Belgium Tourist Visa

Do Indians need a visa for Belgium, and which one?

Yes. An Indian passport holder needs a Schengen short-stay visa, type C, for a holiday in Belgium. It is not an e-visa. You fill in the form online on VisaOnWeb, Belgium's own visa portal, print it, and hand in the file in person at a VFS Global centre, where your fingerprints and a live photo are taken.

The visa covers up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and that count is shared by all 29 Schengen states. For applications from North and East India, the Embassy of Belgium in New Delhi decides. Some files go further: the embassy's own India page says certain applications must be sent to the Immigration Office of the Federal Public Service Home Affairs in Brussels, which then takes the final decision.

The embassy also decides whether you get a single or multiple-entry visa. For Indians there is an EU rule worth knowing: after two Schengen visas obtained and lawfully used within the previous three years, you can be issued a two-year multiple-entry visa, normally followed by a five-year one if your passport has enough validity left.

Two limits are printed on every Belgian checklist. You cannot change the purpose of the visit later, and the visa cannot be prolonged. Either one needs a fresh application.

Where do applicants from Punjab apply?

At VFS Global, the embassy's official partner. Belgium has centres in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Goa, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi, Puducherry and Pune. Punjab is unusually well served: Chandigarh suits Patiala, Mohali and Ambala, and Jalandhar suits the Doaba belt and Amritsar side. Both work Monday to Friday. Files from North India go to the Embassy in New Delhi, whichever of these centres you use.

The order of steps matters:

1. Create an account on VisaOnWeb and fill in the form in capital letters. One account can hold forms for your whole family.
2. Submit the form online, print the copy that arrives by email, and book a VFS appointment.
3. Go to the centre within 30 days. The embassy says an online form not confirmed at the centre within 30 days is deleted.

At the centre, aim to arrive 15 minutes early. You cannot send someone in your place for biometrics. All 10 fingerprints are scanned unless you gave them for a Schengen visa in the last 59 months. Children under 12 are exempt from the personal appearance. If you miss the appointment, you can book a new one only after 24 hours. Keep mehndi off your fingertips; VFS warns that it interferes with the scanner.

On appointments, VFS's Belgium page says new slots are released on the first Monday of every month for appointments in the following month, for the North and East zone. Track how dates are opening on our Belgium appointment availability page.

One warning from the embassy itself: official visa emails come only from its two diplobel.fed.be addresses, and you will never be asked to pay into a private Indian bank account. All payments go through VFS or the Immigration Office.

Which documents depend on your situation?

The common checklist is printed further down this page. What changes from person to person is how you prove your income and your reasons to come home. Belgium's tourism checklist and the EU's harmonised list for India split it like this:

Three Belgian habits catch Indian files out.

• The return section. Every Belgian checklist carries a note headed "Attention". It asks for as much information as possible about your family background, professional and socio-economic status, and any land or real estate. The embassy calls this essential to judging whether you will leave before the visa expires. Treat it as a document of its own: land records, a house in your name, a spouse's income, children in school here.
• Apostille, not attestation. Indian civil documents such as birth and marriage certificates and affidavits need only one legalisation: an apostille from the Indian authorities. The embassy no longer adds its own stamp.
• Insurance from a list. The policy must come from a company on the embassy's approved list of travel medical insurers for India, and the embassy says you must sign the policy before you submit it.

Add a copy of your passport's identity page and of your most recent Schengen visa with its stamps. Old passports with earlier trips help too; the checklist says they can be useful for the decision.

How much is the Belgium visa fee for Indians?

The visa fee is €90 for adults and €45 for children aged 6 to 11; children under 6 pay nothing. On 14 October 2026 the VFS fee tab showed ₹10,170 for adults and ₹5,085 for children, paid at the centre in cash, card or UPI at Chandigarh and Jalandhar. VFS adds a service fee of ₹2,825 per application. The embassy's own page still shows ₹2,750, so carry the higher figure. Fee-exempt applicants still pay the service fee, and the visa fee is not refunded if the visa is refused. Our filing fee is shown at the top of this page.

How long does it take, and when should you apply?

