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Significant changes since 2013
The Belgian parliament has adopted an important and significant amendment to the Belgian Nationality Code: citizens who do not legally reside in Belgium will no longer have the possibility to acquire voluntarily the Belgian nationality. Subsequently, from 01/01/2013 onwards:
- Naturalization of persons who do not have their principal residence in Belgium, is no longer possible;
- the Declarations of Option (Option of nationality on the basis of the Belgian nationality of the spouse or Option of nationality between 18 and 22 years) are no longer possible at the Embassy;
- the Declaration of possession of status is void;
- Re-acquisition of the Belgian nationality is no longer possible in a foreign country.
The attribution of the Belgian nationality to a child and the Declaration of retention of the Belgian nationality, remain unchanged. The Embassy is therefore still competent.
More general information on nationality
Attribution
The filiation towards the Belgian parent (father or mother) has first to be legally established before considering the Belgian nationality for a child. Kindly read first the section BIRTH under Civil Status of this website.
If the Belgian parent (father or mother) is born in Belgium, the child born in the Philippines will automatically obtain the Belgian nationality at birth.
If the Belgian parent was born out of Belgium, the child born in the Philippines will not acquire automatically the Belgian nationality at birth. In order to obtain the Belgian nationality, the Belgian parent has to sign an official act / a declaration to grant the Belgian nationality to the child within 5 years of the establishment of the filiation (meaning maximum five years after birth, recognition or adoption). The child obtains the Belgian nationality on the date upon which the declaration is signed.
How to proceed
Read the complete procedure (PDF, 148.38 KB)
Retention
If you were born out of Belgium after January 1st, 1967 and you never lived in Belgium between your 18th and 28th birthday and you have a second nationality (Filipino for instance), you must sign an official act / a declaration of retention of the Belgian nationality at the Embassy before your 28th birthday, in order not to lose the citizenship.
This obligation disappears though if you weren’t yet 28 years old on July 12th, 2018 and had applied for and received a regular Belgian passport or an eID after your 18th birthday.
If you aren’t sure which rule applies to your case, kindly contact the Embassy before this deadline for further assessment.
