Hi,

Hypothetical question for you all.

If my son was born half Belgian and half Canadian-French and moved to Flanders aged 18 years old, then they would have to follow the Flemish civic integration programme?

I don’t understand exactly what the exception means below: does it mean someone who naturalised as Belgian, or someone who was born Belgian as a baby ( a newcomer because a baby is new to the world ), would have to complete the civic integration programme even if they came from an EU/Suisse/EEA country?

Am I reading this right

“Some newcomers must follow a civic integration path, including:
Belgians who:
– are 18 years old or older
– were not born in Belgium
– have at least one parent who was not born in Belgium
– are registered in the national population register for the first time for no longer than 12 consecutive months.

In the Flemish Region, some newcomers are exempted from the civic integration obligation:
– citizens from member states of the European Union,
– the European Economic Area or Switzerland and their family members.
This exemption does not apply to the family members and newcomers of Belgian nationality mentioned above.

https://www.vlaanderen.be/en/guidance-for-newcomers-civic-integration-path

3 comments

  2. If the kid has never lived in Belgium, then yes, he has to follow the course if he lived in Canada (you mention France in the title but french-canadian in the body). If he lived in France he is exempt since France belongs to the EU.

    Nationality or language is not the deciding factor, the place where you lived is.

  3. As far as I know, the social integration programme is not mandatory for EU citizens because it’s not allowed at the EU level to have such a block to free movement, **but** it does apply to Belgian citizens because they don’t have the rights of “foreign EU citizens” while in Belgium. But Belgian citizens who aren’t immigrating to Belgium don’t have that obligation because there is a also free movement within Belgium.

    So this means that only non-Belgian EU citizens are exempted when moving from outside Belgium to within Belgium. All others, including Belgians, do have to do it.

    If your hypothetical son has a French parent he is a EU citizen (plus Belgian so I think he still has to do it anyway) but in the text you say Canadian-French so I suppose you mean a Canadian parent instead, which makes them a non-EU citizen (plus Belgian) and definitely subject to that integration programme.

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