Welcome to Ghent!

Moving to Ghent as an expat? Welcome! The city is a homebase for internationals.

Welcome

As an expat, you are moving to Ghent shortly or have recently arrived in our city.

We are pleased that you have chosen Ghent. Your presence and that of other internationals not only adds to our strong reputation as a ‘city of knowledge’, it gives a boost to our local economy and an international flair to the city as well.

In recent years, the City of Ghent has done its utmost to set up initiatives for expats. For example:

  • The Civil Affairs Office boasts an expat counter for registration.
  • The City is one of the co-founders of the ‘International School Ghent’.
  • We share the most accurate information on living as an expat in Flanders on Your future in Flanders, a platform in collaboration with other cities and the Flemish government? 
  • We are currently partner in a funded ERDF project with the Province of East Flanders and the University of Ghent to focus more on attracting and retaining foreign start-ups, scale-ups and international talent. 
  • We support local initiatives like the Expat working group of Community Gent 
  • We welcome newly arrived expats at the City Hall once a year.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to live in Ghent? Check out this video: