Belgian nationality: A2 in any of three languages, proved by one of eight documents, and a fee that went from 150 to 1,000 euros

Article 1 §2 5° defines the language condition as la connaissance minimale d'une des trois langues nationales correspondant au niveau A2 of the CEFR: minimum knowledge of one of the three national languages, at A2.

Since 8 April 2024, people who are illiterate need only prove oral A2. That change followed the Constitutional Court, which had annulled the earlier text for not making that exception.

There is no Belgian citizenship test in force in the text we read. News coverage in 2025 reported plans for B1 and a citizenship test. The consolidated Code of 10 March 2026 still says A2, and we found no official text that adds either. If you read about B1, check the date and the source.

The Royal Decree of 14 January 2013, article 1, lists what counts. In short:

1. An upper-secondary diploma or certificate from a school organised, recognised or subsidised by a Community, obtained in one of the three languages. 2. An upper-secondary diploma from another EU country that a Community recognises as equivalent. 3. A recognised vocational training of at least 400 hours. 4. Successful completion of the integration track of the region where you lived when you started it (Flanders' inburgering, Wallonia's parcours d'intégration, Brussels' parcours d'accueil). 5. Five years of uninterrupted work. 6. A language attestation at the required level from an institution organised, recognised or subsidised by a Community. 7. A SELOR language certificate. 8. A language attestation from a regional employment and training office.

A certificate from a private language school is not on that list unless the school is Community-recognised or subsidised. DELF, Goethe or Cambridge-style certificates are not named either. Ask your commune before you pay for a test it will not accept.

In Flanders and Dutch-speaking Brussels, the Agency for Integration and Civic Integration runs a Dutch test specifically for the nationality application (taaltest Nederlands nationaliteitsaanvraag). It checks A2 in reading, listening, speaking and writing, over two half-days, and costs 180 euros (90 for the oral part, 90 for the written).

It is held in six places: AgII in Bruges, Kortrijk and Hasselt, Atlas in Antwerp, Amal in Ghent and the Huis van het Nederlands in Brussels.

If you are already doing Flemish inburgering, the Dutch part of that track also requires A2, and the agency calls the civic integration certificate official proof of social integration for the nationality application. Inside the track, the Dutch lessons with one test cost 180 euros and the civic orientation lessons with one test another 180; a retake is paid again.

Wallonia's parcours d'intégration includes a French-level test on arrival, at least 400 hours of French where needed, at least 60 hours of citizenship training and socio-professional orientation. wallonie.be, updated 23 July 2026, says the whole track is free and sets an 18-month deadline that can be extended.

Completing it counts as language proof (decree article 1, 4°) and as proof of social integration in the nationality file.

We did not read the Brussels parcours d'accueil or the German-speaking Community's integration track on an official page, so we say nothing about their content here.

The ordinary route after five years' legal residence (article 12bis §1 2°) asks for A2 plus social integration (one of: the diploma, the 400-hour training, the integration track or five years' work) and economic participation: at least 468 working days in the last five years, or six quarters of self-employed contributions. Training time in those five years is deducted from the 468 days. After ten years the route asks for A2 and participation in the life of the host community, provable by any legal means.

The registration fee rose from 150 to 1,000 euros on 29 July 2025, under the programme law of 18 July 2025. SPF Finances circular 2026/C/47 and its addendum 2026/C/72 give the indexed figure: 1,030 euros from 1 January 2026, not refundable whatever the outcome. Stateless applicants were brought back to 150 euros (160 indexed for 2026) by a law of 10 February 2026. We read the circulars as republished in full by a tax-information site, not on the Moniteur, so confirm the amount with your commune.