Newcomer in Belgium: Documents to Translate

Are you a newcomer in Belgium and required to follow an integration programme? Several of your foreign documents must be translated for the municipality, the programme and the opening of your rights. Here is which ones, in which language, and how to go about it.

📖 See also: the expat checklist · translate a birth certificate · have a diploma recognised

The integration programme in brief

Depending on the region, the newcomer follows a compulsory or recommended integration programme: the integration programme in Wallonia, inburgering in Flanders, or the reception programme in Brussels. It combines administrative support, language courses and citizenship training. The foreign documents presented in this context, as in all municipal procedures, must be translated by a sworn translator into the language of the region.

Which documents to have translated?

• Birth certificate: the basic document for registration with the municipality.
• Marriage certificate and children's birth certificates, depending on your family situation.
• Diplomas and transcripts of records: useful for guidance, training or employment.
• Driving licence: for a possible exchange against a Belgian licence.
• Residence documents and various attestations depending on your nationality.

How to proceed

1. Register with the municipality: you will be told the required documents and language.
2. Gather your civil status documents, apostilled or legalised if necessary in your country of origin.
3. Have the whole set translated by a Belgian sworn translator, into the language of the region.
4. Submit the file to the municipality and the integration body.

Why a sworn translation?

Municipalities and integration bodies must rely on reliable documents. Only a translation carried out by a sworn translator recognised by a Belgian Court of Appeal and registered with the FPS Justice is accepted. A free translation, even an accurate one, is refused and blocks the procedure.