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Belgian nationals keep card abroad?
Hello, I know if you have a Belgian foreigner's ID card, you surrender it when you move out of Belgium/de-register from the commune.
I recently got Belgian citizenship, and am waiting on the letter for trading my Belgian permanent resident's card for my new Belgian national ID card.
However, I'm considering leaving Belgium in the fall, to live in another EU country (I am from outside the EU originally)
My question is, as a Belgian national living in another EU country, do I surrender the Belgian national ID card that I am soon to receive if I de-register from Belgium (and use only a Belgian passport which I will arrange as soon as possible?)
Or is a Belgian national ID card different from a Belgian foreigner's card, and Belgian citizens keep their national ID cards even when living in another country and no longer residing in Belgium/being registered at a Belgian commune?
What you call a 'Belgian foreigner's card' is NOT an ID card. It only proves your right to live in Belgium and saves you having to carry a passport from your 'home' country. It has no value outside Belgium.
A Belgian national ID card proves your Belgian nationality and has exactly the same value as a Belgian passport in those countries which do not insist on a passport - effectively the EU, many other European non-EU countries (Norway, Switzerland and so on) and many non-European countries if the purpose of the visit is tourism (Tunisia and Morocco among others).
So, yes, when you have Belgian nationality you will keep your Belgian national ID card wherever you choose to live.
Yes, you keep your Belgian national ID card if you go abroad. It's just like a passport, but handier for travel in the EU.
When you move to another country, you register with the Belgian consular representatives there. Your commune will explain the procedure to you. It is important that you do so as you will remain subject to Belgian tax until it is done.
You have to deregister from the commune where you are living. Tell them where you are going and they will give you a form to present at the embassy in the country where you will be living. I'm not sure about the timing but the commune can inform you.
