Who Can Apply for a Security Clearance for Individuals ?

This depends first and foremost on the nationality and the period of residence in Belgium.

Individuals who have Belgian nationality

Individuals who have Belgian nationality and require a security clearance for professional reasons can submit their application through the security officer of their administration tothe National Security Authority. 

Applying for an individual security clearance must always be go via the security officer of the organization. Individuals can never address their request for an individual security clearance directly to the National Security Authority.

All applications are required to be entered into the Habil application (for more information, click here).

If the person has resided, during the last 10 years,abroad for a period of more than 6 months consecutively, it is possible that additional documents must be completed.

Individuals who do not have Belgian nationality

The National Security Authority  can also handle requests from non-Belgians. The nationality of the applicant, the scope of the security clearance and the period of his stay in Belgium determine to what extent and through which  procedure the National Security Authority can handle the request.

Nationals of an EU or NATO member state can submit an application to the National Security Authority for a security clearance with scope of application EU or NATO. The respective security rules of the EU and NATO determine that, in principle, the applicant’s country of citizenship processes these security clearance requests. As an alternative and subsidiary to this rule, Belgium can, as host country, deliver a security clearance. For more information, please send an email to nvoans.int@diplobel.fed.be .

Furthermore, nationals of countries with whom Belgium has concluded a general security agreement can submit a request to the National Security Authority for a security clearance with scope of application ‘NATIONAL’ (Belgium). The implementation of the security agreements determines who will deliver the security clearance. If the applicant has resided in Belgium for more than 5 consecutive years prior to the date of his application, the normal application procedure will be followed. The application has to be submitted to the National Security Authority, via the security officer of his organization and with the National Security Authority’s Habil application. If the person in question has not resided 5 years or more in Belgium prior to the date of his application, an email should be sent to nvoans.int@diplobel.fed.be . In that case, the Belgian National Security Authority will provide the application forms from the National Security Authority of the country of citizenship, which will be submitted (once completed) to that respective nation.

Applications of nationals from other countries than the above mentioned will not be processed.