Search Q&A
Housing & Income Benefit
Question
Can brand new lawful permanent residents that have never worked in Belgium or the European Union receive housing benefits and income assistance? For example: a citizen of France or Spain moves to Belgium, rents a flat and then ends up needing help. Does he or she have any access to the system?
No. IIRC, you can claim unemployment benefits, but only for 3 months, and they still come from you home country. You have to be resident in Belgium to qualify for benefits, and you can only be a Belgian resident if you have worked here, or were the dependent of another Belgian resident.
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Same as any other EU country - otherwise there'd be quite some movement of benefit tourists seeking the best system.
