Belgian passport to be valid for 7 years

The Belgian Foreign Office has announced that passports issued to Belgian citizens will soon be valid for seven years, as opposed to five as is currently the case. The cost of acquiring or renewing a passport will remain unchanged at €71 plus commune taxes. De Zondag reports that, for the fifth year running, the number of Belgians applying for a passport is increasing. Last year saw a record 521,143 applications – 10,000 more than in 2009. Even though Belgium has long had a compulsory ID card system, the ID card only allows travel within the EU and a handful of other European countries.