Hello Gpoin Expat people,
back to talk about moving to a differente country, and today we fly to Belgium.
Useful links if you are moving to Belgium
During our chat, availabe on my YouTube account, Margherita gave me a lot of info about what are the first steps to take to move to Belgium.
Surely a very important thing is to have a fixed place to stay and then be able to provide the address to the City at the time of registration. Fixed place means accommodation wich are not either an airbnb or a hotel etc… The option to be hosted by friends or family is accepted but it is not the preferred.
Let’s start immediately from the cost of living. Following the example of the interview a one bedroom apartment costs about € 600 per month, according to Numbeo price ‘slightly higher but still does not touch € 1,000 per month.
This cost od also quite fair, in my opinion, since the minimum wage is around €1,600 per month.
I was particularly surprised, Belgium is attached to the Netherlands, but the cost of living is very different.
Once you have found a place to stay, you can register with the municipality within 8 days from your arrival in Belgium.
You must bring with you proof of address (contract) and your ID or VISA If you are coming from outside the EU.
Once you have the necessary documents, you will be given an ID, called national number, an identification code, very important because it gives access, among other things, to the national health system. Once you have obtained this ID and your residence permit, you may receive a visit from the local police, Its task is to check that what you have communicated is true.
All details about documents and how to register can be found at this link .
Health care in Belgium is public and is called mutuelle. You only get to pay a % that is directly deducted from the paycheck and usually the employer takes care of it. The employer pays your insurance, but you are left with the choice of which agency you want to register with
It is always better to have a Belgian bank account for both health and salary refunds. If you stay in Belgium for a maximum of 90 days, then you will not be required to have a Belgian account and you can use the European Health Insurance Card to apply for in your country of residence.
Let´s talk about languages. In Belgium there are 3 official languages: French, Dutch (Flemish) and German. The third is not widely used, but English is spoken by almost everyone especially in the northern part of the country, called Flanders. Here it will be easier to speak English and certainly not French. On the contrary, in Wallonia it is necessary to speak French from a social point of view.
There are many international companies in Belgium, in those cases you just need to speak English plus another European language, but the advice to learn French is always valid.
As for the school system, I got help from 2 expat mothers in Belgium and find all the necessary information here.
Are you coiming from a non-EU country and you want to move to Belgium? check this video out
Thank you and talk to you soon
Rossella
