Public services and online portals

Key authorities

• Municipality (population / foreigners department): registration, electronic residence card for foreigners, certificates of residence and of household composition (see BE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
• Immigration Office (FPS Home Affairs): decides on the right of residence in certain cases.
• National Register (FPS Home Affairs): National Register number; BIS number for people who are not registered (see BE-NIF-TOUS-001).
• FPS Finance: personal income tax, VAT, via MyMinfin (see BE-IMPOTS-TOUS-001).
• Regions: regional taxes (property withholding tax, registration duties, road tax), employment and training, housing.
• Health insurance fund and INAMI (the national health and disability insurance institute): health care insurance (see BE-SANTE-TOUS-001).
• Social insurance fund and INASTI (the national social insurance institute for the self-employed): social status of the self-employed (see BE-ENTREPRISE-TOUS-001).
• Communities: education (see BE-ECOLE-TOUS-001), early childhood.
• Vehicles: registration with the DIV (FPS Mobility); driving licence through the municipality. A valid EU or EEA licence is kept without exchange; exchange is mandatory after a loss, theft or offence, or 2 years after your registration if your licence has no end date (FPS Mobility, 2026; details in BE-PERMIS-TOUS-001).

Online services

• Mon DOSSIER: view your data in the National Register, report an error, see which bodies have consulted your data over the last six months, download or print free of charge certificates and civil status records drawn up after 31 March 2019. Login with your electronic card, a card reader and your PIN code.
• CSAM: shared management of digital keys to access public services online. The State's help centre (BOSA) lists: the electronic card (Belgian eID or electronic card for foreigners) with a reader and your PIN code, the most secure key; the itsme, MyGov.be and Smart-ID apps; a security code by mobile app, SMS or e-mail; a username with password; and, for citizens of another EU country, eIDAS (your national electronic identification means, recognised at European level). The other keys, less secure than the eID, do not give access to all online services.
• MyMinfin: tax return (Tax-on-web), consultation of your tax file.
• What a European can do online: with their electronic card for foreigners (which carries a chip) and their PIN code, most federal procedures. Before having it, two solutions: log in through eIDAS with your country's electronic identity (at first login, you need your European identification means, an e-mail address and a telephone number; the help centre also covers the case where you do not know your Belgian identification number, that is, your National Register number or your BIS number), or have yourself registered in person, by appointment, at a municipality that has a local registration office (bureau local d'enregistrement): you receive an activation code on paper and a link by e-mail (valid for 30 days) to activate a security code. To switch from the eID to another key, you must first identify yourself once with the eID on CSAM.

Steps

1. Register with the municipality within the deadlines (BE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001) and wait for the residence check.
2. Collect your electronic card and its PIN and PUK codes (keep the letter with the codes).
3. Activate your online access (Mon DOSSIER, MyMinfin, itsme if you wish).
4. Join a health insurance fund (BE-SANTE-TOUS-001).
5. Self-employed: business desk and social insurance fund (BE-ENTREPRISE-TOUS-001).
6. Family: school enrolment (BE-ECOLE-TOUS-001) and family allowances. The child's home decides which body is responsible, and the amounts are the same in all the funds of a given Region. You choose your fund and enrol yourself (no automatic affiliation in Wallonia):
   • Wallonia: FAMIWAL (public fund), Parentia, Camille or KidsLife (wallonie.be, 28/09/2026); change possible after 2 years.
   • Brussels: Famiris (Iriscare's public fund), Parentia Bruxelles, Brussels Family or Kidslife Bruxelles (Iriscare, 2026).
   • Flanders: the Groeipakket (growth package), paid by FONS (public), Infino, KidsLife Vlaanderen, MyFamily or Parentia; you choose at your first child, for all your children, and you can no longer change afterwards (vlaanderen.be). Since 1 July 2026, Flanders has been preparing the move to a single public paying body: the choice remains open to new families, but a change of fund is no longer possible once the affiliation is registered (VUTG communication A/56, 25/08/2026).
   • German-speaking Community: it is the one that pays the allowances for children born in the east of Belgium (Familienportal portal, ostbelgienfamilie.be; social security portal).

Common pitfalls

• The municipality's language. Procedures are carried out in the language of the region (French, Dutch or German; both in Brussels); some municipalities with language facilities offer the other language.
• Losing the letter with the PIN and PUK codes: without them, your card is of no use online.
• Changing address without telling the municipality: your official mail, including tax mail, follows the National Register.

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: registration with the municipality and electronic residence card; no work permit.
• British citizens (Scots included): rules for third-country nationals, except for rights arising from the withdrawal agreement (see BE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).