Studying in Belgium as a Polish citizen.

Does a Polish student need a visa for Belgium?

No, none at all. What replaces the visa is a municipal formality, and it is a very real one. For a stay of less than three months, a declaration of presence must be made to the commune within ten working days. For studies, the student requests a registration certificate (annexe 19) from the municipal administration of their place of residence, no later than the expiry of the three-month period following their entry into Belgium; beyond that deadline, an administrative fine of EUR 200 is possible. The community is small: the Conseil des rectrices et recteurs (CRef) counted 435 Polish students in the French-speaking universities of Belgium in 2021-2022, according to the latest published breakdown.

The counter expects a complete file: proof of enrolment in an organised, recognised or subsidised institution, health cover (European Health Insurance Card, S1 form, private insurance or Belgian health insurance fund) and proof of sufficient resources. Since 1 September 2025, an incomplete file is not taken into consideration, which amounts to leaving and coming back. The commune may itself recognise the right of residence and issue an annexe 8ter, followed by the EU citizen residence card; where the file is passed on to the Immigration Office, the decision comes within six months. Timeframes and charges vary from one commune to another: at the City of Brussels, allow around three weeks and two charges of EUR 25 and EUR 30.

Does the świadectwo dojrzałości open access to Belgian studies?

It is the decisive document, and it must not be confused with the school leaving certificate. The świadectwo dojrzałości is issued only to the graduate who has passed the egzamin maturalny: in the Formuła 2023, applied to liceum graduates since 2023 and to technikum graduates since 2024, that means sitting and obtaining at least 30% of the points in each compulsory subject, both in the oral tests (Polish and a foreign language) and in the written tests at basic level (Polish, mathematics and a modern foreign language, Latin being able to replace the latter), and sitting at least one additional test at extended level, the result of which has no bearing on passing. A graduate holding a vocational diploma at technician level may be exempted from it, which directly concerns technikum profiles. The świadectwo ukończenia liceum or technikum only certifies the completion of schooling: it is the świadectwo dojrzałości that sanctions the matura, and it is that document the equivalence file must present. Without a passed matura, the file is prepared differently and is framed with the Equivalence Service before any filing.

No national diploma of the Union escapes equivalence: the only exemptions concern the European baccalaureate, the baccalaureate issued by the International Baccalaureate Office, the SHAPE CESS and schools following a Belgian curriculum abroad. Poland has no sheet of its own on equivalences.cfwb.be; it is handled by the common sheet "Pays de l'UE (traduction nécessaire)" (EU countries requiring a translation), which asks for the diploma and its transcript of marks as a certified true copy, proof of identity, a signed letter of motivation in French stating the type and branch of studies aimed at, and the original proof of payment. The fees are EUR 400, non-refundable, the reduced rate of EUR 150 being reserved for the countries on the official development assistance list. Filing, by ordinary post, sending everything in a single registered parcel being advised, or by appointment, runs from mid-November to 15 July, a deadline that applies to the payment as well; decisions do not go out before 1 March and processing takes 4 to 12 weeks minimum. A safety valve exists if the diploma arrives late: article 5 of the royal decree of 20 July 1971 postpones the filing deadline to 14 September where the proclamation of the results took place after 10 July, on official proof of that late proclamation and provided that the file is complete by that date. The filing dates for the 2027-2028 session have not yet been published: they are to be confirmed on equivalences.cfwb.be.

Polish is not among the languages accepted without translation: a translation into French by a sworn translator is required, with the stamp and signature straddling the original and the translation, provided as an original paper copy. Carried out in Poland, the sworn translator's signature must bear an apostille, the country having been a party to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 since 14 August 2005. The "Pays de l'UE" sheet, for its part, describes a legalisation by the competent Polish authority and then by the Belgian embassy or consulate: the two official pages diverge, and we have the applicable route confirmed before commissioning the translation. Carried out in Belgium, it must come from a translator entered in the national register of sworn translators, with their identification number, on paper only. Certified copies follow the same rule: the copy made by an urząd gminy or an urząd miasta is not accepted as it stands, the official's signature must bear an apostille.

