Work and live in Belgium as a non-EU founder, director or manager
Belgium has three regions with three sets of work rules and one federal residence procedure. We pick the route that fits your role and salary, prepare the regional file and the residence side, and plan the timing around your company and your family. Check your route below in one minute.
Free first consultation. Fixed quote within one business day.
Professional card: application fee plus EUR 90 per year of validity, in all three regions (2026)
Flemish deadline to decide on a professional card; no decision in time means the card is deemed granted
Flemish fee per single-permit application, renewals included, since 1 September 2026
To register at the commune after arrival, the step that leads to your residence card
Which permit route looks open for you
The region where you will mainly work decides whether you may work; the federal Immigration Office (Office des étrangers / Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken) decides whether you may stay. Choose region, role, age and salary to see which route clears the 2026 threshold, the state fees, the timing and your next steps.
For posted workers the region of the user company decides. The German-speaking Community decides for its nine municipalities; this page does not cover its rules. The residence rules are in the Immigration Law of 15 December 1980, translated in our Law Library.
1. Where will you mainly work?
2. What will you do?
3. Your age when the application is filed
4. Contract
Indicative only, not legal advice. Uses only the thresholds in the table below. The region also checks the job, the qualification and the documents.
The salary each region asks for
Every employee route has a minimum gross salary, set by the region and normally updated each year. Brussels counts the monthly basic salary; Flanders and Wallonia count annual gross pay.
Flanders: the 2025 amounts still apply in 2026, pending the Statbel average-wage update; no 2026 figure had been published on 4 November 2026. Monthly equivalent: annual ÷ 13.92 on a local contract (highly qualified EUR 3,513.79, executive EUR 5,622.02), ÷ 12 when posted (EUR 4,076 and EUR 6,521.58). The under-30 rate also covers nurses and teachers at recognised institutions, never posted workers.
Wallonia: 2026 amounts since 1 January 2026; the 2027 amounts apply from 1 January 2027. The under-30 rate depends on age at filing.
Brussels: gross basic monthly salary, unchanged from 2025: 78% (highly qualified), 140% (executive) and 100% (Blue Card) of the Brussels average of EUR 4,748.
For founders and directors who run the company themselves
There is no start-up visa or investor residence programme in Belgium. A non-EU founder who will manage a Belgian company from Belgium applies for a professional card, unless an exemption applies.
Any national of a country outside the EEA and Switzerland who works as a self-employed person in Belgium needs a professional card (carte professionnelle / beroepskaart). That includes the company director: Belgian social law treats a director (administrateur / bestuurder) as self-employed. Wallonia says expressly that it covers a director of a company or association, paid or unpaid, and an active partner. Flanders asks company applicants for the articles, the proof of appointment and the UBO register extract.
What counts is the activity: an active partner, or a director who manages the company from Belgium, needs a card.
Director living abroad, attending meetings
A business traveller without a main residence in Belgium needs no card for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, for meetings, negotiations, trade fairs, conferences and training. The Royal Decree of 3 February 2003 (as amended on 30 July 2022) names attending board meetings and general meetings of companies. This is the exemption for a non-resident non-EU director who only comes to Belgium for those meetings.
Unpaid part-time director with a work permit
Exempt only if all three conditions are met: the articles or the appointment decision show the mandate is unpaid; the person holds a full-time work authorisation as a highly qualified worker, executive or EU Blue Card holder; and the director duties are clearly separate from the employee duties.
Residence status that already allows work
EEA and Swiss nationals; holders of an unlimited stay or settlement (B card without restrictions, C or K card) or EU long-term residence in Belgium (D or L card); Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries (M or N); recognised refugees and holders of subsidiary protection.
Long-term resident of another EU country
EU long-term residence obtained elsewhere does not exempt you on its own. A graduate on the post-study search year (zoekjaar / année de recherche) also needs a card, or a change of status, before working self-employed.
What each region wants to see
The card is a regional decision. The same project can be strong in one region and weak in another, so we write the plan for the region where the company will operate.
Added value, set out in a plan
- Passport and a criminal record extract less than 6 months old
- Diploma of at least qualification level 4
- A full business plan: market, competition, SWOT, marketing (a financial plan for artistic, sporting and cultural projects)
- Means of subsistence of 110% of the reference income: EUR 2,408.79 a month from April 2026
- At least one added value: economic (EUR 22,838 in an account in your name, indexed on 1 January 2026, plus job creation or investment), innovative (new products, processes or technology, or work with a listed incubator, accelerator or research organisation) or sporting or artistic
Interest for Wallonia
- Admitted to stay, or applying for residence through the Belgian post
- Compliance: access to the profession, licences, tax and social obligations
- For new arrivals: economic, cultural, social, artistic or sporting interest for Wallonia
- Indicators: needs poorly met, jobs, useful investment, spin-offs for Walloon companies, a rare or innovative activity, exports
Economic usefulness
- A right of residence
- Compliance with the rules for the activity, including professional knowledge where required
- Economic usefulness: jobs, productive investment, benefits for Belgium and Belgian companies, new markets, rare, innovative or highly specialised activities, unmet needs
- Business plan of at most 20 pages
How long the card takes and how long it lasts
Regional fees: EUR 140 per application and EUR 90 per year of validity (2026). A card from one region also covers services in the others. If your residence ends, the card can no longer be used.
