Frequently Asked Questions: Students

Students must be enrolled for at least 27 credits or 17 class hours for Child Benefit and Growth Package entitlement. This only applies to children aged 18 and over. Minor children are entitled to Child Benefit or the Growth Package regardless.

A diploma year is the higher education academic year in which a student can obtain a diploma for the training cycle in which they’re enrolled. If the student is enrolled for fewer than 27 credits, but in their diploma year, then they’ll retain their Child Benefit or Growth Package entitlement for 1 year. This is typically a year in which they’re only required to submit their thesis or internship report.

Child Benefit for students

Studying abroad? Then the KidsLife Child Benefit Fund will request a document completed by the foreign school concerned on an annual basis (document E402 or P7INT)
If you receive the Growth Package from KidsLife Flanders, then the documents for the 2021-2022 school year will be sent in the month of July. 

We currently suspect that the young person concerned is studying abroad. An E402 document is used for schools in Europe. You’ll receive a P7INT form in the event that your child is enrolled in a school outside of Europe.

In order to retain your Growth Package or Child Benefit entitlement for a 'student abroad', we require a completed school certificate (E402 or P7INT) from the foreign school concerned. Payments may temporarily be paused as of the new school year, pending receipt of this form. 

The documents for the 2021-2022 school year will be sent in July 2021 if you receive Growth Package from KidsLife Flanders. Do you live in Brussels or Wallonia, you will receive the documents in september. 

Is the young person concerned not studying abroad? Then please contact your KidsLife adviser, who will be happy to look into this for you. 

If you are a young person studying abroad, you may be further entitled to Child Benefit or Growth Package. To establish the entitlement, we need a school certificate (document E402 or P7INT) from the school abroad each school year. 

View all situations when a young person goes abroad

The documents for the 2021-2022 school year will be sent in July 2021 if you receive Growth Package from KidsLife Flanders, otherwise you will receive them in september. 
Studying in Europe? Then we require an E402 document. Studying outside Europe? Then we require a P7INT document. 

Is the young person going to study abroad for the first time? Communicate this via My KidsLife, the online Growth package file. 

Studying abroad can affect your Child Benefit or Growth Package payments. 
We require a school certificate from the foreign school concerned on an annual basis. This certificate must confirm a valid enrolment in a study programme that entitles you to Child Benefit. 

We'll pause payments pending receipt of the requisite school certificate, in order to prevent erroneous Child Benefit and Growth Package payments being made. 
What do we do once we’ve received a valid school certificate entitling you to Child Benefit or the Growth Package? We'll subsequently resume payments and pay out any overdue amounts. 

Studying in Europe? Then we require an E402 document. Studying outside Europe? Then we require a P7INT document. 

Child benefit conditions for students

An unconditional entitlement to Child Benefit applies up to the age of 18 in Flanders, and up to and including the month of August of the year in which the young person concerned turns 18 in Brussels and Wallonia. Providing that you satisfy certain conditions, you can retain your Child Benefit entitlement up to the age of 25 in the event that the young person concerned continues their studies or qualifies as a (job-seeking) school leaver after completing their studies.

If you live in Wallonia, a semi-automatic entitlement to Child Benefit applies. This semi-automatic entitlement to Child Benefit applies until the end of the month in which the young person concerned turns 21. This means that the young person is entitled to Child Benefit regardless of whether they’re still studying or registered as a job-seeker, except in specific circumstances. View these circumstances here.

Child Benefit for students
Child Benefit for school-leavers

Receiving unemployment benefits suspends the right to Child Benefit or Growth Package. We receive all the information we need automatically, but sometimes we receive it a bit late. So, if you already know your child is going to receive unemployment benefits, please contact us so we can already adapt your file.