Belgian Immigration Law 1980, Arts. 1 to 9quater: definitions, applications and stays of more than three months

For the purposes of this Law:

1° “foreign national” means any person who does not provide proof that he or she possesses Belgian nationality;

2° “the Minister” means the Minister whose responsibilities include access to the territory, residence, establishment and removal of foreign nationals;

3° “third-country national” means any person who is neither a Union citizen nor a person enjoying the Community right of free movement as defined in Article 2, point 5, of the Schengen Borders Code;

4° “illegal stay” means the presence in the territory of a foreign national who does not fulfil, or no longer fulfils, the conditions of access to the territory or of stay;

5° “return” means the process of a third-country national going back, whether in voluntary compliance after having been subject to a removal decision or under compulsion, to his or her country of origin, or to a country of transit in accordance with Community or bilateral readmission agreements, or to another third country to which the third-country national concerned voluntarily decides to return and in whose territory he or she is authorised or admitted to stay;

6° “removal decision” means the decision establishing that a foreign national’s stay is illegal and imposing an obligation to return;

7° “removal” means the enforcement of the removal decision, namely the physical transfer out of the territory;

8° “entry ban” means the decision which may accompany a removal decision and which prohibits entry and stay, for a fixed period or for life, either in the territory of the Kingdom or in the territory of all the Member States, including that of the Kingdom;

9° “voluntary departure” means leaving the territory within the time limit set for that purpose in the removal decision;

10° “voluntary return” means the return of a person to his or her country of origin or to a third country in whose territory he or she is admitted to stay, following an autonomous decision to make use of a return assistance programme set up by the authorities of the host country;

11° “risk of absconding” means the existence of reasons to believe that a foreign national who is subject to a removal procedure, a procedure for the grant of international protection or a procedure for determining, or for transfer to, the State responsible for examining the application for international protection will abscond, having regard to the criteria listed in § 2;

12° “vulnerable person” means accompanied minors, unaccompanied minors, disabled persons, elderly persons, pregnant women, single parents with minor children and persons who have been subjected to torture, rape or another serious form of psychological, physical or sexual violence;

13° “Decision 2004/573/EC” means Council Decision 2004/573/EC of 29 April 2004 on the organisation of joint flights for removals from the territory of two or more Member States, of third-country nationals who are subjects of individual removal orders;

14° “identified foreign national” means any foreign national

- who holds a valid travel document, a valid passport or a valid identity document, or

- who has been recognised as a national by the national authority of his or her country, which has declared itself ready to issue a laissez-passer, or

- who belongs to the category of nationalities for which the Minister may himself or herself issue a laissez-passer;

15° (…)

16° (…);

17° “SIS” means the Schengen Information System referred to in (…) Regulation (EU) 2018/1860 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 November 2018 on the use of the Schengen Information System for the return of illegally staying third-country nationals and Regulation (EU) 2018/1861 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 November 2018 on the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of border checks, and amending the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, and amending and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1987/2006;

18° “General National Database” means the police database referred to in Article 44/7 of the Law of 5 August 1992 on the police function;

19° “final decision on an application for international protection” means any decision establishing whether the foreign national is granted refugee status or subsidiary protection status and which is no longer open to an appeal brought under the law on the Council for Alien Law Litigation, irrespective of whether such an appeal has the effect of allowing the applicant to remain in the territory pending its outcome;

20° “subsequent application for international protection” means any further application for international protection made after a final decision has been taken on a previous application, including decisions taken on the basis of Article 57/6/5, § 1, 1°, 2°, 3°, 4°, 5°, 7° and 8°;

21° “airport transit visa” means the visa required under the Visa Code for passing through the international transit areas of airports situated in the territory, issued in accordance with that Code;

22° “short-stay visa” means the visa required for transit through, or for a stay in, the territory for a maximum period of ninety days under Regulation (EU) 2018/1806 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, issued in accordance with the Visa Code;

23° “long-stay visa” means the visa which, in accordance with Article 18 of the Schengen Convention, is required for a stay of more than ninety days in the territory and which enables its holder to show that he or she has been authorised or admitted to stay for more than ninety days in the territory, in accordance with the applicable statutory and regulatory provisions;

