Every document for your Belgian student visa file.

What documents are mandatory in a Belgian student visa file?

The type D study file is built around a common core required regardless of country of origin. The Immigration Office (IBZ) and the FPS Foreign Affairs publish this core, but each consulate or VFS/TLScontact centre may add local items (photos in a specific format, its own form, extra copies). The safe rule: treat the official list as a minimum, never a maximum.

Blocked account or annex 32: how do you prove your means of subsistence?

This is the financial heart of the file, and the item most often put together poorly. There are two main routes, and you need to choose the right one for your situation. The reference amount of means of existence for a student is a net monthly figure reassessed each academic year (1,062 euros per month for 2026-2027).

• Route 1, the blocked account: you deposit the equivalent of twelve months of means of subsistence (roughly 12,744 euros for 2026-2027) into an account opened by the institution or an accepted financial provider, which then releases a monthly instalment once you arrive. The Immigration Office accepts irrevocable transfer attestations only from a limited set of providers (currently Studely and Ready Study Go International), without any contractual commitment on its part towards them.
• Route 2, annex 32 (undertaking of financial support): a guarantor signs annex 32 and commits to covering your study, living, healthcare, and repatriation costs. The guarantor must show net monthly income of around 3,235.88 euros per month for 2026-2027 (a reference amount indexed each year, which already includes the 1,062 euros per month of student means, not on top of them).
• Route 3, the scholarship: an official attestation of a scholarship or loan from a State, an institution, or an international organisation can serve as proof.

Medical certificate and criminal record: what are the exact rules?

These two documents, covering good character and public health, follow strict rules on form and validity period, independent of one another.

• Medical certificate: it must be drawn up on the template expected by the post and issued by a doctor approved by the competent Belgian embassy or consulate. A certificate from your usual, non-approved doctor is refused. It attests the absence of diseases that could endanger public health (the law targets in particular active tuberculosis and other contagious infectious or parasitic diseases subject to notification).
• Criminal record extract: required for applicants over 18. It must attest the absence of any conviction for ordinary-law crimes or offences and, as a rule, be less than 6 months old at the time of submission.
• Validity period: both documents have a short shelf life. Obtaining them too early, before the enrolment or the financing is finalised, often means having to redo them (and pay again).

How do you assemble the file without being refused on form?

Many refusals concern not the substance but the form: a document not legalised, a non-sworn translation, an expired item, a copy where the original is required. Here is the logical order of assembly.

1. 1Secure the proof of enrolment or admissibility at a recognised institution first: this is the document everything else depends on.
2. 2Choose and build the financial proof (blocked account or annex 32) in line with your situation and that of your guarantor.
3. 3Gather the passport, the health insurance, and, where relevant, the diploma equivalence or the acknowledgement that the request is in progress.
4. 4Obtain the medical certificate (approved doctor) and the criminal record extract last, so they are still valid at submission.
5. 5Have the documents that require it translated (sworn translator) and legalised or apostilled, depending on the country of issue.
6. 6Pay the fee and submit the complete file to the competent post or the VFS/TLScontact centre.

How much do the official fees for a student visa file cost?

Beyond private costs (translations, legalisations, approved doctor, blocked-account provider), one official Belgian fee applies: the Immigration Office contribution fee, which covers the processing of the residence application. It is indexed every 1 January.