Registration as non-Belgian student in Ghent

This information concerns students

  • who have recently arrived in Belgium;
  • are residing here for more than 3 months 

If you meet the two conditions above, you need to register with the city of Ghent and apply for a student residence permit.
Please note that this is indeed a legal requirement.

Make sure your contact details are up to date on OASIS!

An update of the new procedure will be posted early September 2024 for the new academic year.

Academic Year 2023-2024

The Migration Office gave this overview of the necessary steps for 2023-2024.

Step

Description

Action

1

Start your registration with the city of Ghent.

Fill out the e-form if you haven’t already.
Just click reload to start a new session in case of an error.

2

Once the Migration Office of the city of Ghent has processed your e-form and your file is complete, they will request the local police officer to check your residence.


Due to the addendum in your tenancy agreement, we will confirm your arrival with the local police officer (for this process only!) to speed up the application.

Check your minbox and spam to check whether you have received a confirmation e-mail from the city of Ghent.

 

In case of doubt, you will receive an e-mail to confirm the processing of your file. This means you will need to be present at the moment the police officer will request your attendance.

3

You are obliged to report to the local police officer in case you would receive an invatation. This step is not necessary in 98% of all cases. 
The Migration Office can only complete your registration in the National Registry after a positive residence check.

Bring in case of an invitation the following with you:

-  Passport (or identity card for EU citizens)

-  Tenancy agreement

-  Key to your room

4

Once the Migration Office has processed the positive residence check, they will send you an e-mail to make an appointment for the finalisation of your student residence permit.

Please check your mailbox (and spam) for the invitation e-mail. Follow the instructions and make an appointment for your application.

5

After about 3 weeks, you will receive an e-mail from our reception desk with the activation (PIN and PUK) codes of your new residence permit. You can now pick up your residence permit at city hall after obtaining the activation letter at our reception desk.

Imprtant: even if you already left our Residence, the codes will still be kept at our reception desk and you will still receive an e-mailnotification to pick them up here.

Please check your mail for the letter with your personal codes. Once you have received it, you can pick up your residence permit at the Stadskantoor or Service Centre where you applied for your permit.

Please note you have to wait untill you receive these codes. In case you did not receive them after 2 months, please contact the Migration Office again.