24° “Visa Code” means Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code);

25° “Schengen Borders Code” means Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code);

26° “Schengen Convention” means the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders;

27° “the Cooperation Agreement of 2 February 2018” means the Cooperation Agreement of 2 February 2018 between the Federal State, the Walloon Region, the Flemish Region, the Brussels-Capital Region and the German-speaking Community on the coordination of policies for the grant of work authorisations and the grant of residence permits, and on the standards relating to the employment and residence of foreign workers;

28° “the Cooperation Agreement of 6 December 2018” means the Cooperation Agreement of 6 December 2018 between the Federal State, the Walloon Region, the Flemish Region, the Brussels-Capital Region and the German-speaking Community implementing the Cooperation Agreement of 2 February 2018 between the Federal State, the Walloon Region, the Flemish Region, the Brussels-Capital Region and the German-speaking Community on the coordination of policies for the grant of work authorisations and the grant of residence permits, and on the standards relating to the employment and residence of foreign workers;

29° “competent regional authority” means the authority of a Region or Community which, in accordance with the decrees, ordinances and orders of the Regions or Communities, is responsible for the employment of foreign workers;

30° “the Withdrawal Agreement” means the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (2019/C 384 I/01);

31° “beneficiary of the Withdrawal Agreement” means a person referred to in Article 10 of the Withdrawal Agreement;

32° “EES” means the Entry/Exit System provided for in Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2017 establishing an Entry/Exit System (EES) to register entry and exit data and refusal of entry data of third-country nationals crossing the external borders of the Member States and determining the conditions for access to the EES for law enforcement purposes, and amending the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement and Regulations (EC) No 767/2008 and (EU) No 1077/2011 (hereinafter “Regulation (EU) 2017/2226”);

33° “closed centre” means the place referred to in Article 74/8, §§ 1 and 2, managed by the Immigration Office and intended to accommodate foreign nationals who are subject to an administrative detention measure;

34° “place of accommodation” means the place referred to in Article 74/8, §§ 1 and 2, managed by the Immigration Office, adapted to the needs of families with minor children, which may be left under the conditions laid down by the King, and intended to accommodate families with minor children who are subject to an administrative detention measure;

36° “Regulation (EU) 2024/1347” means Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection and for the content of the protection granted, amending Council Directive 2003/109/EC and repealing Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;

37° “Regulation (EU) 2024/1348” means Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 establishing a common procedure for international protection in the Union and repealing Directive 2013/32/EU;

38° “Regulation (EU) 2024/1349” means Regulation (EU) 2024/1349 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 establishing a return border procedure, and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1148;

39° “Regulation (EU) 2024/1351” means Regulation (EU) 2024/1351 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on asylum and migration management, amending Regulations (EU) 2021/1147 and (EU) 2021/1060 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 604/2013;

40° “Regulation (EU) 2024/1356” means Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 introducing the screening of third-country nationals at the external borders and amending Regulations (EC) No 767/2008, (EU) 2017/2226, (EU) 2018/1240 and (EU) 2019/817;

41° “Regulation (EU) 2024/1358” means Regulation (EU) 2024/1358 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on the establishment of “Eurodac” for the comparison of biometric data in order to effectively apply Regulations (EU) 2024/1351 and (EU) 2024/1350 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 2001/55/EC and to identify illegally staying third-country nationals and stateless persons and on requests for the comparison with Eurodac data by Member States’ law enforcement authorities and Europol for law enforcement purposes, amending Regulations (EU) 2018/1240 and (EU) 2019/818 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Regulation (EU) No 603/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

42° “screening” means the screening of third-country nationals as provided for in Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1356;

43° “screening authority” means the competent Belgian authority referred to in Article 2, point (10), of Regulation (EU) 2024/1356;

44° “Eurodac” means the system provided for by Regulation (EU) 2024/1358;

45° “stateless person” means a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.

