Am I eligible for a placement in Belgium?
To be a Language Assistant in Belgium, you must:
- fulfil the general eligibility criteria
- have B1-level French
- be aged 35 or under on 1 October 2023.
Will I need a visa?
Assistants going to Belgium who do not have a valid EU passport will have to apply for a visa.
To obtain the visa D, assistants require the Annexe 46 and a valid passport.
To obtain the Annexe 46, assistants will be required to pay the administrative fees which are currently €366, plus an administrative fee to the Office des étrangers which is currently €126.Assistants will also need to provide documents to our partners at Wallonie-Bruxelles Internationale so that they can put together a dossier. This includes:
- Medical certificate obtained from an approved practitioner
- International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC)
- A signed déclaration sur l’honneur (a declaration that you will not carry out other work during your assistantship)
- A convention signed by the assistant and the assistant’s host school(s)
- A scanned copy of all pages of your passport (including blanks)
- Additional documents provided by WBI and your work contract.
The cost of the medical exam is around £250 in general, but this may vary from clinic to clinic.
Once the Annexe 46 has been approved and these documents are ready you must apply for your Visa D by completing the Belgian Consulate’s Visa on Web application form and booking an appointment at one of the TLS centres. The current visa handling cost is £162 and a further £31.85 for the TLS service fees which you will be charged when booking your appointment.
Please note that visa requirements can change at short notice, and the British Council cannot be held responsible for any changes to the visa process or to the approximate costs listed above which have been given as a guide only.
When will I start my placement?
Posts in Belgium run from 1 October 2023 – 31 May 2024.
The guide for Language Assistants in Belgium 2022-23 is available to download in PDF format below. This information has been provided for reference and is subject to change each year. Updated guidance for Assistants going out on placement in 2023-4 will be available in summer 2023.
Last updated: 02/11/2022