I went to the local city hall with my American driver's license and an official translation then I was told that I had to get a certified official statement from the city that I lived in confirming that I was a resident at the time I recieved the driver's licence. I tried to explain that we have a different system in the U.S. and there is no central place that could confirm my residence.

Anyone else go through this and what did you do to resolve it?

I learned on this very site that what you need is a certificate of your driving record in the United States. I did get that before I came here and when I went to the town hall, they took my US license and the certificate and after two weeks I had a Belgium drivers license. They will keep your US license in the office, but if you need it to go to the States you can trade in your Belgium license and they will give you your US license, when you return they same procedure.
I hope this is helpful. This is much easier then going through what it would take to get a drivers license here.
Gigi

I don't like the idea of giving them my drivers license.
Considering that they lost my documents more than once, they would probably just lose his as well!

It was the same thing for me. I moved from Florida to just outside of Leuven and when I filed for a European Driver's license they were happy to make a swap only. I wouldn't worry much about it.

A valid EU license allows you to legally drive in the US. A month ago I rented a car in Dallas for a two week holiday and only brought my US passport and EU license as documents.

Is applying for an EU drivers license any different from applying for a Begian one? Which would you say is easier?

where i live in belgium all they do is copy your american drivers license and then give you a belgian on in 8 months cause i just got my id for belgium in june 2009 and i been here since nov 2008. so it takes a while but its worth it. i went to my local city hall for my belgian id so you might try there.

It's the same thing. The license is technically a European Union driver's license but it's issued (of course) in Belgium.

Also, the time it takes to get a license really depends on your city hall (gemeentehuis). For me it was literally about 20 minutes.

Keep in mind it is legal to use an American driver's license to drive in Belgium, and the EU license is never used for ID. If you're really concerned about handing over your US license then don't, at least while it's still valid.

Wow, something like this is not possible in Sweden and it costs a small fortune to attain a proper Swedish license. Very good information!