You live in the Netherlands and are going to study in Belgium

If you have a non-Belgian diploma or certificate, you can have it evaluated. A diploma evaluation explains which Belgian diploma your non-Belgian diploma is equivalent to.

On the website wilweg.nl (available in Dutch only), you will find information on a variety of student grants and scholarships you can apply for for your course of study or training in Belgium. The majority of grants and scholarships need to be applied for well in advance.

If you already know you want to follow a course of study or training in Belgium, but you do not yet know what you want to study or what your options are, you can contact the Student Guidance Centre (Centrum voor Leerlingenbegeleiding; CLB) in Flanders and Brussels. The CLB it is a separate organisation which is part of the Flemish government and collaborates with educational institutions.

Enrol in secondary vocational education

Contact the secondary vocational education institution you want to enrol at.

Enrol in higher education

Colleges and universities determine how and when students can enrol. Be sure to enrol on time, as the academic year starts between 1 September and 1 October.

For certain bachelor’s programmes, candidates are required to sit a compulsory entrance examination before they are allowed to enrol.

For more information, visit the website of the college or university you want to study at.

If you do not hold the nationality of a country in the European Economic Area (EEA ) or Switzerland, you will need an authorisation for temporary stay (MVV) to be able to study in Belgium. To obtain such an authorisation, you need to apply to the Belgian embassy in the Netherlands.

If you want to live close to your educational institution, your educational institution should be able to help you. In Belgium, people refer to living in student accommodation as being ‘op kot’. In Flanders and Brussels, there is no shortage of student accommodation, and educational institutions usually provide students with support in finding a place to live. 

If you are going to follow a course of study or training outside the Netherlands, you can still receive student finance through the Dutch Education Executive Agency (DUO), provided you meet the qualifying conditions. You can apply for your student finance through My DUO (Mijn DUO). You should ideally do this 3 months before you start your course.

If you do not meet the qualifying conditions for student finance from DUO, you should check whether you can get a study allowance from the Belgian government.

If you already have student finance, you need to inform DUO of your new course of study or training through Mijn DUO. 

If you are going to follow a course of study or training in Belgium, you will not be able to make use of the DUO student travel product . Instead, you can get an allowance for use of public transport outside the Netherlands.

Students in higher education pay tuition fees (registration fees). The amount depends on the type of contract, the number of study credits and the student’s status.

If you are going to be following a course of study or training in Belgium for more than 8 months of each year, you will need to deregister from your municipality in the Netherlands. You must do this in person at the office of the municipality where you live. The earliest you can deregister from your municipality in the Netherlands is 5 days before you leave for Belgium.

Contact your municipality to find out which documentation you need to take with you. Your municipality will enter your personal details in the Non-residents’ Records Database (RNI), which is part of the Personal Records Database (BRP).

If you are going to follow a course of study or training in Belgium for longer than 3 months, you will need to register with the population department of the municipality where you are staying. You must do this within 8 days of your arrival in Belgium. To read more about the registration procedure and find out what documentation you need, go to the website of the municipality where you will be living.

The population department can register you as a cross-border student or a resident of Belgium:

• If you are registered as a cross-border student, this means the Belgian municipality still regards you as a resident of the Netherlands and will issue you an Annex 33 (Bijlage 33) residence document. If you are going to be working in Belgium, you can apply for a Belgian non-national identification number (BIS number)
• If you are registered as living in Belgium and you hold the nationality of a country in the European Economic Area (EEA ) or Switzerland, you will be issued an EU residence card and a Belgian identification number (Rijksregisternummer)

If you are studying in higher education, the student administration of your college or university should be able to assist you with the registration procedure.

If you are living outside the Netherlands for the purpose of your course of study or training, you can arrange a lot of your affairs online. To do so, you need a DigiD. A DigiD allows you to log in to government websites securely to arrange your affairs. You can log in using the DigiD app , for example.

You can receive digital post from the Dutch government in your Message Box (Berichtenbox). The Message Box is your personal digital letterbox for receiving post from the Dutch government. You can enable your Message Box via MijnOverheid.

If you receive student finance from the Dutch Education Executive Agency (DUO), make sure DUO has your current email address so you always receive your digital post on time.

The website my.belgium.be provides users with personal access to the online services of the Belgian government . Many of the online services of government agencies in Belgium can also be accessed using DigiD. This is referred to as European login or eIDAS.

If you are living in Belgium, you will not qualify for rent benefit from the Netherlands because this applies only to rented accommodation in the Netherlands.

If you are renting accommodation in the Netherlands in addition to your accommodation in Belgium, you should enquire as to whether you qualify for rent benefit from Dienst Toeslagen. If you live in student accommodation with shared facilities, you will usually not qualify for rent benefit.

If you are going to Belgium solely for the purpose of your course of study or training and you plan on returning after you have finished, your health insurer will still regard you as a resident of the Netherlands, even if you have deregistered from your Dutch municipality. Your health insurance will simply continue. If you do not yet have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), you should apply for one.

If you will be working or doing an internship in Belgium, or you will be following a secondary vocational course that consists of both on- and off-the-job training, you should inform your health insurer. If you are regarded as an employee in Belgium, you will be able to join a Belgian health insurance fund , and your Dutch health insurance will be cancelled.

If you have Dutch health insurance, you can apply to Dienst Toeslagen for healthcare benefit. Healthcare benefit is a financial contribution towards the fixed monthly premium you pay to your health insurer. The amount of healthcare benefit you can get depends on your income.

If you have a physical or social disability, or you suffer from a psychological condition or chronic illness, you should inform your educational institution so they can assess your needs in consultation with your supervisor.

If you will be working or doing an internship in Belgium alongside your course of study or training, you will need to file an income tax return in Belgium in the next calendar year. If you are regarded as a resident of the Netherlands, you must also file an income tax return there.

There is a tax treaty in place between the Netherlands and Belgium to prevent double taxation, i.e. having to pay tax in 2 countries on the same income. If you have any questions about this, call the Dutch Tax Information Line for Non-resident Tax Issues or the Belgian Federal Public Service Finance (FPS Finance).

During your stay in Belgium, you may find yourself needing medical care from a general practitioner or dentist, or in a hospital, for example. How you should declare  your medical expenses depends on where you are insured. 

If you have Dutch health insurance, you should contact your health insurer. 

If you do not have Dutch health insurance, you should contact your Belgian health insurance fund .

Pension is of course something for later in life, but later always comes sooner than you think.

If the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) regards you as a resident of the Netherlands and you are not working or doing an internship in Belgium, you will build up rights to an AOW pension in the Netherlands.

If you are going to work or do an internship in Belgium, you will not build up rights to an AOW pension in the Netherlands. Under these circumstances, you will usually not build up rights to a Belgian state pension (rustpensioen). 

However, if you start working in Belgium after you have finished your course of study or training, you will start building up rights to a Belgian state pension. If you would like to build up rights to a Belgian state pension during your periods of study or training, you can have those periods regularised through the Federal Pensions Service (FPD).