Antwerp LEZ foreign car registration, day pass and rules

The LEZ covers cars, motorhomes, vans, trucks, agricultural vehicles and buses, including coaches. It applies every day and at every hour.

A Euro 5 or Euro 6 diesel may enter. A Euro 4 diesel or older takes a day pass. A petrol, natural gas or LPG vehicle in Euro 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 may enter. Euro 1 and below take a day pass. If the Euro standard is not on the registration certificate, the date of first registration decides.

A fully electric or hydrogen car may enter. A foreign plate of this type still registers, once and free of charge. A Dutch plate does not register. A private Euro 4 diesel does not buy a permit of several months: that paid permit is for specific vehicles, for example certain intervention vehicles on the public road. The other cars that are not allowed take the day pass.

A car already in the database, with a sufficient standard, enters with no further step. If your standard is better than the one in the database, register the car once, free of charge, so that you avoid the fine.

An allowed foreign plate registers once, free of charge, at the latest the day after entry. A Dutch plate does not register. The day pass and the paid registration of certain professional vehicles follow the same deadline: at the latest the day after entry.

The day pass opens the LEZ for the chosen day, until 6:00 the next morning. A pass taken for 10 February 2026 covers that whole day and until 6:00 on 11 February. You can buy it online up to four months ahead, and at the latest the day after entry. Payment is immediate.

The maximum is 12 passes a year. The pass is valid only in Antwerp. It opens neither Ghent nor Brussels. For a pass whose start day is in 2026, the price is 45 €.

The first offence costs 150 €. A second within 12 months costs 250 €. The third and the later ones, still within 12 months after the previous fine, cost 350 €. The letter is sent by post.

The city does not ask for payment by SMS or by WhatsApp. A message of that kind is fraud. The fine for cars that are not allowed has applied since 2017. The amounts above have been in force since January 2018.