Studying in Belgium · Brazil
Studying in Belgium from Brazil.
In Brazil, Belgium has delegated its long-stay visa to no service provider: everything goes through the Belgian Consulate General in São Paulo, in person, by appointment. Portuguese is exempt from translation for the equivalence, but the apostille and the ENEM or Vestibular result govern the whole calendar.
Updated on September 8, 2026
In short
To study in French-speaking Belgium from Brazil, the applicant first obtains an admission (universities: form open in mid-February, to be lodged by 31 March at the latest), then has their certificado de conclusão do ensino médio recognised by the Equivalence Service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles: EUR 150 instead of EUR 400, Brazil being a country eligible for official development assistance, and with no translation since Portuguese is accepted as it stands. The ENEM or Vestibular result is required for the equivalence to open access to higher education. The type D long-stay visa is then lodged in person at the Belgian Consulate General in São Paulo, the only Belgian post competent for visas in Brazil, by appointment booked online through e-Appointment, with an interview, a photograph and biometrics. As Brazil has been party to the Apostille Convention since 14 August 2016, Brazilian documents are apostilled by a cartório authorised by the National Council of Justice, without going through the consulate. As Brazil appears in no annex of ARES circular 2026-001, the Brazilian student pays, at university, the registration fee of EUR 1,194 and the supplementary fee of EUR 4,175 for 2026-2027.
What are the steps to study in Belgium from Brazil?
- 1Secure an admission in a recognised institution of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (university, haute école or higher arts school): for universities, the form opens in mid-February and must be lodged by 31 March at the latest.
- 2Have the certificado de conclusão do ensino médio, the transcript and the ENEM or Vestibular result apostilled by a cartório authorised by the National Council of Justice.
- 3Apply for the equivalence with the Equivalence Service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, between mid-November and 15 July, for EUR 150 and with no translation (Portuguese is accepted).
- 4Lodge the long-stay visa application (type D, study purpose) on VisaOnWeb, book your slot on e-Appointment and attend in person at the Belgian Consulate General in São Paulo for the interview and the biometrics.
- 5Plan the first-year budget: a registration fee of EUR 1,194 and a supplementary fee of EUR 4,175 at university, Brazil not being exempt.
How do you enrol at university and get your Brazilian diploma recognised?
For a first university enrolment, the Brazilian applicant (non-resident, non-EU) lodges their admission application online themselves, with their own contact details: the form opens in mid-February and closes by 31 March at the latest for the September start of the year (31 March 2026 for the 2026-2027 year). Non-refundable application fees of EUR 200 apply: some universities deduct them from the registration fee when the admission is accepted, others do not. No decree imposes proof of French for a bachelor's programme, apart from teacher training courses; each university may nevertheless ask for one, often at B2 level, when the diploma was not obtained in French, which is the case of a Brazilian diploma. Master's programmes taught entirely in English do exist in French-speaking Belgium: the language of instruction is checked programme by programme before targeting an institution.
The certificado de conclusão do ensino médio must be recognised through an equivalence issued by the Equivalence Service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Brazil comes under the sheet for countries with reduced fees and no translation: the fees are EUR 150 instead of EUR 400, non-refundable, and documents written in Portuguese are accepted without a sworn translator. The file includes the diploma and the transcript as a certified true copy, proof of access to higher education, an identity document, a motivation letter in French and the original proof of payment. One point specific to Brazil: for the equivalence to open access to higher education, the Service additionally requires the result of the higher education entrance examination, the ENEM or the Vestibular. Filing opens around mid-November and closes on 15 July (from 15 November 2025 to 15 July 2026 for the 2026 start of the year; the 2027-2028 dates are to be confirmed on equivalences.cfwb.be), for processing announced as 4 to 12 weeks at the very least and decisions sent out no earlier than 1 March.
The Brazilian pitfall comes down to one word: autenticação. The certified true copy must be made by an officer of the municipal administration, whose signature is then apostilled. For a country party to the Hague Convention, the Equivalence Service accepts only a true copy made by an officer of the municipal administration, whose signature is then apostilled. The cartório affixes the apostille, it does not produce the true copy that is expected. For a non-EU file, an equivalence with restrictions remains frequent, and those restrictions can be lifted by passing the DAES examination.
Where and how do you lodge your student visa application from Brazil?
All visa applications lodged in Brazil are handled by the Belgian Consulate General in São Paulo (Avenida Paulista 2073, Ed. Horsa I), the only Belgian post competent for visas in the country. Belgium has appointed neither TLScontact nor VFS Global in Brazil: the file is handed in directly at the consulate, as in several Latin American countries. The application is first lodged on VisaOnWeb, then the slot is booked online on e-Appointment, the official portal of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs. On the day of the appointment, the applicant attends in person: interview, photograph and biometrics. The consulate gives no visa information by telephone, only by email, and both the appointment and the forms are free of charge: nobody can sell either of them.