The risk of absconding referred to in paragraph 1, 11°, must be current and real. It is established following an individual examination and on the basis of one or more of the following objective criteria, taking into account all the circumstances specific to each case:

1° the person concerned has not submitted an application for residence following his or her illegal entry or during his or her illegal stay, or has not submitted his or her application for international protection within the time limit laid down by this Law;

2° the person concerned has used false or misleading information or false or falsified documents, or has resorted to fraud or used other illegal means, in the context of a procedure for international protection, residence, removal or turning back at the border (refoulement);

3° the person concerned does not cooperate or has not cooperated in his or her dealings with the authorities responsible for enforcing and/or supervising compliance with the rules on access to the territory, residence, establishment and removal of foreign nationals;

4° the person concerned has shown an intention not to comply with, or has already contravened, one of the following measures:

a) a transfer, turning-back or removal measure;

b) an entry ban that has been neither lifted nor suspended;

c) a measure less coercive than a custodial measure, intended to secure his or her transfer, turning back or removal, whether restrictive of liberty or otherwise;

d) a measure restrictive of liberty intended to safeguard public policy or national security;

e) a measure equivalent to the measures referred to in a), b), c) or d), taken by another Member State;

5° the person concerned is subject to an entry ban for the Kingdom and/or another Member State that has been neither lifted nor suspended;

6° the person concerned has submitted a new application for residence or for international protection immediately after having been subject to a decision refusing entry or stay or ending his or her stay, or immediately after having been subject to a turning-back or removal measure;

7° when questioned on this point, the person concerned has concealed the fact that he or she had already given his or her fingerprints in another State bound by Regulation (EU) 2024/1351;

8° the person concerned has submitted several applications for international protection and/or for residence, in the Kingdom or in one or more other Member States, which resulted in a negative decision or did not result in the issue of a residence document;

9° when questioned on this point, the person concerned has concealed the fact that he or she had previously submitted an application for international protection in another State bound by Regulation (EU) 2024/1351;

10° the person concerned has stated, or it is apparent from his or her file, that he or she came to the Kingdom for purposes other than those for which he or she submitted an application for international protection or for residence;

11° the person concerned is subject to a fine for having lodged a manifestly abusive appeal with the Council for Alien Law Litigation.

On pain of inadmissibility of the application for authorisation or admission to stay referred to in paragraph 2, the foreign national must pay a fee covering the administrative costs.

The King lays down, by decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers, the amount of the fee and the arrangements for its collection.

Each year, the amount is adjusted in line with changes in the consumer price index.

The applications for authorisation and admission to stay referred to in paragraph 1 are applications submitted on the basis of:

1° Article 9, with the exception of applications submitted by beneficiaries of the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Economic Community and Turkey, signed on 12 September 1963;

2° Article 9bis;

3° Article 10, with the exception of applications submitted by beneficiaries of the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Economic Community and Turkey, signed on 12 September 1963, by the family members referred to in Article 10, § 1, first subparagraph, 4°, and by the family members referred to in Article 10, § 1, first subparagraph, 5°, in so far as the family ties already existed before the sponsor’s arrival in the Kingdom;

4° Article 10bis, with the exception of applications submitted by beneficiaries of the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Economic Community and Turkey, signed on 12 September 1963 (…);

5° Article 19, § 2, with the exception of applications submitted by beneficiaries of the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Economic Community and Turkey, signed on 12 September 1963, and by beneficiaries of refugee status and their family members;

6° Article 40ter, with the exception of applications submitted by family members of a Belgian national who has exercised his or her right to free movement in accordance with the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

7° Article 60;

8° Article 61/7;

9° Article 61/12;

10° Article 61/26;

11° Article 61/25-1;

12° Article 61/29-4;

13° Article 61/34;

14° Article 61/45;

15° Article 61/13/8;

16° Article 61/13/12;

17° Article 61/13/18;

18° Article 61/13/27.

(Note: by its judgment no. 18/2018 of 22 February 2018 (Belgian Official Gazette, 23 March 2018, p. 28996), the Constitutional Court annulled § 2 of this Article in so far as it does not provide for an exemption for applications for residence permits submitted by recognised stateless persons who are shown to have lost their nationality involuntarily and who demonstrate that they cannot obtain any legal and durable residence document in another State with which they might have ties.)

