of study in French-speaking Belgium cost?

The reference minerval for 2026-2027 is EUR 1,194, set by the programme decree of 5 June 2026 published in the Moniteur belge on 24 June 2026. As an EU citizen, a German student is never liable for the additional contribution of EUR 4,175 charged to non-EU nationals who are not assimilated. The reduced rates of EUR 835, EUR 374 and EUR 0 depend first on the household's income and require, for a citizen of the European Union, receiving no financial aid from another country and justifying permanent residence or a professional activity in Belgium: a newcomer arriving from Germany for their programme pays the full rate. Applications for a reduced rate are lodged with the Direction des allocations d'études between 1 July and 31 October.

To this are added the institution's own fees, the municipal fees for the registration certificate, and the EUR 400 for the equivalence, to be committed even before knowing whether admission will be accepted. This last point deserves to be budgeted as such: equivalence fees are not refundable, whatever the decision rendered.

Why get support

For a German candidate, the two unknowns are always the same: what exactly the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles will make of the secondary qualification presented, and what the university will expect in terms of French. Neither is to be found in a brochure. That is where we work, and the candidate lodges their own admission application and equivalence file, with their own contact details.

• Qualifying the credential presented: Abitur, Fachhochschulreife or fachgebundene Hochschulreife, and the consequences for the access targeted
• Prior check with the Equivalence Service before committing the EUR 400, non-refundable
• Preparing the file with the German municipal certification required, without unnecessary translation
• Anticipating the proof of French expected by the university, and the DAES if the decision carries restrictions
• Quota-limited programme strategy: non-resident quota, end-of-August lodging window with the institution, medicine entrance exam