The sheet does not announce the type of decision: it may be complete or carry restrictions, which the examination for admission to higher education (DAES) of the Jury of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles makes it possible to lift. The Service recommends a prior appointment with the file where the training was strongly oriented towards professional practice, which may cover certain technikum streams. One point of law works in favour of European qualifications: article 1 of the royal decree of 20 July 1971, in its version in force, rules out for qualifications issued in a member state two grounds of refusal, the one drawn from the inaccessibility of the studies in the country of origin and the one drawn from additional access conditions.

What level of French is needed to enrol?

No decree imposes a level of French for entry into a bachelor's degree. The only regulatory requirement targets the teacher training bachelor's degrees, generally at level B2 of the European framework, evidenced by a DELF B2, a DALF B2, a TCF B2 or a TEF level 4. For all other programmes, the decision lies with the institution, which may ask for proof where the diploma was not obtained in French: UCLouvain expects an official certificate in the bachelor's file, whereas ULB requires none. A Polish candidate hesitating between two universities therefore has every interest in checking this point before building their certification calendar.

Another deadline not to be confused with that of the equivalence: at ULB, the decision may be missing at the time of application, but it must be provided no later than 1 December of the academic year. A file lodged in July normally has time to be processed before December, but the Service announces four to twelve weeks minimum: nothing is decided by a few days.

Non-resident: what the quota for quota-limited programmes changes

Non-resident status does not depend on nationality but on ties to Belgium. The decree of 16 June 2006 lists eight residence criteria (permanent right of residence, main residence for three years, fifteen months with a professional activity or a replacement income, the situation of a parent, a guardian or the spouse, among others): a Polish student arriving for their studies meets none of them. Without consequence for the amount of the minerval, this status does, on the other hand, determine access to the limited programmes listed by ARES.

These percentages are ceilings calculated on the first-time enrolments of the previous year, not reserved places. The filing window is short and comes only once: a non-resident's application is filed with the chosen institution, electronically, in the last days of August (25 to 27 August 2026), at the rate of a single application in a single institution, Mesetudes.be being the ARES information portal and not a filing platform. The entrance exam for medicine and dental sciences took place on 27 August 2026, with registration open from 18 May to 5 July 2026, the decree setting it each year between 16 and 31 August. For all other programmes, enrolment must be completed, payment included, no later than 30 September.

What budget for a year of study in Belgium?

The 2026-2027 minerval is set at EUR 1,194 by the programme decree of 5 June 2026, published in the Moniteur belge on 24 June 2026; the minerval covers the academic and administrative organisation of the studies, no additional charge being allowed for enrolment, courses, assessments and certificates. A Polish citizen is not concerned by the supplementary contribution of EUR 4,175, which targets non-European Union nationals who are not treated as residents. The reduced amounts of EUR 835, 374 or 0 are not European rates: they are addressed to students who meet the conditions for study allowances, and therefore to situations of residence or of family working in Belgium. A student arriving from Poland for a full programme pays the full rate, and may lodge an application for a reduced rate with the Direction des allocations d'études of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, from 1 July to 31 October, if they consider that they fall within the conditions.

Health cover, for its part, costs nothing more at the outset: the European Health Insurance Card issued by the NFZ is accepted at the municipal counter. Depending on the length of the stay and the personal situation, the S1 form or membership of a Belgian health insurance fund may become preferable, a choice to be made with your home fund before departure.

Why get support

A Polish file rarely fails on the substance: it fails on a document. The wrong school leaving certificate, a translator's stamp that does not straddle the two documents, a missing apostille on the official's signature, a closing date confused with the start of the academic year. You lodge your own admission application, your own equivalence file and your own registration with the commune, with your own contact details; we prepare the documents, we check that they comply and we keep to the deadlines, as for the many international students we support.

• Verification that the qualification presented is indeed the świadectwo dojrzałości and not a school leaving certificate
• Specification of the sworn translation and of the certified copies, apostille included, before any useless expense
• Full reverse planning: mid-November, the closing on 15 July, submission of the decision to ULB by 1 December, enrolment by 30 September
• Diagnosis of resident or non-resident status and strategy for the quota-limited programmes
• Preparation of the visit to the commune: annexe 19, health insurance, proof of resources, as a complete file