A foreign national who submits an application to be authorised or admitted to stay in the Kingdom beyond the period laid down in Article 6 is informed that his or her integration efforts will be monitored and signs a declaration stating that he or she understands the fundamental values and norms of society and will act in accordance with them.

The first subparagraph does not apply to applications for international protection, to foreign nationals recognised as refugees or as beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, to applications for authorisation or admission to stay submitted by a foreign national recognised as stateless by the competent Belgian authorities or by beneficiaries of the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Economic Community and Turkey, signed on 12 September 1963, or to applications submitted on the basis of:

1° Article 10, § 1, first subparagraph, 4° and 5°;

2° (…);

3° Article 19, § 2, second subparagraph;

4° Article 40;

5° Article 40bis;

6° Article 40ter, in so far as the applicants are family members of a Belgian national who has exercised his or her right to free movement in accordance with the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

Article 57/37;

7° Articles 60 and 61/1/9;

8° Articles 61/2 to 61/4;

9° Article 61/7;

10° Article 61/26;

11° Article 61/29-4;

12° Article 10bis, §§ 4 to 6;

13° Article 61/34;

14° Article 61/45;

15° Article 61/12;

16° Article 61/13/8;

17° Article 61/13/12;

18° Article 61/13/18;

19° Article 61/13/27;

20° Article 47/5.

The King lays down, by decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers, the model of the declaration referred to in the first subparagraph, the content of which is defined in a cooperation agreement concluded with the Communities pursuant to Article 92bis, § 1, of the Special Law of 8 August 1980 on institutional reform.

The King provides for the translation of this declaration into a language that the foreign national understands. He lays down the arrangements for signing it.

Note. In the second subparagraph, the item “Article 57/37” between 6° and 7° has no item number in the official consolidated text. It evidently constitutes a separate exemption (applications for admission to stay on grounds of statelessness under Article 57/37) and is reproduced as it stands.

On pain of inadmissibility of the application referred to in § 1, first subparagraph, the declaration signed by the foreign national must be submitted with his or her application.

The foreign national referred to in § 1, first subparagraph, must provide, within the first period of his or her stay granted for a limited duration, evidence that he or she is willing to integrate into society.

Within four years from the expiry of a period of one year after the grant of authorisation for his or her limited or unlimited stay, or from the expiry of a period of one year after admission to stay, the Minister or the Minister’s delegate may end the stay if he or she also finds that the foreign national referred to in § 1, first subparagraph, has not made reasonable integration efforts. To that end, the Minister or the Minister’s delegate may require the foreign national to provide all relevant information and evidence.

The Minister or the Minister’s delegate assesses the foreign national’s efforts to integrate into society taking into account, in particular, the following criteria:

- attending an integration course provided by the competent authority of his or her main residence;

- pursuing an activity as an employee, a civil servant or a self-employed person;

- producing a diploma, a certificate or proof of enrolment issued by an educational institution that is organised, recognised or subsidised;

- attending vocational training recognised by a competent authority;

- knowing the language of the place of registration in the population register or in the register of foreign nationals;

- the person’s judicial record;

- active participation in the life of associations.

When the Minister or the Minister’s delegate intends to take a decision ending the stay as referred to in the second subparagraph, he or she takes into account the nature and solidity of the family ties of the person concerned, the length of his or her stay in the Kingdom and the existence of family, cultural or social ties with his or her country of origin.

Foreign minors, the persons referred to in Articles 388, 491 and 492 of the Civil Code and seriously ill persons are exempt from the obligations imposed in paragraphs 1 to 3.

(Note: by its judgment no. 126/2018 of 4 October 2018 (Belgian Official Gazette, 22 October 2018, p. 80121), the Constitutional Court annulled the words “le passé judiciaire” (“the person’s judicial record”) in Article 1/2, § 3, third subparagraph, sixth indent, inserted by Article 4 of the Law of 18 December 2016)

The submission of an application for residence or of an application for international protection or temporary protection by a foreign national who is already subject to a measure of removal or of turning back at the border (refoulement) does not in any way affect the existence of that measure.

If, in accordance with the provisions of this Law and its implementing decrees, the person concerned may remain provisionally in the territory pending a decision on that application for residence or that application for international protection or temporary protection, the enforceability of the removal or turning-back measure is suspended.

