Start the regional integration parcours

Authoritative basis

Belgium has no federal integration parcours. The civic-integration obligation was devolved to the regions and language communities by successive State reforms, and four parallel regional regimes now apply in parallel — one per region-plus-language-community pair. Pick the regime that matches the user's commune of residence; hand off to the regional sub-skill for procedural detail.

• Decreet van 7 juni 2013 betreffende het Vlaamse integratie- en inburgeringsbeleid — Flemish framework. Governs Inburgering in the Flemish region and (extended) the Dutch-speaking pathway in Brussels-Capital. Materially reformed in 2022 (participation contributions; A2-written threshold).
• Décret du 28 avril 2014 modifiant le Code wallon de l'Action sociale et de la Santé en vue d'organiser un parcours d'intégration — Walloon framework. Governs the Parcours d'intégration delivered by the eight Centres Régionaux d'Intégration (CRI).
• Ordonnance bruxelloise relative au parcours d'accueil pour les primo-arrivants (BAPA) — Brussels-Capital French-speaking framework (COCOF). Governs the parcours d'accueil delivered by recognised BAPAs.
• Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States^[1] — establishes the EU/EEA freedom-of-movement carve-out. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens cannot be required to undertake civic integration as a condition of residence.
• Agentschap Integratie en Inburgering — Inburgering portal — operational portal for the Flemish-community pathway, including its Brussels Dutch-speaking delivery.

Stop at regime dispatch. Per-regime registration, module curriculum, language thresholds, participation contributions, exemption rules beyond EU/EEA/Swiss, and certificate issuance live in inburgering-flanders, parcours-integration-wallonia, bapa-integration-parcours-bxl, and bon-integration-parcours-bxl. The art. 12bis nationality declaration's use of the integration certificate as evidence is owned by integration-evidence and nationality-application.

Branching layer

Branch by commune region — which regime applies

The discriminator is the region of the user's commune of registered residence, plus a language-of-administration choice in Brussels-Capital. EU/EEA/Swiss nationals are exempt and route to the exemption branch below.

The Brussels-Capital choice is the user's, made at first commune appointment when registering. The same choice typically determines the integration-parcours regime: a resident who chose French enters BAPA; a resident who chose Dutch enters BON. Cross-regime entry after the initial commune-language choice is procedurally possible but adds friction — confirm with the chosen commune before re-routing a user mid-parcours.

The German-speaking community pathway runs in German under arrangements currently aligned operationally with the Walloon regime. A dedicated German-community sub-skill is deferred; route DG residents through parcours-integration-wallonia and switch the language of instruction to German.

Branch by nationality — EU/EEA/Swiss exemption

EU citizens, EEA citizens (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway), and Swiss citizens are exempt across all four regimes under freedom-of-movement law. ^[1] precludes the obligation from being imposed as a condition of residence. Where a commune communication or routing letter nevertheless points an EU national at the parcours, the exemption is the controlling rule — record the exemption ground in the user's file and stop dispatch.

Branch by status — other exemptions and simplifications

Other categories of exemption or simplification exist but vary by regime:

• Minors (under 18) — follow the school system, not the adult parcours, in all regimes.
• Persons aged 65+ — Wallonia exempts; Flanders has applied the obligation with an adapted track historically; Brussels regimes vary by operator.
• Recognised refugees and subsidiary-protection beneficiaries — some regimes treat them as obliged participants under simplified terms (waived participation contribution, fast-track modules); others fully exempt them. Verify in the dispatched regional sub-skill.
• Persons with serious disability that prevents participation — exempt across regimes on medical certification (regime-specific certifying body).
• Holders of specific short-stay visas — students, posted workers, certain researcher categories, diplomatic personnel — usually exempt or simplified. Verify per regime.
• Persons who already hold a recognised qualification or completed a prior equivalent parcours — route through inburgering-exemption-vrijstelling (Flanders / Brussels-NL) or the regional equivalence-recognition track for an exemption decision before starting.

Because these matrices are regime-specific, surface only the EU/EEA/Swiss exemption with confidence here and defer non-EU exemption claims to the regional sub-skill the user will be dispatched to.

Required documents

This dispatcher itself requires no document submission — registration paperwork is handled by the regional sub-skill the user is dispatched to. Confirm the following two facts before dispatch, so the regional sub-skill starts with the correct routing:

• Commune of registered residence — the address on the user's carte d'identité or residence permit, confirmed against the commune's population register entry. Region (Flemish / Walloon / Brussels-Capital) follows from this address.
• Language of administration in Brussels-Capital — for Brussels residents only. The language chosen at first commune appointment (FR or NL) determines BAPA vs BON. If the user does not recall which language they selected, the commune can read it from the file at any time.