The student file calls for several items specific to Brazil: a criminal record extract from the Polícia Federal and an extract from the Polícia Civil of the state of residence, each less than three months old, each apostilled, with a sworn translation into English, French, Dutch or German which must itself be apostilled separately. To these are added a passport valid for at least one year, a medical certificate less than six months old issued by an approved doctor and health insurance covering at least three months, failing which the visa is limited to 120 days. Electronic apostilles issued by cartórios are accepted. If the means of subsistence are proved by a commitment to take charge (annex 32) rather than by a blocked account, two separate appointments are needed: one to lodge the visa, one to legalise the guarantor's signature.
| Visa file item | 2026-2027 reference |
|---|---|
| Consular fee for the type D visa (since 1 July 2026) | EUR 250, collected in reais in Brazil: BRL 1,600, by credit or debit card at the consulate on the day of the appointment |
| Means of subsistence (amount indexed each year) | EUR 1,062 net per month, attested by a blocked account opened with a recognised Belgian institution or an approved company, the certificate confirming the amount set aside each month for the duration of the studies, or annex 32 (guarantor: since 1 September 2026, EUR 2,217.47 for themselves plus EUR 1,062 per student, that is EUR 3,279.47 net per month; the São Paulo consulate still publishes the previous amount of EUR 3,235.88) |
| Administrative fee (Immigration Office, as of 1 January 2026) | EUR 251 for public higher education, to be transferred before filing |
| Legal decision deadline | 90 days following the introduction of a complete application |
The São Paulo consulate states that the processing time cannot be guaranteed, and the e-Appointment slot is not always available on the desired date. A holder of a Belgian scholarship or of a scholarship from a European body is exempt from the visa fees, on a form filled in by their institution. We build the reverse timeline from the date the apostille is obtained, not from the date of the start of the academic year.
Do you need to apostille or legalise your Brazilian documents?
Brazil is party to the Hague Apostille Convention: the instrument of accession was deposited on 2 December 2015 and the Convention entered into force for the country on 14 August 2016, with no Belgian objection. Brazilian public documents intended for Belgium (diplomas, transcripts, civil status certificates, notarial deeds, court judgments) therefore only require an apostille, affixed by a cartório authorised by the National Council of Justice, whose list is published by the CNJ. There is no consular chain to go through: the Belgian embassy now legalises only a few documents linked to the visa, such as the medical certificate from an approved doctor and annex 32.
A translation made by a sworn translator in Brazil must itself be apostilled, separately from the original document. This is the most common source of error: an apostilled diploma accompanied by a translation that is not apostilled is enough to have the filing refused. Note that the two uses do not overlap: the Equivalence Service accepts Portuguese without translation, whereas the consulate requires, for the visa, a sworn translation into English, French, Dutch or German. We check, item by item, which of the two requirements applies before starting the apostilles.
How much do studies in Belgium cost for a Brazilian student?
Brazil appears in none of the three annexes of ARES circular no. 2026-001 of 12 February 2026, which list the nationalities exempt from the supplementary fee. A Brazilian student who is not assimilated is therefore liable, at university, for the registration fee of EUR 1,194 for 2026-2027 (programme decree of 5 June 2026, published in the Moniteur belge on 24 June 2026) and for the supplementary fee of EUR 4,175, that is around EUR 5,369 for a first year. The university may grant, on an individual basis and at the expense of its social allowances, a reduction of the registration fees (article 5 of the circular): the exact amount is confirmed with the institution concerned.
The reduced rates in the registration fee scale (EUR 835, EUR 374 or free of charge for holders of a Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles grant) depend on the household's economic situation and are reserved for students who meet the residence conditions for study allowances, that is residing in Belgium or having a family working there: a newly arrived student pays the full rate. The supplementary fee does not target students assimilated within the meaning of the decree of 11 April 2014, for example a long-term resident or a beneficiary of international protection. As a benchmark, according to the most recent breakdown published by the Council of Rectors (CRef, 2021-2022), 183 students of Brazilian nationality were enrolled in the six universities of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.
Why get support from Brazil?
As for the many international students we support, our role is to secure the sequence from end to end. The applicant lodges their own admission application and their own visa file, with their own contact details and their personal attendance at the consulate: we prepare, we check and we orchestrate, we do not lodge in their place. On a Brazilian file, most of the work happens upstream, on the apostilles and on the calendar.
- Institution choice and building of the admission file within the window from mid-February to 31 March
- Equivalence of the certificado de conclusão do ensino médio steered through to the decision, ENEM or Vestibular result included
- Exact order of the certified true copies, of the cartório apostilles and of the sworn translations
- Preparation of the e-Appointment appointment at the Belgian Consulate General in São Paulo and check of the documents before attending
- A costed first-year budget, registration fee and supplementary fee included, and a single point of contact until your arrival
Official sources
Information verified against official Belgian sources. Procedures, amounts and dates change every year, so always check the date before acting.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Where do you lodge your Belgian student visa application in Brazil?
Is the ENEM or the Vestibular compulsory for the equivalence in Belgium?
Do you need to translate your Brazilian documents for the equivalence?
How do you get a Brazilian diploma apostilled for Belgium?
Does a Brazilian student pay the supplementary fee of EUR 4,175 at university?
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