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Citizenship
I’ve lived and worked in Brussels for many years dating from 2005. I’ve been here continuously since October 2019 , have an E+ Card and speak a reasonable level of French. However l work for the UK government and have never directly paid tax here. Does anyone know if there’s a way l apply for Belgium citizenship ? Thank you
The only people who can really answer this are the folks at your commune.
Speak to the legal team at the Brussels Commissioners office (expat helpdesk). I believe the normal requirement is for you to demonstrate 'participation' in belgian life/society and that includes paying some tax. Here's their link: http://www.commissioner.brussels/i-am-an-expat
How many consecutive years uninterrupted have you been registered in Belgium for from today backwards?
You need either 5 or 10 uninterrupted years residence, depending on which procedure you use. "participation in Belgian life" is only relevant to the 10 year procedure.
Don't waste tim e and the Brussels Commissioners' Office, go to www.allrights.be and ask for an appointment and have ready all your evidence. Research the different procedures yourself on their website before the appointment.
If you have (or have had until it was replaced by a D card) an E+ card, then you have already passed the hurdle of 5 years uninterrupted residence. However working for the UK government is most unlikely to qualify you for the "working" by-pass meaning that you would have to take a language test (which can be in Dutch, French or German and you only need to reach A2 standard), and you would be expected to produce evidence of social integration too (your commune would suggest what might be needed). Once the commune forward the papers you might be summoned to a police interview too, but that is nothing to be worried about.