Under the EU Visa Code, a decision is due within 15 calendar days of an admissible application and can be extended to 45 days. VFS's Belgium page words it differently: 15 working days as a rule, up to 30 calendar days, and exceptionally 60 calendar days when the file is sent to the Immigration Office in Brussels for the final decision. Plan on the longer figure if your dates are fixed.

If your file is referred, the embassy gives you a file number. From then on, the Immigration Office is the only authority to contact about status. You can also track the application with your passport number and surname on the VFS site.

When to apply:

• Earliest: the EU rule and VFS allow six months before travel. The embassy's tourism checklist says the earliest is three months before your visit. Follow the checklist.
• Latest: the checklist asks for at least one month before the travel date. The EU minimum of 15 days is not a plan for Belgium.
• Booking the slot: slots for any month open on the first Monday of the month before. To apply in April, start looking on the first Monday of March.

For a trip in mid-June, the window runs from mid-March to mid-May, and the April slots open in early March.

Why do Belgium visas get refused for Indian applicants?

Belgium uses the EU's standard refusal form, which ticks numbered reasons. These are the ones that sink holiday files from India, and how to avoid each.

Every ground on the form, in plain words, is on our Schengen refusal reasons page.

Tips for a stronger file

• Leave letter in Belgium's words. A general NOC is not what the checklist asks for. Ask HR for a letter that states your income and the number of vacation days allowed.
• Bank proof. An updated passbook or a three-month statement, stamped and signed by the bank. Mark salary credits, and attach the reason for any large credit: an FD maturity slip, a sale deed, a bonus letter.
• Covering letter. Write your personal home address in it. If you choose courier return, VFS sends the passport there and, on the embassy's instruction, never to a travel agency's address.
• Itinerary. One page, day by day, with the same dates as your form, flights, hotels and insurance.
• Flights. A reservation is enough; the checklist asks for a copy of the flight ticket reservation, not a paid ticket.
• Photos. Recent, colour, white background, no more than six months old. Glue one onto the form as the checklist asks, and carry two spares.
• Collection. If you cannot collect the passport yourself, only a parent, child or spouse may do it. They bring your authorisation letter, the original receipt and their own original government ID.

Can I visit other Schengen countries on a Belgium visa?

Yes. A type C visa issued by Belgium is valid across the Schengen area, and the 90 days are shared across all of it. The catch is where you apply. The European Commission's rule is simple: apply to the country where you will spend the longest time, and if the stays are equal, to the first country you will visit.

A Benelux trip shows how this works. Five nights in Brussels and Bruges with two in Amsterdam is a Belgian file. Five nights in Amsterdam with a day trip to Brussels is a Dutch one: see our Netherlands tourist visa guide. If you lodge with the wrong country, the Visa Code says the consulate must return your file, refund the visa fee and tell you which consulate is competent. You get the fee back, but you lose weeks.

Do you have to report your arrival in Belgium?

Yes. The embassy's India page says anyone entering Belgium for a short stay must declare their presence within three days. Since 10 April 2026 you can do this online through the My Address in Belgium (MAB) form, instead of reporting to the municipal administration where you stay. Keep the confirmation with your passport.

At the border itself, Belgium is one of the countries using the EU's Entry/Exit System. Your entry and exit are registered electronically, with fingerprints and a face image, and this is gradually replacing passport stamps.

Can you appeal a Belgium visa refusal?

Yes. Belgium allows an appeal to the Council for Alien Law Litigation within 30 days, and the refusal form itself names the appeal body and the time limit. The route is formal and slow. For most holiday refusals, a fresh application that answers the ticked reason with documents is faster. If the refusal turned on a document you had already supplied, an appeal argues that point directly.

Either way, the time limit runs fast, so check the date on your refusal letter with our refusal deadline tool. To compare totals for a family group, use our visa fee calculator. For everything else on Belgium, start at the Belgium country page.

Official sources

• Visa for Belgium if you live in India, Embassy of Belgium
• Legalisation of documents, Embassy of Belgium in India
• VFS Global Belgium India: short-term visa
• VFS Global Belgium India: visa application centres
• VFS Global Belgium India: what happens at the centre
• Applying for a Schengen visa, European Commission
• Visa Code, consolidated text (EUR-Lex)
• European Union adopts more favourable Schengen visa rules for Indians, EU Delegation to India
• What is the EES?, Travel to Europe