Belgium Tourist Visa: Requirements and Application

Apply to Belgium when it is your only or main Schengen destination, meaning the country where you spend the most days. If you will visit several Schengen states for equal periods, apply to the one whose external border you cross first. What counts for where you apply is your country of residence: you lodge the application at the Belgian mission covering that country, or at the service provider it has appointed.

The consulate expects your travel route, accommodation, three months of bank movements and income, travel medical insurance and documents matching your occupation. For accommodation with a private host, Belgium has its own form: the Annex 3bis formal obligation.

Keep documents recent. Consulates look for consistency between your income, the length of the trip and the leave granted by your employer.

Belgium uses EUR 95 per day for travellers who pay for their own hotel and EUR 45 per day when a private person hosts you. Instead of your own funds, a host in Belgium may sign Annex 3bis, legalised by their municipality, promising to cover living, medical, housing and repatriation costs; the consulate can still ask about your own resources.

Start with the online form on Visa on Web, Belgium's visa application portal. You then lodge the application in your country of residence at the competent Belgian embassy or consulate, or at the external service provider it has appointed. The provider receives the file, takes biometrics and returns the passport, but has no role in the decision. Apply no earlier than six months and, as a rule, no later than 15 days before the trip.

If you do not stay in a hotel or other lodging that registers guests, you must report your address to the municipality within three working days of arrival and receive a declaration of arrival (Annex 3). Since 10 April 2026 this can also be done online through the Immigration Office's "My Address in Belgium" service. Entering Belgium by air or sea outside an official border crossing point can lead to a EUR 200 administrative fine.

An extension is possible only for force majeure, humanitarian reasons or serious personal reasons. Apply at the municipality before your authorised stay ends, with a passport copy, the declaration of arrival, a letter explaining the reasons, supporting evidence and insurance of at least EUR 30,000 for the extra period. If the Immigration Office agrees, you receive either an extended declaration of arrival or a new visa at the FPS Foreign Affairs counter in Brussels; that visa is free for force majeure or humanitarian reasons and costs EUR 30 for personal reasons.

A refusal is notified on the standard EU form with the reasons ticked. Against Belgian short-stay visa decisions you can lodge an appeal with the Council for Alien Law Litigation, generally within 30 days of notification; the decision letter states the remedy. You may also file a new application with stronger documents, paying the fee again.