Born in Belgium: does it make your child Belgian, as Trump curbs "birth tourism"?
Donald Trump has signed a new decree aimed at discouraging "birth tourism" to the United States — a good moment for expat parents in Belgium to learn a very different rule: a child born on Belgian soil is usually not automatically Belgian.
In 30 seconds
- Trump has signed a decree aimed at discouraging "birth tourism" to the US, extending his January 2025 push against automatic birthright citizenship.
- Belgium applies jus sanguinis: a child born here is Belgian only if a parent is Belgian, with narrow exceptions (statelessness, third generation, parental declaration).
- Every birth must be declared at the commune's état civil / dienst burgerlijke stand within 15 days.
- Belgium has permitted dual nationality since 2008; the federal portal belgium.be sets out current nationality conditions.
The story links two citizenship regimes. In the United States, President Donald Trump has signed a decree targeting "birth tourism", building on his January 2025 executive order to curb automatic birthright citizenship — a doctrine rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment (jus soli) and now before the courts, including the June 2025 Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. CASA. In Belgium, nationality is governed by the Code de la nationalité belge and rests mainly on jus sanguinis (descent): key actors for expat parents are the commune's état civil / dienst burgerlijke stand, the federal portal belgium.be, and the Office des Étrangers (Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken).
Background
The United States has recognised birthright citizenship since the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868, adopted after the Civil War. Belgium, by contrast, built its nationality law around descent, with soil-based rules kept narrow and reserved mainly for preventing statelessness and for third-generation residents. Belgium legalised dual nationality in 2008, and has repeatedly reformed the conditions and waiting periods for acquiring nationality, most notably in 2012.
What to do
Declare every birth at your commune's état civil / dienst burgerlijke stand within 15 days; assume your Belgian-born child takes your nationality unless a parent is Belgian; check belgium.be and the Office des Étrangers for statelessness, third-generation or declaration routes; expect service in Dutch in Flanders, French in Wallonia, either in Brussels; confirm details with your commune as of August 2026.
Impact
Regional — The mechanics are federal, but the front door is local and linguistic: births are declared at the commune of residence, in French in Wallonia, Dutch in Flanders, and either language across the 19 bilingual Brussels communes such as Ixelles and Schaerbeek.
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- Published:
- 6 Aug 2026, 02:00
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 9 Aug 2026
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- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 9 Aug 2026
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- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 9 Aug 2026
- Publication date unavailable
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 9 Aug 2026
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