Your first 30 days in Belgium follow a fixed order: address, commune, national number and eID, then bank account, health insurance and itsme. Get the order right and each step unlocks the next. Get it wrong and you spend weeks waiting at the wrong counter. This checklist covers the first month week by week, for Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent.
In Belgium almost every administrative step depends on the national number, and the national number depends on your registered address.
Address: a lease in your name where you actually live.
Commune registration: you report to the commune of that address.
Police check: an officer confirms that you live there.
National number and residence card (eID): issued after a positive check.
Bank account, health insurance fund, itsme, phone contract: all of them ask for the national number, the card or a Belgian address.
Anything you can do before step 4, do early. Anything that needs step 4, plan for weeks 3 to 6, not day 1.
When | Task | What you need | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
Before arrival | Housing where you can register | Written confirmation from the landlord | A hotel address cannot be registered |
Before arrival | Health cover for the first weeks | EHIC (EU citizens) or private insurance | The commune asks for proof of health insurance |
Before arrival | Book a commune appointment if the system allows | Future address | Slots in Brussels and Antwerp can be weeks out |
Week 1 | Move in, name on doorbell and letterbox | — | Needed for the police check |
Week 1 | Report to the commune | Passport, visa if any, lease, proof of health insurance | Non-EU: within 8 working days of arrival |
Week 1 | Prepaid SIM card | Passport or national ID, in an operator's shop | Online activation often needs a Belgian eID |
Week 1 | Public transport | Contactless bank card or transport apps | See the city section below |
Week 2 | Police check at your address | Be reachable | If you miss the officer, answer the card they leave |
Weeks 3–4 | Residence card, if the commune is fast | Letter from the commune with PIN codes | Usually 2 to 8 weeks after filing |
Weeks 3–4 | Belgian bank account | ID, proof of Belgian address | Some banks start online before arrival |
Weeks 3–4 | Join a health insurance fund | National number, work contract | Mutualité (FR) or ziekenfonds (NL) |
After the card | Activate itsme | Residence card and card reader, or a Belgian bank app | Opens most public e-services |
After the card | Personal MOBIB transport card | Photo, ID | For monthly or annual passes |
If your commune is slow, the "after the card" rows move to weeks 5 to 8.
You must register with the commune of the address where you live: non-EU citizens within 8 working days of arrival, EU citizens within 3 months if they stay longer than 3 months.
A police officer then visits your address. The full procedure, documents per status and differences between Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent are in our guide to registering with the commune in Belgium.
Most newcomers receive their residence card 2 to 8 weeks after filing at the commune, and the card is what the rest of the checklist waits for.
Until then you hold a paper certificate from the commune, such as an Annex 15 or Annex 19. It proves that your file is in progress, but most banks and services want the card itself. Before the card is ready you receive a letter with your PIN and PUK codes; keep it. You need the PIN for itsme activation with a card reader and for logging in to government websites.
Belgian banks ask for identification and proof of a Belgian address, such as a lease or a commune document, so open the account once your address is settled.
ING, BNP Paribas Fortis and KBC run expat services, and some large banks let you start the account online before you move and activate it after the residence permit is issued. If you are legally resident in the EU, you are entitled to a basic payment account, and a bank cannot refuse it only because you live in another country.
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Keep your home-country account for the first weeks, and tell HR which IBAN to use if the Belgian one is not ready by payday.
If you live and work in Belgium, you must join a health insurance fund, known as a mutualité in French and a ziekenfonds in Dutch.
You can choose one of the five national unions of funds, or the public fund CAAMI/HZIV, which provides the same compulsory cover without supplementary insurance. Reimbursement rates for compulsory cover are set nationally by INAMI/RIZIV and are the same whichever fund you choose. Funds differ in their supplementary cover, such as dental care or glasses. According to the Brussels Commissioner's expat guide, the annual contribution is typically EUR 70 to EUR 160.
Join as soon as you have your national number. Many funds accept an online application with your ID and work contract. Keep your EHIC or private cover until the fund confirms your membership. Staff of the EU institutions are covered by the institutions' own scheme (JSIS) instead.
itsme is the Belgian digital ID app used to log in to tax, social security and many bank and insurance services, and you can activate it once you have a Belgian residence card.
There are 2 ways to activate it: with your card and a card reader, or through the app of a Belgian bank such as KBC, Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis or ING. Government services need the national number on the card, so activate it with your Belgian card rather than a foreign document.
A prepaid SIM card is the fastest option in week 1: Belgian law requires every prepaid card to be linked to an identified person, and a passport or foreign ID card is accepted in an operator's shop.
Buy it in a shop, because online activation often expects a Belgian eID. The main networks are Proximus, Orange and BASE. Switch to a monthly plan once you have a Belgian account; you can keep your number.
Belgium has three local public transport companies and one national rail operator, and one card, MOBIB, works across all of them.
Brussels: STIB/MIVB. Metro, tram and bus. You can tap a contactless bank card or phone at the validator for single journeys, or use the STIB app. For a monthly or annual pass, get a personal MOBIB card, valid for 5 years.
Antwerp and Ghent: De Lijn. Trams and buses across Flanders. Buy tickets in the De Lijn app before boarding; season tickets load onto a MOBIB card.
Between cities: SNCB/NMBS. Direct trains link Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent. Buy tickets in the SNCB app or at the station; commuter passes go on MOBIB. Ask your employer about commuting reimbursement, which is common in Belgium.
Brussels is officially bilingual in French and Dutch, while Antwerp and Ghent are in Flanders, where the official language is Dutch.
In Brussels you choose French or Dutch for official dealings; French is more common at commune counters. In Antwerp and Ghent, commune letters and forms are in Dutch. English is widely understood in daily life, but official mail arrives in French or Dutch. For more on each city, see the relocation guides to Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent.
Housing comes first because the commune, the eID and the bank all depend on your address.
Globexs rents furnished apartments in Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent on contracts from 1 to 11 months, with only an ID document and no Belgian bank account required. Our apartments can be used as a registered address when the owner agrees. Send a written request to your rental agent: we ask the owner for written permission and tell you the decision. Registration does not change the price, the contract or the deposit.
If a standard landlord is asking for payslips and a Belgian account you do not have yet, read how to rent in Belgium without a Belgian bank account.
Brussels · Antwerp · Ghent · How renting with Globexs works
Secure an address where you can register, then report to the commune. Non-EU citizens have 8 working days from arrival. Everything else, from the bank to health insurance, depends on that registration.
Usually 2 to 8 weeks from filing at the commune, depending on the commune and the season. A police check at your address comes first.
Sometimes. Banks ask for proof of a Belgian address, and some large banks let you start online before you move. Keep a home-country or EU account for your first salary in case the Belgian one is not ready.
As soon as you are registered with the commune and working in Belgium. You need your national number. Keep your EHIC or private insurance until membership is confirmed.
For government services, you need your Belgian residence card, because they check the national number on it. Activate itsme with the card and a card reader, or through a Belgian bank app.
Yes. Prepaid cards must be registered to an identified person, and operators' shops accept a foreign passport or ID card. Online activation often requires a Belgian eID.
A MOBIB card works on STIB/MIVB in Brussels, De Lijn in Flanders, TEC in Wallonia and SNCB/NMBS trains. In Brussels you can also tap a contactless bank card for single journeys.
Yes, if the owner agrees. Send a written request to your rental agent; we obtain the owner's written decision. The price, contract and deposit do not change. Ask before you sign so the answer is known in advance.
Globexs was founded in Antwerp in 2002 by Lodewijk Cuypers, a Belgian entrepreneur who began by helping international students and newcomers find housing in the city.