For nationality status, accept the user's statement — EU/EEA/Swiss vs non-EU is straightforward to confirm against the passport or carte d'identité country of issue. The regional sub-skill handles the rest of the dossier.

Process

2. Hand off to the regional sub-skill. Once the regime is locked in, load the regional canonical:

   • Flemish Region → inburgering-flanders
   • Walloon Region (FR-speaking commune) → parcours-integration-wallonia
   • Walloon Region (DG German-speaking commune) → parcours-integration-wallonia with a language switch to German
   • Brussels-Capital, FR → bapa-integration-parcours-bxl
   • Brussels-Capital, NL → bon-integration-parcours-bxl

   The regional sub-skill walks the user through operator selection (AGii office for Flanders / Brussels-NL; CRI for Wallonia; recognised BAPA for Brussels-FR), the welcome interview / bilan / DIPA, the civic-orientation and language modules, and certificate issuance.

3. Stop at certificate issuance. The regional sub-skill is responsible for the inburgeringsattest (Flanders / Brussels-NL), attestation de fréquentation (Wallonia), or attestation de suivi du parcours d'accueil (Brussels-FR). When the certificate is the input to a downstream procedure — most commonly the art. 12bis nationality declaration — pick up at integration-evidence or nationality-application once the certificate has been issued.

The dispatcher's job ends once the user has been correctly routed. Late-start fines, transfer mechanics between regimes, and exemption appeals are regime-specific and handled by the regional canonical.

Known surprises

• Belgium has no federal integration parcours. The user (and sometimes a routing letter from a federal agency or commune) may assume a single national programme exists. There is not — the four regional regimes operate in parallel under different governing instruments. State the dispatch logic early so the user does not prepare for the wrong regime. [unresolved] [unresolved] [unresolved]
• Brussels-Capital regime is set by the language choice at the commune, not by the user's preferred regional culture or by their nationality. A resident who chose French at the commune normally enters BAPA even if they are fluent in Dutch and would prefer BON; switching regimes after the initial commune-language choice is procedurally possible but adds friction and may not transfer prior progress. Decide the regime at first commune visit, ideally based on which regional language the user expects to use most.
• EU/EEA/Swiss citizens are exempt — full stop. A French national settling in Antwerpen is in the Flemish region for everything else but is exempt from Inburgering as an EU citizen. The same applies to EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Swiss citizens. Where the commune nevertheless sends an EU national a routing letter to the parcours, the Directive 2004/38 carve-out is the controlling rule. ^[1]
• The 2022 Flemish reform changed the deal materially. Post-reform Inburgering includes per-pillar participation contributions and an A2-written language threshold (where A2 oral was sometimes accepted previously). Pre-2022 alpha guidance for Flanders is stale; verify on the AGii portal before relying on figures, and surface the change to the user so they do not under-budget. [unresolved] [unresolved]
• The integration certificate is regime-specific. The Flemish inburgeringsattest, Walloon attestation de fréquentation, and Brussels attestation de suivi du parcours d'accueil are not interchangeable in name, and inter-regional transfer of partial progress is administratively friction-heavy. A user who moves region mid-parcours should not assume prior hours or modules transfer automatically — verify with the new regional body before re-registering.
• The integration certificate is not the same as a standalone language certificate. Passing a CnaVT (Dutch as a foreign language) or Selor exam does not produce an inburgeringsattest — the parcours requires the civic-orientation component too. Conversely, the parcours's language module may be weaker than a standalone exam in level rigour; users with professional language ambitions sometimes pursue both.
• Prior EU-Member-State integration parcours do not exempt. None of the four Belgian regimes recognise integration courses completed in other EU Member States as a substitute. The exemption channel runs through Belgian-side qualifications and equivalence recognition only; route those claims through inburgering-exemption-vrijstelling or the regional analogue.

Community observations

Requests for contributions

• Wallonia 2024 décret amendment text. A 14 March 2024 décret wallon amending the integration parcours is referenced in regional sub-skills but the consolidated text was not pinned to a primary URL during the 2026-05-07 sibling walks. Contribute a working Moniteur belge or ejustice URL so the amendment can be cited directly. The sibling skill parcours-integration-wallonia carries the same gap.
• German-speaking community (DG) divergence from the Walloon regime. The DG operates Eingliederungsparcours in German under arrangements that currently route through Wallonia for dispatch purposes. Contribute first-hand experience of where the DG-specific delivery diverges from the Walloon procedure (operator identity, certificate format, equivalence acceptance) — material divergence would justify a dedicated eingliederungsparcours-dg sub-skill.
• Brussels-Capital regime-transfer mechanics. First-hand accounts of switching between BAPA and BON mid-parcours — what the commune accepted, what prior progress transferred, and what was lost — would settle a recurring question this dispatcher currently defers to the regional bodies.