Belgium halves citizenship applications following substantial rise in application fees recently. According to finance ministry data, the application model changed almost overnight dramatically.
In January two thousand twenty-six, fees increased again, indexed to inflation automatically.
Belgium now ranks among the European Union’s priciest countries for citizenship. When price increase was announced, applicants surged to avoid new expensive costs.
Despite application decrease, government revenue from citizenship processes more than doubled overall. While fewer applied, the financial gain for the Belgian state rose distinctly.