Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The Belgian Foreign Ministry in Brussels welcomed the legal amendment that allows partners of foreign diplomats to obtain Belgian citizenship. A Foreign Ministry statement said, “We received a copy of it” this morning, Friday, that the Belgian House of Representatives, yesterday, Thursday, adopted the legislative proposal to amend the Belgian citizenship law, to enable foreign spouses of diplomatic and consular employees to obtain citizenship. Belgian..
The statement explained, "This legislative amendment aims to put an end to discrimination against foreign partners of Belgian diplomats, who, in the current legal framework, cannot obtain Belgian citizenship."
Whereas, under the current administrative procedure to obtain Belgian citizenship, it is necessary to prove that you have actually lived in Belgium for at least 5 years. However, due to their professional obligations, Belgian diplomats generally live in Belgium for only 3 years between assignments in diplomatic or consular missions, mostly abroad. The amendment allows the legal time frame to continue when there is a move towards a third country while still in the service of the Belgian state.
The new legal framework now places the foreign spouse of a Belgian diplomat on an equal footing with the foreign spouse of a Belgian resident in Belgium. It is important to emphasize that the applicant must be physically resident on Belgian territory at the time of submitting the application, and that all other conditions remain valid.
This legislative amendment is a sign of recognition of the participation of Belgian diplomatic partners in promoting the image of our country abroad, and is part of the strengthening of the Family Policy for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.