Target group

You are required to follow an integration programme if all the following conditions apply:

1.

You are a foreign national (non-Belgian) and you are registered for the first time in the register of foreigners (≠ waiting register) of a Brussels municipality, and have a residence permit that is valid for more than three months. This includes all electronic cards for foreign nationals and certificates of immatriculation of more than three months.

The requirement applies in the following situations:

You have arrived from abroad

You have arrived from abroad and you are registered for the first time in the register of foreigners of a Brussels municipality that has issued – also for the first time – a residence permit that is valid for more than three months.

You have arrived from another Belgian region

You have arrived from another Belgian region where you obtained a residence permit that is valid for more than three months, and you are registered in the register of foreigners for the first time of a Brussels municipality.

You are registered in the waiting register in Brussels

You are registered in the waiting register in Brussels and subsequently are registered in the register of foreigners for the first time, and have a residence permit that is valid for more than three months.

This is the case, for example, if you are an asylum seeker who obtains refugee status.

You are registered in the register of foreigners in Brussels

You are registered in the register of foreigners in Brussels and you obtain, for the first time, a residence permit that is valid for more than three months.

This is the case, for example, if you obtain a residence permit for medical reasons or as a victim of human trafficking.

2.

At the time you first are registered in the register of foreigners and obtain a residence permit that is valid for more than three months, you are 18 or more and under 65.

3.

You have lived legally in Belgium for under three years at the time you first register in the register of foreigners and have obtained a residence permit that is valid for more than three months.

As soon as you have the right to reside in Belgium, for whatever reason, you are considered to be a legal resident.

This is the case, for example, in the following situations:

You are registered in the register of foreigners
You are registered in the waiting register
…

Short stays of less than 3 months are not included (for example, a tourist stay).

Foreign nationals who hold C/K, D/L, E+ or F+ cards are therefore not required to follow an integration programme as they have been legally present in the country for more than three years.

The municipality should be able to determine, on the basis of information contained in the national register at the time of registration with the municipality, whether or not you are required to follow an integration programme.

Although the above conditions may apply to them, some foreign nationals are nevertheless exempt from this obligation.

If you interrupt your residency (you move to another region in Belgium or abroad) or if you lose your residency rights, the interruption period will be recorded in your file. As soon as you re-register in a Brussels municipality, your requirements and administrative deadlines will resume. In the event of interrupted residencies, the various residency periods are combined to attain the 3-year period of legal residency.