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Registration at the Consulate-General is not compulsory but is strongly recommended.
Only registered citizens can obtain a Belgian identity card, Belgian passport or consular certificates.
Why you should register
Registration in the consular population registers, with a Belgian career consulate abroad, allows you to benefit from the same services as those offered by local authorities in Belgium, namely the management of your administrative file. This registration enables the Belgian Career Consulate to help you efficiently when issuing an identity card or consular certificates (e.g. certificate of residence, certificate of registration, certificate of nationality, certificate of household composition, etc.). Through the Career Consulate, you can also take part in certain elections in Belgium (federal legislative elections, European elections, if you live in an EU Member State).
Foreign nationals who are members of your family can also be registered in the population registers. However, this registration does not entitle them to obtain a consular identity card or passport, or does it give them the right to be registered as a Belgian voter. For consular assistance, they should contact the representation in their country of origin.
By keeping your file up to date you will enable the Belgian embassy or consulate to help you more quickly, including in situations when you need urgent humanitarian aid (e.g. during accidents, natural disasters, evacuations, etc.).
Read more on the FPS Foreign Affairs website
Since 09/11/2020, the Belgian Embassy in Athens offers you the possibility to register online in the consular population registers.
You have access to this website if you :
- are Belgian;
- are no longer registered in a Belgian municipality, because you have informed this municipality that you are moving abroad;
- have a valid and activated Belgian eID card;
- know your PIN code and have a card reader.
My electronic file
The my file site allows Belgians and residents of Belgium to :
- check their details in the National Register,
- report errors,
- find out which authorities have consulted their personal data over the last six months,
- download or print electronic certificates wherever they are.
To do this, they need
- an activated eID = for which the issue has also been registered in the BELPIC programme of the FPS Interior (using the PUK code);
- an eID with activated certificates = for which the functions of identifying oneself on the Internet and giving consent (digital signature) have been activated (using the PIN);
- a card reader;
- the appropriate software to read the cards, to be installed beforehand via https://eid.belgium.be/fr;
- the PIN code.
Electronic certificates can be obtained in Dutch, French or German. They are immediately displayed on the screen, and can be printed, downloaded and stored in the form of a PDF document with a digital certificate of authenticity from the FPS Home Affairs. They can also be sent as an e-mail attachment.
The certificates available are
- certificate of household composition ;
- certificate of main residence ;
- certificate of main residence with history ;
- certificate of Belgian nationality;
- attestation de vie ;
- attestation of legal cohabitation ;
- attestation of residence with a view to marriage;
- certificate of burial method and/or rites ;
- certificate of Belgian voter ;
- electoral register certificate;
- extract from the registers.
Please note: there is no guarantee that certificates obtained in this way can be used abroad. The document does not contain a signature and cannot be legalised; linguistic problems could also arise.
As far as their use in Belgium is concerned, it is advisable to check first with the recipient whether they are acceptable (example of a possible application: proof of main residence/address for a Belgian bank). The certificates obtained via ‘My file’ contain the digital stamp of the National Register and, according to the FPS Interior, have the same legal value as certificates issued by a local authority. We recommend using the digital version, as it is only in this digital form that the validity of the certificates can be verified.