Passport Renewal for Belgium citizens in the United States — 2026

Belgian citizens living in the United States renew their passport at a consular office, and the first thing to settle is which one.

Belgium maintains a comparatively large consular network in the United States: seventeen offices across sixteen cities — Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Doral, Honolulu, Houston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles and eight more. That is a help and a trap at once, and the trap catches more people than the distance does.

A network this size is normally a small number of career consulates plus a larger number of honorary consuls. The difference matters more than the mileage: an honorary consul is usually a local resident appointed to represent the country part-time, and such posts generally cannot issue passports or visas. What they commonly do handle is certification of documents, forwarding applications, and help in an emergency.

So before travelling to whichever office is nearest, establish two things by telephone: which of the two kinds it is, and whether it performs the service you need. For a country with a network like this one, arriving at an honorary consulate for a service only a career consulate can give is the single commonest wasted journey.

The district question applies on top of that: among the career posts, the one that counts is the one covering your state, and districts are drawn by Belgium rather than by distance.

Belgian consular offices in the United States

Not every post performs every service, so confirm with the career post whose district covers your state:

What to establish before you go

Requirements differ between posts of the same country and change without much notice. These are the questions worth asking by telephone, or from the office’s own site:

• What the current fee is and how it must be paid. Many consular offices take only cash or a money order for the exact amount, and refuse a payment that is a dollar out.
• Whether an appointment is required, how far ahead slots are released, and whether any service is handled without one.
• What a minor’s application needs. Rules on parental presence and consent vary a great deal between countries; do not assume.
• The photograph specification, which differs by country and is a common reason for rejection at the counter.
• Whether your expired passport is retained, and if so what you may travel on in the meantime.

Documents normally involved

• Your current or most recent Belgian passport, even if expired.
• A police report where the passport was lost or stolen.
• Belgian identity documents, where your country issues them.
• Proof of your address in the United States.
• Photographs to the specification the office gives you.

Timing

Most Belgian passports are printed in Belgium rather than at the consular office, so the appointment is the start of the timetable and not the end of it. Ask the office for its current turnaround, and never book travel against an estimate found online — this page included.

Office names, addresses and telephone numbers on this page come from our directory, and the count above is taken from the same records as the listing. Procedural rules come from the authority itself — always confirm with the office that covers you. Apostille status checked against the HCCH official status table on 2026-10-05.