Everything You Need to Know About Immigration in Belgium: A Guide for Companies and International Workers

1. General rules

Nationals of the European Economic Area and Switzerland

Nationals of a member State of the EEA as well as Swiss citizens, by application of the EU regulation, are not required to obtain a permit in order to work in Belgium. This is also the case for some categories of workers, if they are staying in Belgium legally.

Other foreign nationals

Regulations governing the employment of foreign nationals prohibit persons not possessing an EEA citizenship or the Swiss citizenship from entering Belgium to seek employment unless they have obtained a work permit in advance from the competent regional Minister for labor matters.

2. Services for work permit (employee)

The main type of work permit is the single permit. We advise and assist you in submitting a work permit application by:

• gathering and verifying all required documents;
• filling in the application form;
• submitting the application via the WIB platform;
• following up the application during the process;
• handing over the relevant documents to the worker.

We will keep a record of all work permit applications so that we can provide support in the event of renewal. We will contact you for any renewal three months before the expiry date of the single permit (usually valid for 3 years).

3. Services for professional card (self-employed) 

We can also advise and assist you with the application for a professional card for:

• the collection and verification of all required documents;
• the completion of the application form;
• the submission of the application via an approved business counter;
• monitoring the application while it is in progress;
• assistance once the application is approved.
   

We will keep a record of all business card applications in order to offer our support in the event of renewal. We will contact you for any renewal three months before the expiry date of the business card (generally valid for 2 years).

4. Visa for Belgium

Belgian legislation differentiates between the right to reside and the right to work. In case of a stay longer than a trip (for up to 90 days within a 180-day period), a registration within the Municipality will be requested. To do so, a D visa is required. Tax Consult will help by localizing the right Embassy/Consulate in the country where the foreign national resides and provide guidelines for the D visa application.

5. Belgian ID Card - Registration in a Belgian commune

Once the work permit and D Visa are granted, the foreign national should register in a Belgian commune. Moore can assist by providing the list of documents required to do so and eventually escort the foreign national for the administrative procedures.

6. Towards the digitisation of identity documents and residence permits issued to third-country nationals?

Under the coalition agreement, the government is committed, in particular, to moving towards a more controlled and humane migration policy. With this in mind, measures to simplify the procedure for obtaining single permits and to ensure ‘even’ faster processing of applications will be put in place.

The agreement provides for the maintenance of staffing levels on the one hand and the development of digital tools on the other. In this respect, the authorities of three European countries have already adopted an exclusively digital system for the issuance of identity documents and residence permits and have noted numerous advantages in terms of efficiency and security.

Furthermore, the creation of this type of document would require fewer resources, would be less expensive, would be quicker to produce and would be easier to use.

However, it remains to be seen whether the entire target audience has access to an electronic device and the necessary knowledge to use or store these documents. The same goes for stakeholders, who will need to be equipped with tools capable of reading or verifying the authenticity of these documents.

Finally, standardising the use of digital documents would lead the European Union to adopt a common visa policy and a common policy for managing the EU's external borders.