At a time when the United Kingdom is definitely committed to the Brexit process, over a hundred British nationals have already obtained Belgian citizenship in the Brussels region.
Ixelles is a municipality of Brussels and with more than 1,500 registered British citizens, it has the largest number of British nationals on its territory. Of the approximately 300 people who have been informed about the conditions for obtaining Belgian nationality since the Brexit, 41 have obtained Belgian citizenship and 26 others are waiting. “We are seeing a marked increase in the last few days, with the various announcements of the British government indicating that they have committed to the Brexit process”, notes the Ixelles County Magistrate in charge of Europe, Delphine Bourgeois.
In the City of Brussels, 23 Britons have received a favourable response from the Brussels Public Prosecutor’s Department to obtain Belgian nationality since the Brexit’s announcement. 23 files are still being processed. Woluwe-Saint-Lambert has 604 British nationals. Since June 23rd, 37 have applied for Belgian citizenship and 18 of them have already become Belgian.
Watermael-Boitsfort counts 255 British. In 2016, 11 of the 19 cases submitted received a positive response. In 2017, 7 effective applications were made. The department has since awarded 3 applications and rejected 1.
In Forest, out of 251 British nationals, there were 4 applications in 2016 and 6 in 2017. Three British have already obtained Belgian nationality. With 32 British, Koekelberg had 1 application in July 2016, which has since succeeded. For Berchem-Sainte-Agathe and its 24 British nationals, 2 applications concluded successfully with the granting of citizenship. A third application, made shortly before the Brexit, was also successful.
At the beginning of February, several municipalities communicated their latest figures. Of the 776 British nationals in Uccle, 36 were counted in 2016 and 14 in 2017. Last February, 18 applications were successful, 9 in 2016 and 9 in 2017. Of the 709 British nationals in Etterbeek, 25 have obtained Belgian citizenship since 1 January 2016 while 3 others were still awaiting a response from the Public Prosecutor’s Department in early February. In Auderghem, 7 British nationals out of the 346 in the municipality became Belgian and 10 applications were being processed at the beginning of February. In Saint-Gilles (with 450 British nationals), 2 British citizens were granted Belgian citizenship and 12 applications were made in 2016. By early February, 3 applications had been successful and 9 applications had been initiated.
