Belgium Travel Guide
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Guide
Belgium is the Schengen country that everyone drives through without thinking about it, and since July 2026 it has started checking. The federal government temporarily reinstated internal border controls at select road, rail, and airport crossings on the corridors linking Belgium to France, the Netherlands, and Germany, for an initial six month period that can be renewed. Mobile police units can carry out identity checks and vehicle searches within 20 kilometers of the border, and reporting describes random checks at motorway rest stops, on international buses, on some trains at Brussels-Midi, and on flights within Schengen.
Belgium's neighbors are checking too. Germany has notified controls at all its land borders from 16 September 2026 to 15 March 2027, France has checks on its internal borders, Belgium's included, until 31 October 2026, and the Netherlands has temporary controls in place until 30 September 2026.
Then there is the biometric border. Since 10 April 2026, the EU Entry/Exit System applies to eligible non-EU travelers entering or leaving Schengen through Brussels Airport, Charleroi Airport, and the Eurostar terminal at Brussels-Midi.
Border crossings
- France, the Netherlands, and Germany, checked by all sides
These are internal Schengen borders, so nobody stops you at a booth, but Belgian mobile units now operate within 20 km of them, and your neighbors' controls cover the same lines. A passport in your day bag is the safe habit for a day trip to Lille, Maastricht, or Aachen.
- Brussels-Midi, the Eurostar border
Third-country nationals traveling by Eurostar from Brussels-Midi to the United Kingdom are subject to EES registration, and the British controls are carried out at the station before boarding, under the juxtaposed controls arrangement.
- Brussels Airport at Zaventem
The airport has installed twelve new border control boxes on arrivals, fitted all 33 of its boxes with cameras, and added 61 self-service pre-registration kiosks. Airlines warned in 2026 of possible queues of up to five hours in the summer, so treat the airport as the place where time goes missing.
Transit routes
- Use the kiosks before the officer
Pre-registering at a self-service kiosk shortens the desk time, and it is worth doing whenever an EES kiosk is offered.
- Allow extra time for Eurostar to London
With EES registration and the British check both happening at the station, allow extra time, especially on a first trip after the system went live.
Entry point notes
- The controls do not change who needs a visa
The temporary internal checks are document checks. Schengen entry rules, including 90 days in any 180 day period, are the same as before.
- Carry the passport you entered Schengen with
Non-EU travelers should have their passport to hand for any trip near the French, Dutch, or German borders.
- Dates matter, so read them
Belgium's own controls run for an initial six months, its neighbors' end on different dates, and any of them can be extended. An article that gives an end date from earlier in 2026 may be out of date.