Studying in Belgium from Rwanda.

What are the steps to study in Belgium from Rwanda?

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 your A-Level certificate and your transcript apostilled by the Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: written in English, they do not have to be translated for the Equivalence Service.
3. 3Apply for the equivalence of the Rwandan diploma with the Equivalence Service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, between mid-November and 15 July (EUR 150), and anticipate a proof of French at B2 level.
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 Rwanda is exempt at university.

How do you enrol at university and get your Rwandan A-Level recognised?

For a first university enrolment, the Rwandan 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.

The Rwandan secondary school leaving diploma is the national A-Level examination certificate, issued on completion of the Advanced Level National Examinations organised by the National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA), under the supervision of the MINEDUC. The Equivalence Service deals with Rwanda in the same sheet as Senegal, Guinea Conakry and China, for a precise reason: access to higher education is not open there, a selection taking place after the diploma. The file therefore requires the diploma and the transcript as originals, a proof of access to higher education in Rwanda (school certificate, pass certificate or entrance examination results), a copy of the identity document, a motivation letter written in French and the original proof of payment of EUR 150 (instead of EUR 400, the Equivalence Service ranking Rwanda 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. For a Rwandan diploma, 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 from Rwanda?

This is the point that changes everything in a Rwandan calendar. The Belgian Embassy in Kigali has been closed since 17 March 2025 and no longer handles any visa application. 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 residents of Rwanda, with filing outsourced to the TLScontact centre in Nairobi since 2 May 2025. For Rwanda, that table lists only TLScontact as a provider, in Kigali (suspended) and in Nairobi.

Filing is compulsorily done in person: for Kenya as for Rwanda, applicants for C and D visas must attend TLScontact Nairobi themselves, fingerprints and a photograph being required from the age of six. No student exception and no postal filing are provided for Rwandan files, unlike what the same embassy accepts for scholarship holders residing in Madagascar. The trip to Nairobi is therefore 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.

Do Rwandan documents need an apostille or a legalisation?

Rwanda acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention on 6 October 2023, with entry into force on 5 June 2024. As Belgium raised no objection to that accession, the Convention does apply between the two countries: a Rwandan diploma, transcript or civil status certificate intended for Belgium receives an apostille from the Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and no longer goes through a consular legalisation. The Belgian Embassy in Nairobi confirms this on its consular page: for Rwanda, the legalisation of official documents is done by apostille. A Rwandan file therefore escapes the rate of EUR 25 per legalisation applied since 1 August 2026 in Belgian posts, which remains due for private documents such as an annex 32 signed before a consular officer.

How much do studies in Belgium cost for a Rwandan 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. Rwanda appears in annex 1 (least developed countries) of ARES circular 2026-001 of 12 February 2026: the Rwandan 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), the trip to Nairobi and the proof of means of subsistence.

Rwanda 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 however 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 140 Rwandan 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 Rwandan 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: building a calendar that absorbs the apostille, the proof of French and the trip to Nairobi, then checking every document before it goes out, so that this trip happens only once.

• Choice of the programmes genuinely accessible with a Rwandan A-Level certificate and building of the admission application before 31 March
• Equivalence file prepared document by document, from the proof of access to higher education to the motivation letter in French, then followed through to the decision and, if need be, to the lifting of the restrictions
• Apostille sequence organised to cover the admission, the equivalence and the visa in a single round
• Strategy for the proof of French when the university asks for one, with the calendar of the certification sessions
• Full check of the visa file before the TLScontact appointment in Nairobi: means of subsistence, administrative fee, medical certificate, criminal record extract, insurance