Trump targets US 'birth tourism' — so what does birthright actually mean in Belgium?
President Trump's drive to end American 'birth tourism' has revived an old expat question: does a baby born on Belgian soil automatically become Belgian? The short answer is no.
In 30 seconds
- Belgium applies jus sanguinis: a child is Belgian only if a parent is Belgian, not simply by being born on Belgian soil.
- A child born in Belgium who would otherwise be stateless does acquire Belgian nationality under the Code de la nationalité belge.
- Births must be registered at the commune/gemeente civil registry (état civil / burgerlijke stand) within days of delivery.
- The déclaration de nationalité generally requires five years of legal residence plus integration and knowledge of French, Dutch or German.
'Birth tourism' (le tourisme des naissances) refers to travelling to a country to give birth so the child acquires that country's citizenship at birth. It works only where jus soli (unconditional birthright by place of birth) applies — chiefly the United States, under the 14th Amendment, and Canada. President Donald Trump has moved to restrict it. Belgium, by contrast, applies jus sanguinis (nationality by descent) under the Code de la nationalité belge, administered by communes/gemeenten and the SPF Justice / FOD Justitie, so a foreign couple's Belgian-born baby is not automatically Belgian.
Background
The US birthright principle dates to the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, and was affirmed for children of foreign residents by the Supreme Court in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898). Belgium's Code de la nationalité belge has been repeatedly reformed — notably in 1984, 2000 and the tightening of 2012 — steadily moving the country toward descent-plus-integration rather than any automatic soil-based nationality.
What to do
Register your baby's birth at the commune/gemeente within the local deadline; understand that Belgian nationality follows from a Belgian parent, the stateless exception, the third-generation rule, or a later declaration; for adults, plan around the five-year déclaration de nationalité with integration and a national language; and confirm current conditions with your commune and belgium.be, as of August 2026.
Impact
Regional — Brussels, home to a large international and EU-linked population, is where the descent-versus-birthplace confusion surfaces most often at communal registries such as Ixelles/Elsene or Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek. The birth is registered in the language of the region — French, Dutch or, in bilingual Brussels, either — and later nationality declarations are filed with the same commune of residence.
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