The Naturalisation Commission wants to clear the backlog of requests before the legislation ends, according to the Commission’s President Nahima Lanjri (CD&V).
Parliament approved a reform of the procedures for getting Belgian nationality at the end of 2012. It changed the conditions for becoming a citizen, and reduced Parliament’s role in the process. The Commission still has to clear a large backlog. On her website, Mrs Lanjri said that last year the number of requests waiting to be processed went from 24,716 to 17,802. 3,505 of the 6,914 processed requests were approved, 1,488 were refused and 1,921 were not processed for other reasons (change of address, nationality gained through other means, etc).
Clearing the backlog does not mean that all the applications have been dealt with. Some have been delayed because the applicant has not proved that they can speak one of the national languages.
(Source: Belga)
