Search Q&A
Change of Address and Visa Renewal
I moved to Antwerp from the US last fall for school. I am planning to go home for the summer and need to renew my visa before I leave. In addition, I am moving soon to an apartment after moving around the city quite a bit this year (my id card has the address of the place I first stayed at) and need to change the address on my ID card to the new address. How do I do these things? Do I need appointments because of coronavirus? Any advice is much appreciated; I asked the people at my school and they said to go to city hall but weren’t sure about which office or if I need an appointment.
Generally you notify change of address to your new commune and they deal with notifying your old commune if it has changed.
At the moment almost everything official needs an appointment because of coronavirus so all you can do is ask.
Have you considered potential restrictions when you return if you go back to the US for the summer? Will you be allowed to return without problems or will you have to isolate for some days?
Belgian law required you to notify the commune concerned every time that you changed address, and you would have had a police visit before each change was actually registered. That may seem like mindless bureaucracy to you but there are good reasons for it - and it is quite efficient because the one act of reregistration ensures that your official address in Belgium follows you.
You need to be careful, such behaviour could easily see you being flagged as a potential terrorist and being unable to renew your visa might be the least of your problems if that happens.
Belgian law required you to notify the commune concerned every time that you changed address, and you would have had a police visit before each change was actually registered. That may seem like mindless bureaucracy to you but there are good reasons for it - and it is quite efficient because the one act of reregistration ensures that your official address in Belgium follows you.
You need to be careful, such behaviour could easily see you being flagged as a potential terrorist and being unable to renew your visa might be the least of your problems if that happens.
Are you in higher education? It seems hard to believe from your question. Anyway:
Which school are you at? This is a list of the international student offices at every higher education establishment in Antwerp.
https://wp.assets.sh/uploads/sites/4170/2019/08/Lijst-International-Offi...
This is the Student portal for the City of Antwerp
https://www.gate15.be/en/
Which includes a special page for international students that answers most of your questions:
https://www.stanstan.be/en/our-house/international-students-office/
Hi,
Yes you need to inform the commune about your address change. Failing to do that can bring quite some trouble for you. Check this post: https://www.linjiang-online.com/the-official-address-in-belgium/
