Studying in Belgium as a Dutch national.

Does a Dutch student need a visa for Belgium?

No. As an EU citizen, a Dutch national settles freely in Belgium: no visa, no immigration fee, no blocked account. The formalities 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, an administrative fine of EUR 200 being provided for in case of delay.

The commune asks for proof of enrolment in an organised, recognised or subsidised institution, health cover (the European Health Insurance Card issued by the Dutch insurer is accepted, as is an S1 form or membership of a Belgian mutuelle), proof of sufficient resources and proof of citizenship. The commune, or the Immigration Office in case of doubt, decides no later than six months after the application, before a European card is 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 VWO and the HAVO recognised by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles?

They have to go through an equivalence. No Dutch secondary education diploma is exempt: 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 automatic Benelux recognition, often invoked, only covers higher education and changes nothing here. The ministerial decree of 12 November 1973, which set the equivalence of Dutch certificates giving access to university examinations in the Netherlands, was likewise repealed by the decree of the Government of the French Community of 17 May 1999. The application is lodged with the Equivalence Service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, between mid-November and 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.

The file includes 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, Dutch being among the exempt languages. Certification of copies must be done by a competent official of a municipal administration: copies certified by the school, the police, the post office, a court, a notary or the Belgian embassy are refused. One point deserves attention: the Netherlands is not in the list of countries for which the Service expressly names the home commune (Germany, Latvia, Estonia, Ireland, Denmark). For those countries that are not named, the Service's page refers to the general rule, which provides that the signature of the municipal official be apostilled in accordance with the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. The safest route is therefore to have the documents certified in Belgium, at the Equivalence Service on presentation of the originals or at the commune where you live; if you certify at your gemeente, we confirm with the Service whether the apostille is required before you make the trip.

With a Dutch bachelor's degree, do you need an equivalence to enter a master's?

This is the great advantage of the Dutch pathway, and it is far too little known. The Benelux decisions of 18 May 2015 and then of 25 January 2018 organise the automatic recognition of the level of officially recognised higher education diplomas between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, with no procedure and no fee: associate degree, bachelor, master and doctorate are covered. The arrangement was extended to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by a treaty officially launched on 27 September 2021. A Dutch getuigschrift bachelor issued by an officially recognised institution in the Netherlands is therefore recognised as of right as being of bachelor level in Belgium.

Two limits have to be set straight away. The recognition concerns the level, not the content of the programmes: it does not guarantee access to a given master's degree, and the institution's board remains the sole judge of prerequisites and any additional requirements. Nor does it amount to professional recognition, which is subject to separate rules for regulated professions. In practice, a candidate holding a Dutch bachelor's degree applies directly to the target Belgian university, with their diploma and diploma supplement, without going through a higher education equivalence procedure.

Do you have to prove your level of French?

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 on the other hand ask for proof in its study regulations, often at B2 level, when the diploma was not obtained in French, which is the case of a VWO or a HAVO followed in Dutch. For a master's degree, the language conditions are set by the institution and vary according to the programme, some master's degrees being organised in English.

This is the real difference between studying in Flanders and studying in French-speaking Belgium. We check the exact requirement of the target university, in the study regulations for the year concerned, before the admission application, so that the timetable of any French test remains compatible with that of enrolment.

Non-resident quota and minerval: what does enrolment cost and how is it played out?

A student who resides in the Netherlands and comes to Belgium for their studies is a non-resident within the meaning of the decree of 16 June 2006. The 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. 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 window for that exam is different: registrations from 18 May to 5 July 2026, exam between 16 and 31 August.

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 Dutch 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 the Netherlands 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.

Why get support

The Dutch pathway towards French-speaking Belgium is little travelled, and therefore little documented: Dutch guides talk about Flanders, French-speaking Belgian guides talk about non-EU candidates. Between the two, a Dutch candidate moves forward without landmarks on three precise points, the scope of their secondary diploma, the language and the timetable of quota-limited programmes. We prepare, check and orchestrate; the candidate lodges their own admission application and equivalence file, with their own contact details.

• Reading of your Dutch qualification, VWO, HAVO or higher education diploma, and of the path it actually opens in French-speaking Belgium
• Prior check with the Equivalence Service before committing the EUR 400, non-refundable
• A clear distinction between secondary equivalence and Benelux recognition of level for a master's degree
• Anticipating the proof of French expected by the institution, and the DAES in case of a restrictive equivalence
• Quota-limited programme strategy: non-resident quota, end-of-August lodging window with the institution, medicine entrance exam