Applications for long-stay visas for Belgium increased sharply last year, the Myria Federal Migration Centre concludes in its 2021 annual migration report published on 30 August. The centre attributes the increase as a catch-up following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new figures exceed levels recorded before the pandemic. In 2021, Belgium received 46,739 applications for long-stay visas. These are visas valid for more than 90 days. This figure is 38% higher than in 2020 (which saw an exceptionally low number of applications) and 13% higher than in 2019.
In total, 35,606 long-stay visas were issued, of which just less than half were related to family migrations. “The proportion of refusals of long-stay visas varies greatly. For example, 2% for economic migration against 21% for family migration or 25% for humanitarian migration,” Myria states.
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The effects of anti-epidemic measures and travel restrictions are also reflected in the number of applications for short-stay visas, which fell sharply last year. 56,710 applications for short-term visas were submitted in 2021. In total, 40.197 short-stay visas were issued.
Tourism-related visas have fallen hugely, dropping 91% to just 5,633.
