Integration in Belgium

Perhaps time to learn the name of the language!

Wait until you've been working and paying tax for 5 years. You can then do a "déclaration de nationalité" with no language test or integration course requirement.

Logically, yes: since it's nationality of a country that you are applying for you would think that an integration course completed in one region would be accepted in another region.

But practically, no. Remember, this is Belgium! Each region--BXL, Flanders, Wallonia--has its own integration/citizenship classes. Since you apply for Belgian nationality from the local town or commune where you live/are registered, you need to have done the integration course in that region. So your certificate from Leuven is useless in Wallonia.

You have 3 choices: do as J says, and wait until you've worked 5 consecutive years in Belgium. Then you don't need the certificate of having done an integration course or proof of language ability to apply for citizenship.

Or, move back to Leuven/Flanders, re-register there, and use the integration certificate you already received from Leuven.

Or apply from where you now live in Wallonia after having followed an integration course in Wallonia. Do the Wallonian integration as soon as possible if you don't have a lot of free time--the citizenship course part of the integration in Wallonia is currently only about 20 hours. But the Wallonian government recently approved increasing it to 60 hours, more like in Bxl and Flanders. Might already be too late, likely any citizenship class not already underway or scheduled to begin soon is going to be 60 hours instead of 20 hours.

The latter 2 choices, of course, depend on you also getting to A2 level in French or Dutch.

In Belgium, we speak Dutch. That is the name of the language.

SHORTOF,
Dutch is the English name of the language spoken in the Nederlands, as told me by my wife, a Nederland national and Vlaams is the Belgian Dutch variant. Which is different in many areas of pronunciation and words, with more 'borrowed' words from other languages.

SHORTOF,
Dutch is the English name of the language spoken in the Nederlands, as told me by my wife, a Nederland national and language teacher.
Vlaams is the Belgian Dutch variant. Which is different in many areas of pronunciation and words, with more 'borrowed' words from other languages.

The language is called Dutch by all who work in education, is official documents and generally by educated people. Flemish is either the people of Flanders or anything related to the Flemish community in Belgium.

You really do not have A1 level in Flemish, you will have A1 level in Dutch.

Hi again Mercy, I may have given you wrong advice. Like you, I was strongly told by someone at my commune in Wallonia that you can't use an integration certificate from one region in a different region. I think maybe they were wrong...I can't find it now but earlier today I saw something on the Objectif nonprofit's website that says the total opposite: as long as you prove your language in French in Wallonia, you could apply with an integration certificate from Flanders! That might save you some time and I wish I'd known that myself.

The Objectif website is allrights.be

I suggest you look there and even telephone them to confirm that this is correct before you maybe take a 2nd unnecessary integration course. Sorry if I passed on bad info in my first reply!

It is your individual commune that takes the basic decision on whether all your supporting documentation is in order for a declaration of nationality application so ask them whether your flemish integration certificate is acceptable once it is supported by certificate of competency in french to A2 standard. They may want further evidence of actual integration into your community or you may be interviewed by the police later in the process to establish that this is in fact the case.

As has been said already, an adequate record of employment will be considered to automatically provide proof of integration.