Studying in Belgium from Vietnam.

What are the steps to study in Belgium from Vietnam?

1. 1Secure 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 must be lodged by 31 March at the latest.
2. 2Apply for the equivalence of the secondary school leaving diploma with the Equivalence Service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, between mid-November and 15 July (EUR 150), with the copies certified true by a municipal administration and the sworn translations into French.
3. 3Have the Vietnamese documents authenticated: apostille from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hanoi or from the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, according to the procedure confirmed at the time of filing.
4. 4Lodge the long-stay visa application (type D, study purpose) on VisaOnWeb, then file it by appointment at the VFS Global centre in Hanoi, in Ho Chi Minh City or in Da Nang, and complete there the questionnaire on the academic background.
5. 5Plan the first-year budget: a full-rate registration fee of EUR 1,194 and a supplementary fee of EUR 4,175 at university, Vietnam appearing in no exemption annex.

How do you enrol at university and get a Vietnamese diploma recognised?

For a first university enrolment, the Vietnamese applicant (non-resident, non-EU) lodges their admission application online themselves, with their own contact details: the form opens in mid-February and closes by 31 March at the latest for the September start of the year (31 March 2026 for the 2026-2027 year). Non-refundable admission application fees of EUR 200 apply: some universities deduct them from the registration fee if the admission is accepted, but not all, which is to be checked institution by institution. The ULiège requires an average of at least 13 out of 20 in secondary school, with a minimum of 12 out of 20 in the key subjects depending on the faculty, for a recent diploma. No decree imposes proof of French at bachelor level (apart from teacher training courses), but universities often ask for one, at B2 level (DELF, DALF, TEF or TCF), when the diploma was not obtained in French. Some master programmes of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles are organised and assessed in English: no knowledge of French is required there, but proof of level in the language of instruction (TOEFL or IELTS) is requested.

Vietnam has no country sheet of its own at the Equivalence Service: it falls under the generic sheet for countries with reduced fees and a required translation. The file includes the secondary school leaving diploma (bằng tốt nghiệp trung học phổ thông) and the transcript as certified true copies, a proof of access to higher education also as a certified true copy, a copy of an identity document, a signed motivation letter in French and the original proof of payment. Beware of the meaning of the words certified true copy: the Equivalence Service requires it to be drawn up by an official of the municipal administration and expressly refuses copies certified by a notary, a school, a court or an embassy. The notarised copy commonly issued in Vietnam, which the embassy accepts for the visa, is therefore not the right document for the equivalence. As Vietnam appears on the list of countries eligible for official development assistance, the fees are EUR 150 instead of EUR 400, and are non-refundable. Filing opens around mid-November and closes on 15 July (from 15 November 2025 to 15 July 2026 for the 2026 start of the year; the 2027-2028 dates are to be confirmed on equivalences.cfwb.be), for an announced processing time of 4 to 12 weeks minimum, decisions only being issued from 1 March onwards. For a school record obtained outside the European Union, the Service warns that an equivalence with restrictions is likely; these restrictions are lifted by passing the DAES examination, before the secondary school examination boards.

Where do you lodge your student visa in Vietnam?

The Belgian Embassy in Hanoi is the only competent post for Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City only hosts an honorary consulate, which does not handle visas. Filing, for its part, goes through VFS Global, the official partner of the embassy, with three centres, in Hanoi, in Ho Chi Minh City and in Da Nang. The application is first introduced on VisaOnWeb, then lodged by appointment at one of these three centres, in person. The applicant completes there a questionnaire on their academic background, from which holders of a Belgian State scholarship and students on exchange or on interuniversity mobility are exempt. The embassy also warns that some applicants will have to appear for an interview at the embassy after filing. The embassy insists on one point: you must not wait until the last moment, as the decision time lengthens in summer and during holiday periods, while the legal deadline of 90 days set by the Immigration Office only starts running from the acknowledgement of receipt of a complete file.

The official list of documents for a study visa, published by the embassy in June 2026, requires the signed VisaOnWeb form with a photograph, a passport less than ten years old and still valid twelve months beyond the stay, proof of payment of the administrative fee, the admission or enrolment certificate, the diploma (for a bachelor in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, it must have been declared equivalent), proof of means of subsistence, health insurance, a medical certificate from an approved doctor less than six months old and a criminal record extract less than six months old, translated and legalised. The documents to be legalised are handed over at the same time as the application, at the VFS appointment. If the secondary school leaving diploma has not yet been issued at the time of filing, the embassy asks for it to be sent as soon as it is issued: until then the file remains incomplete, and the 90-day deadline with it.

