Acceptable documents for Belgian citizens

All Belgians 15 years or older are required by law to carry proof of identity. Police officers can request to see this proof, so any Belgian asking to be assured can be reasonably expected to produce it.

There are two types of identity cards:

  1. An older, laminated card about 7cm high and 10cm wide, printed in landscape format
  2. A newer, credit card sized card 5.4cm high and 8.5cm wide, printed in landscape format

Many documents and cards owned by Belgians display the national registry number.

Identification number of the National Register

This is a unique number that never changes over the course of a person's life. The format is YYMMDDAAA-BB, with:

Older ID cards

This type of ID card is currently being phased out but many people still carry one. It will probably be phased out by 2009, although many cards have validity dates past 2009.

The front side contains the same personal details as the new one (see below), plus the home address.

The back side contains:

Newer ID cards

Characteristics that can help you verify the card's authenticity:

The card contains the following details about the person:

The back contains:

Online governmental tool for checking Belgian documents

http://www.checkdoc.be is a website allowing to anybody to check, anywhere in the world, that a Belgian identity document has well be emitted and wasn't reported as lost, stolen, deprecated or invalid. It is a search engine against the "Registre national" and the national passport database. In a couple of seconds, the user gets a reply such as "HIT" or "NO HIT". The service requires you first to create a login. It can test IDs, eIDs, passports, driving licences etc More info in French, Dutch & German at http://www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/index.php?id=1284

Other forms of identification

These forms of secondary identification may be useful:


AcceptableDocuments/Belgium (last edited 2010-09-04 17:19:25 by UlrichSchroeter)