Summary
In Belgium, any person of Belgian nationality aged 12 years or over must have an identity card (e-ID). To obtain or renew an identity card, you need to go to your municipal administration.
The e-ID allows you to :
- identify yourself to prove your identity, nationality, age, etc.
- travel to around fifty countries (including the whole of the European Union)
It contains certificates which allow you to:
- authenticate yourself electronically, in particular to obtain administrative documents online or to submit your tax return
- sign documents electronically as a person with legal capacity. An electronic signature has the same legal force as a handwritten signature
In detail
You must go in person to your municipality, with or without a summons, with an identity photo and your old identity card. The photo must have been made recently, against a white background and without smiling.
How long it takes
- Standard application: approximately 3 to 4 weeks (depending on your municipality) from the date of your application.
- Urgent application: if you apply before 15:00, the document can be collected from your municipality after 1 working day from 14:00.
- urgent application with collection from the central desk in Brussels, for which opening hours and contact details are available on the website of the Home Affairs Federal Public Service:
- if you apply before 15:00, the document can be collected at H+4h30min., that is on the same day, 4 hours and 30 minutes after the application has been made
- if you apply after 15:00 or on a Saturday, the document can be collected on D+1, i.e. the next working day from 8:30 (10:30 if it is a Monday or the day after a public holiday)
Collection
You will receive a PIN and PUK code in a confidential envelope, sent to your home address by the Home Affairs Federal Public Service.
The e-ID card itself will be sent to your municipal administration. You will need to go there to collect your e-ID, remembering to bring your PIN and PUK codes, as well as your old identity card or a corresponding declaration of loss or theft.
These codes will be used to validate the electronic signature via your identity card and must be kept for any further administrative procedures, such as a change of address.
Validity
- 12 months: from the age of 12 for persons who are temporarily unable to provide fingerprints
- 6 years: for minors under 12 years old and under 18 years old
- 10 years: from 18 years of age
- 30 years: for Belgian citizens aged 75 and over
Kids-ID
To apply for a Kids-ID from the municipal administration, you must:
- have parental authority over the child
- go with the child to the municipal administration
- provide a recent photo of the child
Cost
E-ID
The costs vary from EUR 18 to EUR 30 for a standard procedure and can go up to more than EUR 100 for an urgent application. Further information is available from your municipality or via the following link: www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/fr/documents-didentite/eid/tarifs
Kids-ID
The price is EUR 6.60 (excluding municipal tax) and the deadline for obtaining a Kids-ID is 3 weeks. There is also an urgent procedure to obtain a Kids-ID, but the cost is significantly higher. The rates applied by each municipality are listed on the website of the Home Affairs Federal Public Service www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/fr/documents-didentite/kids-id/tarifs