Studying in Belgium as a Romanian citizen.

Does a Romanian student need a visa for Belgium?

No. No consulate is involved in this path: citizenship of the Union is enough to open access to studies in Belgium. For a stay of less than three months, it is enough to report your presence to the municipal administration within ten working days (annexe 3ter). Beyond that, the student requests a registration certificate (annexe 19) from the commune of their place of residence, no later than the expiry of the three-month period following their entry into Belgium. A delay is punished with an administrative fine of EUR 200. They are a discreet contingent in making this choice: the Conseil des rectrices et recteurs (CRef) counted 494 Romanian students in the French-speaking universities of Belgium in 2021-2022, according to the latest published breakdown.

Three items condition the annexe 19 for a student: proof of enrolment in an organised, recognised or subsidised institution, health insurance (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 quite simply not taken into consideration. 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.

Is an equivalence of the diploma de bacalaureat required?

Yes, and without exception. No national diploma of the European Union is exempt from equivalence: only the European baccalaureate, the baccalaureate issued by the International Baccalaureate Office, the CESS issued at SHAPE and schools following a Belgian curriculum abroad are. The qualification expected is the diploma de bacalaureat, issued only after passing the examenul național de bacalaureat, that is to say sitting the competence tests A, B, C and D, obtaining a mark of at least 5 in each of the written tests and an average of at least 6 in those tests. The transcript of marks that goes with it is part of the file.

Romania has no country sheet on equivalences.cfwb.be: it falls under the common sheet "Pays de l'UE (traduction nécessaire)" (EU countries requiring a translation). The file comprises the diploma and the transcript of marks as a certified true copy, a copy of the identity card, of the passport or an extract of the birth certificate, a letter of motivation written in French and signed, stating the type and branch of studies aimed at, and the original proof of payment of EUR 400, non-refundable (the reduced rate of EUR 150 is reserved for the countries on the official development assistance list, which excludes a member state). Filing is done by ordinary post with the Equivalence Service, rue Adolphe Lavallée 1 in 1080 Brussels, sending everything in a single registered parcel being advised, or by appointment, between mid-November and 15 July, the closing applying to the payment as well. Decisions go out at the earliest from 1 March and processing takes 4 to 12 weeks minimum. The filing dates for the 2027-2028 session have not yet been published: they are to be confirmed on equivalences.cfwb.be.

Romanian is not among the languages accepted without translation (French, Dutch, German, English, Italian, Portuguese and Castilian Spanish): a translation into French by a sworn translator is compulsory, with the stamp and signature straddling the original and the translation, as an original paper copy. Carried out in Romania, the sworn translator's signature must bear an apostille, Romania having been a party to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 since 16 March 2001. The "Pays de l'UE" sheet, for its part, describes a legalisation by the competent Romanian authority and then by the Belgian embassy or consulate: the two official pages do not say the same thing, and we have the applicable route confirmed before paying for a translation. Carried out in Belgium, it must come from a translator entered in the national register of sworn translators, with their identification number, in paper format exclusively.

The same logic applies to copies: Romania is not among the countries whose copy certified by a commune is accepted as it stands, so that the signature of the Romanian municipal official must also bear an apostille. Two routes avoid the apostille: presenting the originals to the Equivalence Service or to the Belgian commune of residence, which makes the certified true copy on the spot, or simply attaching the original documents to the file, which the Service expressly accepts. The decision handed down may be complete or carry restrictions, which can be lifted through the examination for admission to higher education (DAES) of the Jury of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles; if the qualification is not recognised as equivalent to the CESS, there remain the CESS jury and the institutions' admission examination. For a qualification issued in a member state, article 1 of the royal decree of 20 July 1971, in its version in force, rules out two grounds of refusal: the one drawn from the fact that the studies aimed at would not be accessible in the country of origin, and the one drawn from additional access conditions imposed in that country.

Do you have to prove your level of French?

No decree imposes a level of French for entry into a bachelor's degree. The regulations require it only for the teacher training bachelor's degrees, generally at level B2 of the European framework, a DELF B2, a DALF B2, a TCF B2 or a TEF level 4 being the proofs usually accepted. Each university remains free to ask for proof where the diploma was not obtained in French, and practices differ: UCLouvain requires an official certificate of knowledge of French in the bachelor's file, ULB asks for none. The question is therefore settled institution by institution, before applying.

One point of articulation deserves attention at ULB: the equivalence decision may not be available at the time of application, but it must be provided no later than 1 December of the academic year. This deadline is not a second chance, it is a firm cut-off, to be built into the reverse planning of the equivalence file.

The non-resident quota and the quota-limited programmes

A Romanian citizen who arrives from Romania for their studies is a non-resident within the meaning of the decree of 16 June 2006, for want of meeting one of its eight criteria (permanent right of residence, main residence in Belgium for three years, or for fifteen months with a professional activity or a replacement income, the situation of a parent, a guardian or the spouse, among others). This status has no consequence for the registration fees, but it has a decisive one for access to the so-called quota-limited programmes listed by ARES.

These percentages are ceilings calculated on the first-time enrolments of the previous year, not reserved places. 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 is the ARES information portal, not a filing platform. The entrance exam for medicine and dental sciences took place on 27 August 2026, its registration having run from 18 May to 5 July 2026, the decree setting that exam between 16 and 31 August each year. Outside the quota-limited programmes, enrolment is completed no later than 30 September, payment included.

How much does a year of study in Belgium cost?

The minerval comes to EUR 1,194 for 2026-2027, in application of the programme decree of 5 June 2026 published in the Moniteur belge on 24 June 2026. A Romanian citizen pays that amount, and that alone: the supplementary contribution of EUR 4,175 targets non-European Union nationals who are not treated as residents. The reduced rates of EUR 835, 374 or 0 do exist, but they are reserved for students who meet the conditions for study allowances, that is to say situations of residence or of family working in Belgium: a newcomer pays the full rate. The application for a reduced rate is lodged with the Direction des allocations d'études of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, from 1 July to 31 October.

On the health side, the European Health Insurance Card is accepted by communes at the time of registration. Depending on the length of the stay and the personal situation, an S1 form or membership of a Belgian health insurance fund may be more suitable: that is to be examined with the home fund before departure, rather than at the counter.

Why get support

For a Romanian candidate, nothing is blocked by a visa. What costs a year is an equivalence file that arrives after the closing, a translation refused for a badly placed stamp, or a non-resident status discovered at the end of August. You lodge your own admission application, your own equivalence file and your own registration with the commune, with your own contact details: we prepare, we check and we keep to the calendar, as for the many international students we support.

• Reading of your diploma de bacalaureat and of your transcript of marks before any step, to anticipate a possible restriction
• Specification of the sworn translation and of the certified copies, apostille included, so that nothing comes back from the Equivalence Service
• A calendar held from end to end: opening around mid-November, closing on 15 July, August session, enrolment by 30 September
• Analysis of your resident or non-resident status and strategy for the quota-limited programmes
• Preparation of your visit to the commune: annexe 19, health insurance, proof of resources, for a complete file from the very first appointment