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The biometric data collection is a new requirement, in force for Belgium since 12th October 2015, and every Schengen country is now doing this.
This requires, once every five years, the visa applicant must submit fingerprints and have their photograph taken at a consulate or visa application centre for the country they are applying to.
So, they will have to make the journey to submit their biometrics for their next visa, but those will be kept on file, and for the following 59 months, they can submit future visa applications by post.
In order to submit their biometric data, all applicants must come to the Visa Application Centre of Belgium or the Belgian Embassy/Consulates the first time they apply for a visa from 12 October 2015. For subsequent applications within next 59 months the fingerprints will be copied from previous application file of the VIS.