Who are the main groups who must undergo a medical examination?
· Applicants for fiancé visa
· Applicants for cohabitation visa
· Applicants for family regrouping visa with a non-EU citizen
· Applicants in private service of a diplomat
· Applicants for work permit
· Applicants for work permit visa
· Students (stay of more than 90 days)
Medical examinations:
Medical examinations must be conducted by one of our accredited doctors.
As health processing is one of the reasons why applications could take longer than the usual processing time, we encourage applicants to undergo their medical examination before lodgment of their application - however, this is your decision.
Please note:
The Embassy has no liability or responsibility for the costs of medical examinations, even if the application is refused on other requirements after meeting the health requirement.
Health clearances must not be older than 3 months when used in a visa application.
Health clearances for use in Belgium should be attested by the Embassy, see our website http://www.diplomatie.be/Manila/default.asp?id=28&ACT=5&content=18&mnu=28
Payment for the medical examination:
All costs related to the medical examination, including costs for any repeat tests and transportation of medical results to the Embassy are borne by applicants.
The cost of the medical examination is determined by the accredited doctor and accounts should be settled at the time of examination.
What does a medical examination involve?
· Providing documents for identification purposes (passport-size pictures and passport or national ID card)
· Undergoing a physical examination (+chest x-ray, urine tests, blood test)
If you have been treated for tuberculosis, have had an operation or have received significant medical treatment, please give copies of all previous medical reports and x-rays to the accredited doctor.
Does the issuing of the medical certificate involve any mandatory pre-examination or follow-up treatment or adherence to a vaccination program.
The scope of the medical examination is limited to identifying health concerns of interest to Belgium and are to be strictly limited to the legally required examinations set out by the Belgian competent authorities. PLS find at the end of this info sheet all the diseases which should be included in the negative certificate and therefore be tested for. You will notice for example that HIV testing is not on that list.
If health concerns are discovered through the examination, the accredited doctor is under strict instructions to limit his/her actions to officially attest this. The requirements of the Embassy of Belgium do not go beyond the medical examination and issuing an attestation.
The applicants need to seek separate advice about possible treatment, vaccinations etc from their personal medical practitioner. Vaccination programs or treatments for any ailments do not fall under the scope of the medical certificate required by the Embassy of Belgium and are a private matter between the patient and his/her medical practitioner.
Under no circumstances should the accredited doctor give the impression that issuing a Belgian Embassy’s medical certificate (positive or negative) is in any way dependent or linked to any medical treatment or vaccination program offered by their cabinet.
Abuses should be notified to the Embassy to maryline.glineur@diplobel.fed.be
Female visa applicants:
If you are pregnant, you have the option of deferring any x-ray, and finalization of your application, until after the baby is born. Alternatively, you may undergo an x-ray with an abdominal lead shield but you should discuss the risks with your doctor.
What happens next?
The accredited doctor will return the forms and the results of the examinations to the Embassy directly.
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If you need the medical certificate for use in Belgium (work - study - fiancée etc related) you are requested to come to the Embassy any working day between 10 & 11 AM to request your (attested) certificate
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If for use in a visa application your medical reports will be sent and assessed in Belgium by Home Office's medical advisers. Please be patient when awaiting health clearances.
!! given the confidentiality issues surrounding Medical Certificates, these will only be handed over to the applicant him/herself.
Accredited Doctors:
The Embassy has authorized only certain doctors (accredited Doctors) to conduct medical examinations. This is done to ensure consistency in testing procedures.
Sometimes follow-up action or further testing is required to determine if the health requirement is met. If this happens, we will advise that you need to approach the same accredited doctor.
1. Diseases requiring quarantine: cholera, plague, smallpox, yellow fever;
2. Tuberculosis of the respiratory organs or tuberculosis in a developing stage;
3. Other infectious diseases or contagious parasites:
spotted fever
relapsing fever
poliomyelitis
fever with epidemic dimensions
typhoid fever and paratyphoid
salmonellosis
shigellosis
diphtheria
scarlatina
contagious forms of leper
epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis
brucellosis (undulant fever)
puerperal streptococcus
pemphigus neonatorum
erysipelas (Anthony’s fire) neonatorum
infant epidemic enteritis (diarrhoea)
viral encephalitis
infectious hepatitis
rabies
haemorrhagic fevers or non-haemorrhagic fevers caused by arbovirus, togavirus, arenavirus, rhabdovirus, rickettsias, ornithosis, psittacosis, amebiasis and other forms of dysentery, gonorrhoea (blennorhagia), Nicolas-Favre disease, soft chancre, contagious dermatoses, whooping cough, mumps, measles, rubella, chickenpox.
