Over 600,000 naturalisations since 2000

More than 600,000 Belgian naturalisations took place between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2012, it was revealed yesterday. In 2000 Guy Verhofstadt’s government ratified a fast-track naturalisation process, as a result of which 608,322 foreigners became Belgian citizens. Interior minister Joëlle Milquet (pictured) yesterday confirmed the figured, replying to a question from N-VA MP Theo Francken. In 2011, 37,571 new Belgians were recorded, followed by 45,433 last year. These include respectively 6,865 and 6,437 who became Belgian simply by having a Belgian parent. Previously, 525,318 foreigners had acquired Belgian citizenship between 2000 and 2010, according to La Dernière Heure. Last year, Parliament passed a new reform of the nationality code which makes the naturalisation procedure significantly harder. It came into force on January 1 this year. Today, three channels are available: the short procedure (five years, with knowledge of a national language and socio-economic integration), the lengthy procedure (10 years and linguistic knowledge) and “exceptional naturalisation” granted by Parliament.