Belgium has two ENIC-NARIC centres, not one: NARIC Vlaanderen and the FWB Equivalences service run different procedures, different fees and different deadlines — and health professionals need a Community recognition plus a federal visa.
Overview
Qualification recognition in Belgium is a Community competence, so there is no single national equivalence office. The Flemish Community runs NARIC Vlaanderen (naricvlaanderen.be): level recognition costs €90, specific equivalence with a named Flemish diploma €180, and doctorate recognition €300, with statutory fee exemptions for refugees, people in the civic-integration programme, registered jobseekers and other vulnerable groups. The French Community's Equivalences service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (equivalences.cfwb.be) handles the French-speaking side: for secondary-school equivalence tied to September higher-education enrolment, files must be lodged between mid-November and the strict 15 July deadline, with administrative fees that vary by the country of the diploma (most files in the €65–€200 band; some country categories higher). The German-speaking Community covers its nine municipalities. Regulated professions add a second layer: health professions need Community recognition followed by the FPS Public Health 'visa' to practise; teaching runs through the Communities; and many professions — most of IT, engineering roles in industry, business functions — are not regulated at all, meaning employers, not the state, judge your diploma. Verified against naricvlaanderen.be, vlaanderen.be, equivalences.cfwb.be and health.belgium.be as of June 2026.
Two ENIC-NARIC Centres — Pick by Language Community
- NARIC Vlaanderen (Flemish Community): Handles recognition of foreign higher-education and secondary diplomas for the Dutch-speaking system — applications via the online wizard on naricvlaanderen.be. Choose between level recognition (your diploma equals 'a bachelor' / 'a master' in Flanders) and specific recognition (equivalence to a named Flemish degree, needed for some regulated posts).
- Equivalences — Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles: The French Community service for secondary and higher-education equivalence on the French-speaking side, including for enrolment in FWB universities and hautes écoles. Secondary-equivalence files for the following academic year run from 15 November to a strict 15 July deadline.
- German-speaking Community: Recognises diplomas for its own schools and institutions through the Ministerium der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft in Eupen.
- Which one binds you: Follow the institution or employer, not your address — a Brussels resident applying to a Flemish university deals with NARIC Vlaanderen; the same person applying to ULB deals with the FWB. For jobs, public-sector employers require the recognition of their own Community.
- Recognition across Communities: A decision by one Community is not automatically valid in the other — factor this in if your career could straddle the language border.
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See Paid Plans →Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need my diploma recognised to get a Belgian work permit?
Usually not. The highly skilled single permit and EU Blue Card require you to hold a relevant higher-education diploma from an institution recognised by the state where it is located, submitted with a sworn translation (Flanders accepts Dutch, French, German or English) — but they do not require a Belgian equivalence decision from NARIC Vlaanderen or the FWB. Recognition becomes necessary when the profession is regulated (healthcare, teaching, law, architecture), when a public-sector employer demands it, or when you enrol in further study. So sequence it: secure the permit on the diploma itself, and start any NARIC/FWB procedure in parallel only if your actual job legally requires it.
NARIC Vlaanderen or the FWB Equivalences service — which do I apply to?
Follow the institution, employer or profession you are targeting, not your home address. Recognition is a Community competence: NARIC Vlaanderen serves the Dutch-speaking education system and Flemish public employers; the Equivalences service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles serves the French-speaking side; the German-speaking Community covers its nine municipalities. A Brussels resident can need either, depending on whether the university or employer is Flemish or francophone. Decisions don't automatically transfer across the language border, so if your plans straddle both Communities, budget for the possibility of two procedures. Both services run online application portals — NARIC via its application wizard, the FWB via equivalences.cfwb.be.
What does recognition cost and who is exempt?
On the Flemish side: €90 for level recognition (your diploma corresponds to a bachelor's or master's level), €180 for specific equivalence with a named Flemish diploma, €300 for doctorate recognition. NARIC waives fees for socially vulnerable groups including recognised refugees and subsidiary-protection holders, people following the civic-integration programme, registered jobseekers and living-wage recipients. On the French-speaking side, fees vary by the country where the diploma was issued — most secondary-equivalence files fall in the €65–€200 band, with some country categories set higher; payment must be completed before the filing deadline. Check the current schedule on equivalences.cfwb.be before paying, and keep the payment proof — files without it are not examined.
I want to start university in French-speaking Belgium — what's the deadline trap?
The 15 July deadline. To enrol in a bachelor programme at an FWB university or haute école starting in September, your secondary-school equivalence file must be lodged with the Equivalences service between 15 November and 15 July of the academic year before — and the deadline is applied strictly, including the fee payment. Miss it and you wait a full year. The service can issue provisional equivalences with an expiry date where final documents (like the original diploma issued after July exam sessions) are pending. The Flemish side has no equivalent single cut-off — NARIC applications run year-round — but Flemish institutions set their own admission deadlines, so work backwards from those.
I'm a doctor/nurse with a non-EU diploma — what's the realistic path to practising in Belgium?
Two mandatory steps plus language. First, Community recognition of your qualification: Departement Zorg for the Dutch-speaking side or the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles for the French-speaking side. For non-EEA diplomas this is a full academic assessment that can prescribe additional training, internships or examinations — materially harder than the EU Directive 2005/36 routes available to EEA diplomas. Second, after recognition, the FPS Public Health visa to practise is initiated automatically. You must also prove adequate Dutch, French or German for safe practice. Plan in years, not months, for full non-EEA medical recognition; nurses generally move faster, and Flanders sweetens the migration side by applying its reduced 80% salary threshold to nurses.
My profession isn't regulated — is paying for recognition still worth it?
Often yes, as labour-market signalling rather than legal necessity. For unregulated fields — most IT, private-sector engineering, business and finance roles — no law requires equivalence, and many employers happily assess foreign CVs. But a NARIC level recognition (€90) turns 'a degree from a university the recruiter doesn't know' into 'recognised as equivalent to a Flemish master's level', which measurably helps with conservative employers, public-sector adjacent roles and salary-scale placement. It also future-proofs you for further study or a later regulated role. If you qualify for a fee exemption (jobseeker registered with VDAB, civic-integration participant, refugee), the calculation is even simpler — the recognition costs you nothing but paperwork.