Destination Belgium, with a scholarship: this guide covers what changes for you as a scholarship holder. You will find the scholarships concerned, studies and admission, visa and residence permit, health insurance and budget and funds, and every fact links to its official page.
Official scholarships for studying in French-speaking Belgium
The official pages consulted describe two public scholarship programmes for coming to study in French-speaking Belgium: the Master IN – WBI scholarship from Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI), and the international training scholarships of ARES, the federation of French-speaking higher education institutions, funded by Belgian development cooperation (DGD). This guide only explains what changes when you hold a scholarship: for everything else, follow the "Study on your own" guide.
The Master IN – WBI scholarship helps you take a 60- or 120-credit master's degree in Wallonia or Brussels. You need a licence, bachelor's or master's degree from a recognised institution in your country, awarded no more than 5 years before the master's starts. You must be admitted to the master's to apply. You send your application to the chosen institution, which makes a first selection, then WBI makes the final choice. For 2026-2027, the deadline was 31 March 2026.
ARES international training scholarships are for people who live and work in one of the 32 partner countries, 21 of them in Africa (list below). You need a higher education degree and at least 2 years of work experience after it. The scholarship is for a specialisation bachelor's, a specialisation master's or a continuing education course. You apply on ARES's online platform GIRAF, without prior admission. The 2027-2028 call closed on 18 September 2026; applying is free.
A scholarship is never guaranteed: a jury selects the candidates. The two programmes cannot be combined: the WBI scholarship is incompatible with other support from WBI or ARES, and people who have already received an ARES cooperation scholarship cannot apply for Master IN.
Tuition fees when you hold a scholarship
Master IN – WBI scholarship holders pay the same tuition fees as Belgian and European students. According to Study in Belgium, the latter pay at most 1,194 EUR net per year from 2026-2027, instead of 5,369 EUR for most students from outside the European Union.
Study in Belgium also lists, among the cases exempted from the "additional contribution" (the part of the fees charged to students from outside the European Union), holders of a scholarship certificate issued by the Development Cooperation administration. These students then pay 835 EUR per year.
For a specialisation bachelor's or master's, the ARES scholarship includes tuition fees. The exact amount of your fees is always given by the institution, in the letter authorising you to enrol.
The visa when you hold a scholarship
The procedure stays the same as for all students: a D visa applied for at the Belgian embassy or consulate (see the "Study on your own" guide). What changes is the redevance, the visa application fee.
The Immigration Office makes the fee free if you prove that you hold a scholarship granted by a body or authority recognised by Belgian regulations, with an official form, or with a certificate from the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGD). The Master IN – WBI guide states that its scholarship holders are exempt from this fee.
Other visa costs are handled differently depending on the scholarship. With the WBI scholarship, you pay visa costs upfront yourself: they are refunded indirectly through the monthly instalments, with no payment before the academic year starts. With the ARES scholarship (specialisation bachelor's and master's), exceptional visa-related costs are included in the allowance up to 200 EUR; above that, the excess is paid on actual costs and receipts.
Where are you from? Do you need a visa?
The rule depends on the country of your passport. Choose it to see the answer that applies to you.
The rules for each group of countries
| Nationalities | Visa | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
These nationalities:Show the 30 countriesAustria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland | No visa | If you are a citizen of the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland, you do not need a visa: you can enter and stay freely, under certain conditions. To stay more than 3 months, apply for a registration certificate at the municipality where you live before the 3 months end. |
All nationalities except:Show the 31 countriesAustria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland | Visa required | If you are a national of a country outside the European Union (and other than Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland), you must apply for a D study visa (national long-stay visa) at the Belgian embassy or consulate responsible for the place where you live, usually in person. Exception: if you already live legally in Belgium, check with your municipality or the Immigration Office. |
Health insurance for scholarship holders
With the Master IN – WBI scholarship, WBI covers health-cost insurance for you (on top of the health insurance fund), repatriation insurance and personal liability insurance (which pays for damage you cause to other people). Travel insurance remains at your expense.
With the ARES scholarship, insurance costs are paid directly by ARES. Otherwise, the health insurance rules for the visa and for joining a health insurance fund are those of the "Study on your own" guide.
Proving your means with a scholarship
For the visa, the Immigration Office accepts a scholarship or loan certificate as proof of "sufficient means of subsistence". It must come from an international organisation, a national authority, a community, a region, a province, a municipality or a higher education institution.
The 2026-2027 Master IN – WBI scholarship is 10,020 EUR, paid in 12 monthly instalments into a bank account in euros. WBI's guide states that this amount meets the sufficient-means requirement for the D visa. But it does not cover all the costs of a year of study: you must top it up with your own funds.
For a specialisation bachelor's or master's, the ARES scholarship includes a subsistence allowance (a monthly flat amount to live on) for 12 months, plus a reduced 13th month, and one economy-class return flight per academic year.
The other path
No scholarship? Read the guide to study there on your own.
Study there on your ownOther destinations
The same path, with a scholarship, in the other countries GradMe covers: compare before you choose.