From 1 July 2026 anyone applying for a Belgian long-stay visa (visa D) must pay a handling fee of €250 – a 14 % increase over last year – according to consular notices circulated this week by Belgian embassies, including Amman, Warsaw and Athens. The update, posted on 1 July and highlighted again on 2 July for peak-season applicants, also raises the return-visa fee to €335 from 1 September. The Foreign Affairs Ministry says the new tariff reflects rising processing costs and the rollout of additional security checks linked to the EU Entry/Exit System and Belgium’s own “My Address in Belgium” online arrival declaration. Fee waivers for diplomatic passports and family members of EU citizens remain unchanged, but standard work-permit, study and family-reunification applicants must budget for the higher charge. For global mobility teams the timing is awkward: applications for autumn academic programmes and Q4 corporate transfers traditionally surge in early July. Universities and multinational HR departments are rushing fee-top-up instructions to admitted students and assignees whose files are already lodged. TLS Contact, Belgium’s outsourced visa partner in many jurisdictions, has confirmed that files submitted before 1 July will be processed at the old rate even if biometric appointments fall later. The increase also interacts with Belgium’s additional federal contribution (currently €366–€3660 depending on category) that certain visa-D applicants must pay to the Immigration Office. Employers should therefore revisit cost-estimates in assignment letters and consider advancing applications for dependants before the second fee hike on 1 September. Failure to attach proof of the correct payment renders an application inadmissible under Belgian law. As other Schengen states – notably Germany and Spain – eye similar fee adjustments for 2027, Belgium’s move may signal a broader upward trend in visa costs across Europe.