Apostille or legalisation: what happens to the procedure on 11 September 2026?

Vietnam deposited its instrument of accession to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on 31 December 2025, bringing the number of Contracting Parties to 129. The Convention enters into force for Vietnam on 11 September 2026. Three States raised an objection, Germany, Austria and Czechia: Belgium is not among them, so the Convention does apply between Belgium and Vietnam. The Vietnamese authorities competent to issue the apostille are the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Hanoi, and the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City. From 11 September 2026, the apostille of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs replaces in principle the legalisation chain; as the Belgian Embassy has, as of 8 September 2026, published no transition instruction, its legalisation page still referring to the 2025 procedure, we check the applicable procedure at the time of filing.

Until then, the procedure described by the embassy ran in three stages: translation by a sworn translator (translation office of the People's Committee, or a sworn translator registered with the FPS Justice in Belgium, in which case no further legalisation is required), legalisation of the original or of the certified copy and of the translation by the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then final e-legalisation by the Belgian Embassy, filing being possible at the embassy or at a VFS Global centre, at the federal legalisation rate of EUR 25 per document since 1 August 2026 (the embassy page still showed the former rate of EUR 20, that is VND 620,000, on 1 July 2026: the amount in force on the day of filing applies). The legalisation issued by the Vietnamese authorities was valid for six months only, beyond which the document was no longer accepted, and a notarised copy was accepted only for certain documents, including diplomas and transcripts.

How much do studies in Belgium cost for a Vietnamese student?

Registration fees at the universities of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles have followed, since 2026-2027, a four-tier scale set by the decree of 5 June 2026 (EUR 1,194, 835, 374 and 0), the reduced rates being reserved for students who are residents or whose family works in Belgium: a non-resident Vietnamese student therefore pays the full rate of EUR 1,194 for 2026-2027. Students from outside the European Union who are not treated as residents add a supplementary fee of EUR 4,175 per year. Vietnam appears in none of the three annexes of ARES circular 2026-001 of 12 February 2026 (Cambodia and Laos are in them, it is not): the Vietnamese student is therefore liable for this fee, unless treated as a resident on an individual basis or covered by a personal exemption provided for by the regulations, in particular for scholarship holders, that is EUR 5,369 in fees for a first year at university. The circular covers only universities; in a haute école or a higher arts school, the regime is to be checked institution by institution. On top of this budget come the official costs of the journey: EUR 150 for the equivalence, EUR 200 in admission application fees, VND 7,750,000 (EUR 250) for the visa, EUR 251 in administrative fees, the provider's service fees and the legalisation fees (EUR 25 per document), without counting the proof of means of subsistence.

Vietnam is, on the other hand, one of the few Asian countries to be an ARES partner country both for projects and for scholarships, in the 2022-2027 programme: its nationals are eligible for the ARES cooperation scholarships for advanced masters and training courses, a selective scheme reserved for applicants already engaged in professional life, whose exact criteria, including the experience required, are published with each call on ares-ac.be. The relationship is an old one: a cooperation agreement between the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Wallonia and the COCOF and Vietnam was signed on 26 September 2002, a Wallonia-Brussels General Delegation is established in Hanoi and higher education is a priority theme there. On the ground, the numbers remain modest: 102 Vietnamese 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?

Like the many international students we support, the Vietnamese applicant lodges their own admission application, their equivalence and their visa, with their own contact details: that is what universities and the consular post alike expect. Our work sits before and around that: settling the question of the authentication of the documents in a transition year, having translations drawn up that are valid for both administrations, and presenting at the VFS appointment a file that will not restart the 90-day clock.

• Choice of the programmes accessible with a Vietnamese diploma, in French or in English, and building of the admission application before 31 March
• Equivalence file prepared document by document, from the certified true copies to the motivation letter, then followed through to the decision
• Authentication procedure confirmed with the Belgian Embassy in Hanoi before any step, apostille or legalisation depending on what applies to your file
• Sworn translations organised so as to satisfy both the Equivalence Service and the consular post
• Full check of the visa file before the VFS Global appointment: means of subsistence, administrative fee, medical certificate, criminal record extract, insurance