Studying in Belgium from Madagascar.

What are the steps to study in Belgium from Madagascar?

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. 2Have certified true copies of the baccalaureate and of the transcript drawn up, have the official's signature legalised by the Malagasy Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then have the final legalisation confirmed by the competent Belgian post.
3. 3Apply for the equivalence of the Malagasy baccalaureate with the Equivalence Service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, between mid-November and 15 July (EUR 150).
4. 4Lodge the long-stay visa application (type D, studies) on VisaOnWeb, then file it in person at the TLScontact centre in Nairobi, in Kenya, with the proof of means of subsistence and the EUR 251 administrative fee already paid.
5. 5Prepare the first-year budget: registration fee of EUR 1,194, without the supplementary fee of EUR 4,175 from which Madagascar is exempt at university.

How do you enrol at university and get your Malagasy baccalaureate recognised?

For a first university enrolment, the Malagasy 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 Malagasy baccalaureate is issued in French, the Equivalence Service ranks it among the diplomas that 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 secondary school leaving diploma is the baccalaureate, in its general, technical, technological and vocational streams, whose results are published by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Madagascar has no dedicated country sheet on the website of the Equivalence Service: the country selector there points to the general "countries with reduced fees" sheet, whose rules apply to the file, namely the diploma and the transcript as certified true copies (the signature of the certifying official having to be legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then that legalisation itself by the territorially competent Belgian embassy or consulate, as Madagascar is not party to the Apostille Convention), a proof of access to higher education, an identity document, a signed motivation letter and the original proof of payment of EUR 150 (instead of EUR 400, the Equivalence Service ranking Madagascar among the countries with reduced fees). 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.

Where do you lodge your student visa when Belgium has no embassy in Madagascar?

Belgium has no embassy in Madagascar. The official competence table of the FPS Foreign Affairs, in its version of 2 September 2026, designates the Belgian Embassy in Nairobi, in Kenya, as the competent post for the long stays of Malagasy residents, with filing outsourced to the TLScontact centre in Nairobi. For short stays, it is the French Embassy in Antananarivo that represents Belgium, which does not concern a study file. An honorary consulate of Belgium exists in Antananarivo, but its powers are more limited than those of an embassy and no visa or legalisation service is documented there: the Nairobi embassy recommends contacting it in the first instance.

The principle is in-person filing in Nairobi, with fingerprints and a photograph taken from the age of six. An official exception exists for Madagascar, and it is a narrow one: a student holding a scholarship from a Belgian institution or from an international organisation of which Belgium is a member may send their file to the embassy by express courier, with a prepaid return envelope. Outside that case, the trip to Kenya is part of the file and is planned as such. The application is first prepared on VisaOnWeb, with the applicant's own contact details, the appointment is booked only on the TLScontact website and the service fees remain due whatever the outcome of the application. The 90-day legal decision deadline only starts running from a complete file: filing early remains the only real margin of manoeuvre.

How do you legalise Malagasy documents for Belgium?

Madagascar is not party to the Hague Apostille Convention: the apostille is therefore impossible and Malagasy documents follow the classic legalisation. The general rule of the FPS Foreign Affairs provides for a legalisation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of origin, then by the competent Belgian embassy or consulate, at the federal rate of EUR 25 per document since 1 August 2026. One reservation must however be made, and it is an important one: the consular page of the Belgian Embassy in Nairobi lists the countries whose documents it legalises and does not mention Madagascar. In other words, the order of the steps is known, but the identity of the territorially competent Belgian post for legalising a Malagasy document is published nowhere.

How much do studies in Belgium cost for a Malagasy 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. Madagascar appears in annex 1 (least developed countries) of ARES circular 2026-001 of 12 February 2026: the Malagasy 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, TLScontact service fee EUR 31.30, administrative fee EUR 251, legalisation EUR 25 per document at a Belgian post), the trip to Nairobi and the proof of means of subsistence.

Madagascar 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. Scholarship status nevertheless has a direct effect on the Malagasy journey: a scholarship from a Belgian institution or from an international organisation of which Belgium is a member opens the sending of the visa file by courier, and a scholarship from the Belgian State, a Belgian university or haute école additionally exempts from the visa fee. Around 81 Malagasy 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 Malagasy applicant lodges their own admission application, equivalence file and visa application, with their own contact details: that is what universities and consular posts alike expect. Our work takes place before and around that: identifying the competent Belgian post, which nothing publishes for Madagascar, having the final legalisation confirmed before starting the steps, and checking every document before it goes out, so that the trip to Nairobi happens only once.

• Choice of the programmes genuinely accessible with a Malagasy baccalaureate and building of the admission application before 31 March
• Equivalence file built on the applicable general rules, in the absence of a country sheet, then followed through to the decision and, if need be, to the lifting of the restrictions
• Legalisation chain followed from end to end, from the Malagasy Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the competent Belgian post, identified and confirmed before starting the steps
• Full check of the visa file before the TLScontact appointment in Nairobi: means of subsistence, administrative fee, medical certificate, criminal record extract, insurance
• A single point of contact, in French, from the first exchange until arrival in Belgium