Belgium Emigration and Immigration

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Belgium

Emigration and Immigration

Online Records

These sources cover multiple countries.

• 1840-1930 Belgium, Antwerp Police Immigration Index, 1840-1930 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images. Also at MyHeritage; index & images ($). Also at Ancestry.com; index and images ($)
• 1890-1960 Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960 at FindMyPast; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Belgium
• 1901-1919 Belgium, Antwerp Police Immigration, 1901-1919 - Ancestry, images only ($)
• 1904-1914 Germany, Bremen Passenger Departure Lists, 1904-1914 at MyHeritage; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Belgium
• 1921-1939 Reseñas de pasaportes de varios consulados, 1921-1939; images only - includes those in Belgium
• 1946-1971 Free Access: Africa, Asia and Europe, Passenger Lists of Displaced Persons, 1946-1971 Ancestry, free. Index and images. Passenger lists of immigrants leaving Germany and other European ports and airports between 1946-1971. The majority of the immigrants listed in this collection are displaced persons - Holocaust survivors, former concentration camp inmates and Nazi forced laborers, as well as refugees from Central and Eastern European countries and some non-European countries.
• Free Access: USC Shoah Foundation, Holocaust – Jewish Survivor Interviews
• Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild Choose a volume and then choose Belgium under "Listed by Port of Departure" or "Listed by Port of Arrival".

Finding the Town of Origin in Belgium

If you are using emigration/immigration records to find the name of your ancestors' town in Belgium, see Belgium Finding Town of Origin for additional research strategies.

Belgium Emigration and Immigration

"Emigration" means moving out of a country. "Immigration" means moving into a country. (See Immigration into Belgium.)
Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the country. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. Sometimes they also show family groups.

Emigration

One option is to look for records about the ancestor in the country of destination, the country they immigrated into. See links to immigration records for major destination countries below.

Belgian Immigration Records by Country of Destination

United States

United States Online Sources

• United States Emigration and Immigration – Wiki page with additional larger databases which also include Belgians

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Walloons

Walloons are a Romance ethnic group native to Belgium, principally its southern region of Wallonia.

Emigration to Sweden

A large group of emigrants left Wallonia to work in promoting mining and industry in Sweden. For more, see: Vallons in Sweden.

For Further Reading

• Belgium - Emigration and immigration
• Belgium - Emigration and immigration - Indexes

Emigration records (Emigratie registers, Registres des émigrés)

Research use: Very valuable for making proper connections to place of origin and residence in Belgium. Many researchers do not know their ancestor's place of origin.

Record type: Lists of emigrants and immigrants, and permissions for those moving within Belgium.

Time Period: 1500-present.

Content: Emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, birth dates and places, residences, destination; wife’s and childrens’ given names and ages or number of children; reasons for emigration; taxes paid; religion, military service, etc.

Location: Provincial and municipal archives.

Population coverage: 5-10%.

For an extensive article with many resources, click here.

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