You can only receive child benefit in Belgium if you raise your child in a country within the EEA or Switzerland. If your child remains outside the EEA, you maintain your entitlement to child benefit under varying conditions:
- Your child studies abroad.There are various types of education that your child can follow abroad, each with their own conditions.
- Your child remains abroad temporarily. You maintain the right to child benefit if your child stays abroad for no longer than two months per calendar year. For health reasons, children may spend a maximum of six months abroad. In that case, we only need a declaration from a doctor.
- Your child remains abroad during the school holidays.You maintain the right to child benefit if your child stays abroad for no longer than 120 school holidays per calendar year.
- Your child remains abroad with a seconded parent.You maintain the right to child benefit if the seconded parent temporarily works abroad for their Belgian employer but remains subject to Belgian social security. If the seconded parent is a Belgian national, they may also be entitled to childbirth benefit.
- Your child receives maintenance in a country with which Belgium has concluded an agreement for child benefit. Belgium currently has an agreement for child benefit with the following countries: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, which are not part of the EU. If your child is raised in one of those countries, you receive the child benefit from Belgium. For these countries, other amounts apply and you can receive child benefit for a maximum of four children.
In other situations, you can apply for individual dispensation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. If you contact us, we will take care of your application.