Studying in Belgium from Burundi.

What are the steps to study in Belgium from Burundi?

1. 1Obtain 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 the application is lodged by 31 March at the latest.
2. 2Gather the Diplôme d'État and the Certificat d'Humanités générales, have the copies certified, then have the public documents apostilled by the Burundian Ministry of External Relations, Regional Integration and International Cooperation.
3. 3Apply for the equivalence with the Equivalence Service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, between mid-November and 15 July (EUR 150), and keep the equivalence decision (dépêche) or the certificate confirming that the file has been taken into account.
4. 4Lodge the long-stay visa application (type D, studies) on VisaOnWeb, then book the free appointment and file the application in three sets at the Belgian Embassy in Bujumbura, between six months and fifteen days before departure.
5. 5Prepare the first-year budget: registration fee of EUR 1,194, without the supplementary fee of EUR 4,175 from which Burundi is exempt at university.

How do you enrol at university and get your Diplôme d'État recognised?

For a first university enrolment, the Burundian applicant (non-resident, from outside the EU) lodges their own admission application online, with their own contact details: the form opens in mid-February and closes on 31 March at the latest for the September start of the year (31 March 2026 for the 2026-2027 year). Application fees of EUR 200 apply: they are non-refundable and some universities deduct them from the registration fee if the admission is accepted, but not all of them. As the Diplôme d'État sanctions studies carried out in French, the Equivalence Service ranks Burundi among the countries whose documents do not require a translation; no decree imposes a proof of French for a bachelor's degree outside teacher training programmes, even though each university remains free to ask for one.

The Burundian secondary school leaving qualification is the Diplôme d'État, issued after the State Examination organised by the ministry in charge of education. For Burundi, the Equivalence Service requires both the Diplôme d'État and the Certificat d'Humanités générales, together with the transcript of the State Examination and the report card of the final year: presenting one without the other is enough to have a file turned down. On top of that come the transcript as a certified true copy, a proof of access to higher education, an identity document, a passport or a birth certificate, a signed motivation letter and the original proof of payment of EUR 150 (instead of EUR 400). The sheet specifies that the signature of the official who certifies the copies must be apostilled: as Burundi is party to the Hague Convention, it is the apostille of the Ministry of External Relations that replaces the legalisation, and not a step through a Belgian post. Lodging opens around mid-November and closes on 15 July (from 15 November 2025 to 15 July 2026 for the 2026 start of the year; 2027-2028 dates to be confirmed on equivalences.cfwb.be), for an announced processing time of 4 to 12 weeks minimum, and the equivalence is likely to be issued with restrictions, which can be lifted through the maturity examination of the DAES.

How is the student visa lodged in Bujumbura?

Burundi is one of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa where Belgium has not outsourced the filing: the official competence table of the FPS Foreign Affairs, in its version of 2 September 2026, mentions no provider for Bujumbura. The applicant fills in their form on VisaOnWeb with their own contact details, then creates their appointment from the platform, and finally attends the embassy in person. The appointment is free, and there is neither a service fee nor an intermediary. The application is lodged between six months and fifteen days before the planned departure date, and the embassy favours contact by email.

The embassy's official "Study visa" sheet, in the version it publishes online dating from 2023, describes a demanding file: three sets of documents arranged in the same order (the originals and two sets of copies), a passport valid for more than twelve months, two photographs, the medical certificate of an approved doctor valid for six months, a criminal record extract less than six months old, apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for adults, the original admission certificate from a recognised institution, the original Diplôme d'État, the equivalence decision (dépêche), the proofs of resources, the family data form, health insurance and the proof of payment of the administrative fee. Fingerprints are taken from the age of six. Not all applicants are called for an interview, but the file is processed as it was handed in: nothing can be added at the counter, which makes the prior check the decisive step. As that list comes from a sheet published in 2023, it is cross-checked with the embassy before every filing.

Do Burundian documents need an apostille or a legalisation?

Burundi acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention on 10 June 2014, with entry into force on 13 February 2015. A few States raised an objection to that accession, but not Belgium: the Convention therefore applies fully between the two countries. The Belgian Embassy in Bujumbura confirms it, all Burundian public documents are exempt from legalisation and receive an apostille from the Ministry of External Relations, Regional Integration and International Cooperation. That holds for the Diplôme d'État, the transcript, the birth certificate and the criminal record extract that the embassy requires apostilled at the visa filing.

The embassy itself now only legalises private documents: a commitment to take charge (annex 32), a power of attorney or a private deed. The signatory attends in person with their identity card and signs at the counter, the document being processed in a digital version with a QR verification code. The rate is EUR 25 per legalisation, that is BIF 90,000, according to the consular rates in force as of 1 September 2026.

How much do studies in Belgium cost for a Burundian student?

The registration fee at the universities of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles is set at a full rate of EUR 1,194 for 2026-2027 (four-tier scale set by the programme decree of 5 June 2026, Moniteur belge of 24 June 2026: EUR 1,194, EUR 835, EUR 374 and EUR 0, the reduced rates being reserved for students who are residents or whose family works in Belgium). Students from outside the EU who are not treated as residents must in principle add a supplementary fee of EUR 4,175. Burundi appears in annex 1 (least developed countries) of ARES circular 2026-001 of 12 February 2026: the Burundian student is exempt from it, but remains liable for the registration fee of EUR 1,194. The circular covers universities only; in a haute école or a higher arts school, the regime is checked institution by institution. On top of that budget come the official costs of the journey (equivalence EUR 150, application fees EUR 200, visa EUR 250, administrative fee EUR 251, legalisation EUR 25 per private document) and the proof of means of subsistence.

Burundi is a partner country of the ARES, for its projects as well as for its scholarships. The international training scholarships, whose 2027-2028 call closes on 18 September 2026, are reserved for candidates who already hold a higher education diploma and can show at least two years of professional experience: they do not concern a bachelor's student leaving secondary school. Around 132 Burundian students were enrolled in the universities of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles according to the latest breakdown published by the Council of Rectors (CRef, 2021-2022).

Why get support for this journey?

As with the many international students we support, the Burundian applicant lodges their own admission application, equivalence file and visa application, with their own contact details: that is what universities and the embassy alike expect. Our work takes place before and around that: moving the equivalence to the top of the calendar, since the dépêche conditions the visa filing, and turning the embassy's list into a file checked document by document, in three sets, before the day of the appointment.

• Choice of the programmes genuinely accessible with a Burundian Diplôme d'État and building of the admission application before 31 March
• Equivalence file prepared document by document, including the Diplôme d'État and the Certificat d'Humanités générales, then followed through to the dépêche and, if need be, to the lifting of the restrictions
• Apostille sequence organised at the Ministry of External Relations, Regional Integration and International Cooperation to cover the admission, the equivalence and the visa in a single round
• Full check of the visa file before the appointment in Bujumbura: three sets in the same order, medical certificate, apostilled criminal record extract, means of subsistence, administrative fee, insurance
• A single point of contact, in French, from the first exchange until arrival in Belgium