In order to stay in the Kingdom beyond the period laid down in Article 6, a foreign national who does not fall within one of the cases provided for in Article 10 must be authorised to do so by the Minister or the Minister’s delegate.

Save for derogations provided for by an international treaty, by a law or by a royal decree, this authorisation must be applied for by the foreign national at the Belgian diplomatic or consular post competent for his or her place of residence or stay abroad.

(Third subparagraph repealed)

In exceptional circumstances, and provided that the foreign national holds an identity document, the authorisation to stay may be applied for through the mayor (bourgmestre) of the locality where he or she is staying, who forwards the application to the Minister or the Minister’s delegate. Where the Minister or the Minister’s delegate grants the authorisation to stay, it is issued in Belgium.

The condition that the foreign national must hold an identity document does not apply:

- to an applicant for international protection who has not yet received a final decision on an application for international protection, or who has lodged an administrative cassation appeal declared admissible in accordance with Article 20 of the laws on the Council of State, coordinated on 12 January 1973, until a judgment dismissing the admitted appeal is delivered;

- to a foreign national who validly demonstrates that it is impossible for him or her to obtain the required identity document in Belgium.

Without prejudice to the other elements of the application, the following may not be accepted as exceptional circumstances and are declared inadmissible:

1° elements which have already been relied on in support of an application for international protection and which have been rejected by the asylum authorities, with the exception of elements rejected because they fall outside the criteria of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 or because they do not fall within the competence of those authorities;

2° elements which should have been relied on during the procedure for examining an application for international protection, in so far as they existed and were known to the foreign national before the end of the procedure;

3° elements which have already been relied on in a previous application for authorisation to stay in the Kingdom, with the exception of elements relied on in an application held inadmissible because the required identity documents were missing or because the fee referred to in Article 1er/1 was not paid or was paid incompletely, and with the exception of elements relied on in previous applications that were withdrawn;

4° elements which have been relied on in an application for authorisation to stay on the basis of Article 9ter;

5° elements which have already been relied on in an application for admission to stay on grounds of statelessness referred to in Article 57/38, with the exception of elements relied on in an application that was not taken into consideration pursuant to Article 57/40.

The application for authorisation to stay in the Kingdom is examined solely on the basis of the most recent application submitted and forwarded by the mayor or the mayor’s delegate to the Minister or the Minister’s delegate. A foreign national who submits a new application is deemed to withdraw any pending applications submitted earlier.

A foreign national staying in Belgium who proves his or her identity in accordance with § 2 and who suffers from an illness such that it entails a real risk to his or her life or physical integrity or a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment where there is no adequate treatment in his or her country of origin or in the country where he or she is staying may apply to the Minister or the Minister’s delegate for authorisation to stay in the Kingdom.

The application must be submitted by registered letter to the Minister or the Minister’s delegate and must contain the address of the foreign national’s actual residence in Belgium.

With the application, the foreign national submits all relevant and recent information concerning his or her illness and the availability and accessibility of adequate treatment in his or her country of origin or in the country where he or she is staying.

He or she submits a standard medical certificate, the form of which is determined by the King. That medical certificate, which must be dated less than three months before the application is lodged, states the illness, its degree of severity and the treatment considered necessary.

The assessment of the risk referred to in the first subparagraph, of the treatment options and their accessibility in his or her country of origin or in the country where he or she is staying, and of the illness, its degree of severity and the treatment considered necessary as stated in the medical certificate, is carried out by a medical officer or a doctor designated by the Minister or the Minister’s delegate, who gives an opinion on the matter. That doctor may, if he or she considers it necessary, examine the foreign national and seek the additional opinion of experts.

Authorisation to stay in the Kingdom referred to in this Article may be refused to a foreign national who does not appear on the date set in the notice to appear issued by the medical officer, by the doctor designated by the Minister or the Minister’s delegate or by the expert designated by the Minister or the Minister’s delegate, and who does not give a valid reason for this within fifteen days of that date at the latest.

