Settling in Belgium: bijlage 19, the neighbourhood officer and the complete file

"You're an EU citizen, so you just move" — it's the most repeated sentence about Belgium, and it is exactly half right. Living and working is indeed allowed without a permit. But whoever stays has to be registered, and that chain has rules, a home visit and, recently, a stricter door.

The application: bijlage 19, at the latest after three months

Whoever stays in Belgium for more than three months applies to the municipality of their place of residence for a declaration of registration — at the latest when those three months expire. The proof of your application is called bijlage 19 (annex 19), and since 1 September 2025 a hard rule comes with it: the municipality only accepts the application if the complete file of evidence is attached straight away. Sending things on later, which was the practice for years, is over — without a complete folder you'll be standing there again next week.

What has to be in that folder depends on your situation: as an employee an employment contract or employer's statement (a Dutch employer counts too — cross-border workers register just the same), as a self-employed person the proof of your business, as a pensioner or economically inactive person the proof of sufficient means of subsistence plus health cover (the S1 form from your Dutch insurer or the CAK is the right paper for that). Jobseekers get six months to demonstrate a genuine chance of work.

Day one: the national register number

Here lies a misunderstanding that even seasoned Dutch residents of Belgium pass around: that you have to wait for your number until the check is over. Not so — at the application you are immediately entered in the waiting register, and at that moment your rijksregisternummer (national register number) already exists. That number is the key to everything that follows: your employer's payroll, the health fund, soon itsme and the tax return. One visit to the municipality, and the engine is running.

The neighbourhood officer really does come

Then follows the residence check: the neighbourhood police officer or an authorised official checks whether you really live where you say you live. Name on the doorbell and the letterbox, someone at home or a note with an appointment — that's all it is, but a failed check delays the whole chain. After a positive check you move administratively from the waiting register to the register of foreign nationals. The Immigration Office then has a maximum of six months for the formal decision, with a pleasant legal footnote: if no decision is made, that counts as recognition of your right of residence. And remember the follow-up rule: every later move within Belgium you report to the new municipality within eight working days — after which the neighbourhood officer simply comes round again.

The EU card, and the clocks that come with it

With the recognition complete you order the electronic EU card: your Belgian identity document and digital key in one, valid for a maximum of five years, around twenty euros (the fees differ per municipality). While waiting you get a paper bijlage 8ter; the PIN and PUK codes of the chip arrive after three weeks or so — keep them, because with them you activate itsme and open every government portal. Two dates for the diary: renewal is possible between the sixtieth and the thirtieth day before the expiry date, and after five years of uninterrupted residence you apply for permanent residence — the EU+ card, valid for ten years, with an unconditional right of residence behind it. From that moment the Belgian paperwork is definitively a closed chapter.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but applied to your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines monitored. See the whole journey to Belgium.