After two years of debate on the procedure for obtaining citizenship in Belgium, the government of the country came to a single position in the summer. The ministers decided to deviate from the course established in the last years in Europe to simplify the conditions of citizenship and tightened the requirements. Nevertheless, the deputies left the rule for “special cases” without corrections related to the “international education of Belgium”. The new position on the eve of the final formal approvals, and was adopted by the government of the kingdom.
In accordance with the new Code, a person who wants to obtain citizenship of this country needs to speak in one of the formal languages (French, German, Flemish) and live in the state for at least five or ten years.
In some cases, citizenship can be obtained after three years of residence in the state. And, of course, the right to receive citizenship by birth remains unchanged.
Thus, as a result of the adoption of a new provision on citizenship, four ways to obtain citizenship of the kingdom were put forward.
The first method concerns foreigners born in Belgium. Nothing has changed in this position. In the event of a legal stay in the state from the moment of his birth, at the age of 18, the young man or girl is guaranteed to receive a Belgian passport.
The second method is intended for those who arrived in Belgium and lived in the country legally at least five years. For this group of citizens, the procedure for evidence of the knowledge of one of the official languages of the kingdom, social integration (diploma and vocational education, which includes at least 400 hours of training courses) and economic integration (labor activity at least 468 days) remains necessary.
The third method is designed for foreigners who have lived legally in Belgium for more than 10 years. In this case, the procedure for obtaining citizenship is the following aspects: knowledge of one of the official languages, economic, social and cultural integration, the obligatory respect of the country’s constitution.
The fourth way of obtaining Belgium citizenship concerns the category of citizens who live legally in the country for more than three years. With this method, the following rules must be observed: it is necessary to have special merits in sports, culture or science, that is, what refers to the principle of “international education of Belgium” and speak in one of the formal languages of the country.
In many countries of Europe, recently, the procedure for obtaining citizenship by investing in the country’s economy of a certain amount, such as buying real estate for a certain amount. The new provision on obtaining citizenship in Belgium is contrary to this trend.