With the application, the foreign national proves his or her identity referred to in § 1, first subparagraph, by an identity document or an item of evidence that meets the following conditions:

1° it contains the full name, the place and date of birth and the nationality of the person concerned;

2° it has been issued by the competent authority in accordance with the Law of 16 July 2004 establishing the Code of Private International Law or with the international conventions on the same matter;

3° it allows a physical link between the holder and the person concerned to be established;

4° it has not been drawn up on the basis of mere statements by the person concerned.

The foreign national may also prove his or her identity by several items of evidence which, taken together, contain the constituent elements of identity laid down in the first subparagraph, 1°, provided that each item of evidence meets at least the conditions referred to in the first subparagraph, 2° and 4°, and that at least one of the items meets the condition referred to in the first subparagraph, 3°.

The obligation to prove one’s identity does not apply to an applicant for international protection who has not yet received a final decision on an application for international protection or who has lodged an administrative cassation appeal declared admissible in accordance with Article 20 of the laws on the Council of State, coordinated on 12 January 1973, until a judgment dismissing the admitted appeal is delivered. A foreign national who enjoys this exemption must expressly demonstrate it in his or her application.

The Minister’s delegate declares the application inadmissible:

1° where the foreign national does not submit his or her application by registered letter to the Minister or the Minister’s delegate, or where the application does not contain the address of actual residence in Belgium;

2° where, in the application, the foreign national does not prove his or her identity in the manner referred to in § 2, or where the application does not contain the evidence provided for in § 2, third subparagraph;

3° where the standard medical certificate is not produced with the application, or where the standard medical certificate does not meet the conditions laid down in § 1, fourth subparagraph;

4° where the medical officer or the doctor designated by the Minister or the Minister’s delegate, referred to in § 1, fifth subparagraph, finds in an opinion that the illness manifestly does not correspond to an illness referred to in § 1, first subparagraph, which may give rise to authorisation to stay in the Kingdom;

5° in the cases referred to in Article 9bis, § 2, 1° to 3°, or if elements relied on in support of the application for authorisation to stay in the Kingdom have already been relied on in a previous application for authorisation to stay in the Kingdom on the basis of this provision, with the exception of elements relied on in an application held inadmissible on the basis of Article 9ter, § 3, 1°, 2° or 3°, and with the exception of elements relied on in previous applications that have been withdrawn.

A foreign national is excluded from the benefit of this provision where the Minister or the Minister’s delegate considers that there are serious reasons for considering that he or she has committed acts referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1347.

The experts referred to in § 1, fifth subparagraph, are designated by the King by decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers.

The King lays down the rules of procedure by decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers and also determines the method of remuneration of the experts referred to in the first subparagraph.

Article 458 of the Criminal Code applies to the Minister’s delegate and to the members of his or her department as regards the medical data of which they become aware in the exercise of their duties.

An application for authorisation to stay in the Kingdom referred to in this Article that is made by a foreign national who has been admitted or authorised to stay for an unlimited period is automatically declared devoid of purpose if it is still being examined by the Immigration Office, unless, within sixty days of the entry into force of this provision or of the time when the residence document evidencing the unlimited stay is handed over, the foreign national requests, by registered letter addressed to the Immigration Office, that its examination be continued.

An application for authorisation to stay in the Kingdom is examined solely on the basis of the most recent application lodged and sent by registered post to the Minister or the Minister’s delegate. A foreign national who lodges a new application is deemed to have withdrawn the pending applications lodged earlier.

When lodging an application for authorisation to stay on the basis of Article 9bis or 9ter, the foreign national must elect domicile in Belgium.

If the foreign national has not elected domicile in accordance with the first subparagraph, he or she is deemed to have elected domicile at the Immigration Office. In the case of a foreign national who is the subject of a detention decision, he or she is deemed to have elected domicile at the address of the place where he or she is held.

Any change of the elected domicile must be notified to the Immigration Office by registered post or against acknowledgement of receipt.

(…)

Without prejudice to Article 62, a copy of every notification is sent by ordinary post both to the actual address, if it is known and if it is later than the choice of the elected domicile, and to the foreign national’s lawyer.

Notices to appear and requests for information may also validly be sent in accordance with Article 62. Where applicable, § 3 applies.