On 24 March 2014, a new Royal Decree relating to the fight against relationships of convenience was published in the Belgian Official Gazette. The Royal Decree, on the initiative of Joelle Milquet, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Internal Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Annemie Turtelboom, Minister of Justice and Maggie De Block, State Secretary for Migration and Asylum Policy, Social Integration and the Fight Against Poverty, aims at fighting the phenomenon of "shopping" for relationships of convenience between municipalities.

According to the new provisions, which enter into force today 3 April 2014, registrars are required to mention information relating to suspicions or attempts of relationships of convenience in population registers. The information will also be available in the National Register. In this way, all municipalities will be able to verify if a person has been registered and is known in another municipality for a suspected relationship of convenience.

Additional information can be found in the following press release (in French).