A Belgian passport is a

travel document A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international entity pursuant to international agreements to enable individuals to clear border control measures. Travel documents usually assure other governments that the beare ...

issued by

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

to Belgian citizens to facilitate international travel. It grants the bearer international passage in accordance with visa requirements and serves as proof of citizenship.

Types of passports

Standard passports

Standard passports are issued for ordinary travel, such as vacations and business trips. They are burgundy, available in 35 and 60-page formats, and are valid for 7 years.

Special passports

Diplomatic passports are issued to members of the

Belgian Royal Family Belgium is a constitutional, hereditary, and popular monarchy. The monarch is titled king or queen of the Belgians ( nl, Koning(in) der Belgen, french: Roi / Reine des Belges}, german: König(in) der Belgier) and serves as the country's he ...

, members of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

ministers of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

and representatives of Belgium or of the Communities or Regions (diplomats, economic or trade attaches, the main representative of each Community or Region). Service passports are issued to civil servants within the federal public services, ministries, parliaments and judicial services sent on an official mission abroad by the Belgian authorities. Temporary passports are issued in Emergency Conditions, if there is a justifiable urgent matter requiring immediate travel. They are dark green and valid for only 6 months. Emergency Travel Documents are issued by Belgian diplomatic representatives abroad when a previously issued passport has been lost. They have only 6 pages.

Physical appearance

Belgian passports use the standard EU design and are usually burgundy. Text on the front cover is printed in three languages:

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, French and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. The sequence of the languages varies according to the lingual community of the bearer (either Dutch-French-German, French-Dutch-German or German-French-Dutch). The front cover is emblazoned with the Belgian smaller Coat of arms. The following words are inscribed above the coat of arms:

"EUROPESE UNIE" (Dutch), "UNION EUROPÉENNE" (French), "EUROPÄISCHE UNION" (German) "KONINKRIJK BELGIË" (Dutch), "ROYAUME DE BELGIQUE" (French), "KÖNIGREICH BELGIEN" (German)

The following is inscribed below the coat of arms:

"PASPOORT – PASSEPORT – REISEPASS"

Biometric passports A biometric passport (also known as an e-passport or a digital passport) is a traditional passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip which contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of the pa ...

have been issued since 2015 and these bear the standard biometric symbol ( EPassport logo

) at the bottom of the front cover.

Administration

Passport issuance

Belgian passports are issued by FPS Foreign Affairs, the country's ministry of foreign affairs. Belgian citizens may apply for a passport at the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

where they are legally registered, which in turn procures the passport from the ministry. Passports cost approximately €93.50 depending on the location of issuance. It is possible to make an urgent application at a higher cost. The passport identifier is an 8-character alphanumeric with the structure AB123456; 2 alphas followed by 6 digits.

Lost and stolen passports

According to the Belgian police, 19,050 blank Belgian passports had been stolen between 1990 and 2002 and had been used to create forged travel documents. Due to concerns about forgery, the Belgian authorities charge increasingly higher fees for the replacement of lost or stolen passports after the 2nd and 3rd loss.

Citizenship of the European Union

Belgian citizens are also

citizens of the European Union European Union citizenship is afforded to all citizens of member states of the European Union (EU). It was formally created with the adoption of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, at the same time as the creation of the EU. EU citizenship is additio ...

and thus enjoy the rights of free movement and residence in any other country also in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, as well as other

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade As ...

states and Switzerland. The right to free movement is provided for in Article 21 of the EU Treaty.

Travel freedom of Belgian citizens

Belgian citizens are able to use their

identity card An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID card, citizen ca ...

to travel within the European Union and to other countries in the periphery of Europe. As of 13 April 2021, Belgian citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 187 countries and territories, ranking the Belgian passport 7th in the world according to the

Henley Passport Index The Henley Passport Index ( abbreviation: HPI) is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom enjoyed by the holders of that country's ordinary passport for its citizens. It started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restricti ...

Gallery of historic images

Image:Belgian passport.jpg, Belgian passport, circa 1940 Image:Belgium passport.jpg, Biometric passport (2004 version)

References

External links

{{Passports

Government of Belgium European Union passports