How to apply
- From abroad: file the regional form at the Belgian embassy or consulate in the country where you legally reside; the post forwards it to the region. You need a valid residence permit in that country. Once the card is approved, you apply for a D visa and the Immigration Office grants residence.
- Already legally resident in Belgium: online through the WSE portal in Flanders; through an enterprise counter (guichet d’entreprises / ondernemingsloket) in Wallonia and Brussels.
- Documents: passport, criminal record, medical certificate for the visa, diplomas, CV, business plan and company documents, with sworn translations, legalised or apostilled.
Need the company first? See company formation in Belgium: the SRL can be set up by power of attorney while the card is pending.
For employees: highly qualified staff and executives
The route for most non-EU managers hired by a Belgian company, including a founder employed by his or her own Belgian company as an executive or highly qualified worker.
The single permit (permis unique / gecombineerde vergunning) authorises work and residence in one decision. The employer files with the region of main employment through the “Working in Belgium” one-stop shop; in Flanders the Uniek Loket, mandatory since 1 September 2026.
The region decides on the work part and the Immigration Office on residence (Art. 61/25-1, Art. 61/25-2). Approval is notified by an Annex 46. A worker who is abroad then applies for a D visa. A single permit is issued for a fixed period, up to 3 years per application.
Highly qualified workers (hautement qualifiés / hooggeschoolden), executives (personnel de direction / leidinggevend personeel), EU Blue Card holders and ICT transferees face no labour market test in any region. Flanders tightened the rules for other categories from 1 January 2026.
New regional fee of EUR 180
Per application, renewals included, indexed from 1 January 2027. Not refunded on refusal; processing starts only after payment; not due for permits of 90 days or less. The employer pays in principle. Wallonia and Brussels charge no regional fee.
Four months for the residence decision
The Immigration Office decides within four months of a complete application, extendable only in exceptional cases; without a decision in time the worker may stay (Art. 61/25-5). Embassies advise allowing about 4.5 months. The worker registers at the commune within eight working days of arrival (Art. 61/25-6).
Qualification in Flanders and Wallonia
- Flanders, highly qualified: a diploma at ISCO/ISCED level 5 or higher from a recognised (not private) institution. Executive: manages the company, is responsible for day-to-day management, supervises staff and can represent and bind the employer; no diploma required.
- Wallonia, highly qualified: qualification at EQF level 6, through a higher-education degree, 3 years’ relevant experience in the last 7, or work as an ICT manager or specialist.
For degree-level hires above the Blue Card salary
Higher thresholds than the highly qualified single permit, in exchange for EU mobility, an easier change of employer and a fixed 90-day residence decision.
The EU Blue Card (carte bleue européenne / Europese blauwe kaart) is the single permit for highly qualified employment under Directive (EU) 2021/1883. It needs a higher-education diploma from a recognised institution; in Flanders at EQF level 6 after at least 3 years of study. ICT managers and specialists can qualify instead with 3 years of relevant experience in the last 7. The contract must run for at least 6 months or be open-ended, with a Belgian employer: a posting does not qualify.
The Immigration Office must decide on residence within 90 days of the application being complete, a time limit that cannot be extended; without a decision the worker is authorised to stay (Art. 61/27-4). Wallonia grants the work authorisation for up to 36 months, renewable; for permits over 12 months, annual accounts must be sent on each anniversary.
Federal transposition still pending
The 2012 Blue Card chapter of the Immigration Law is in force (Art. 61/26 ff.). The regions have applied the recast directive’s regional rules since 2024: Flanders for hires after 1 May 2024, Brussels from 1 October 2024, Wallonia under its decree of 6 June 2024.
The federal side is not complete. A bill approved by the Council of Ministers on 13 May 2026 and sent to the Council of State provides for partial transposition of the recast directive, a 90-day processing cap, simpler family reunification, easier EU mobility, new refusal grounds where a company appears set up mainly to obtain migration, and protection for workers who are victims of employer social fraud. On 4 November 2026 it is a bill, not law. Full transposition of the recast Single Permit Directive (EU) 2024/1233, due by 21 May 2026, is not confirmed either.
For groups moving staff into a Belgian entity
For an assignment with a fixed end, when the person returns home or moves on to another EU entity afterwards.
An intra-corporate transfer (ICT; transfert temporaire intragroupe) moves a manager, specialist or trainee employee from a group company outside the EU to a Belgian entity of the same group, under Directive 2014/66/EU (Art. 61/32 ff.). It is a temporary secondment (Art. 61/33): the person stays employed in the group.
- At least 3 months’ uninterrupted prior employment in the group (Flanders).
- Maximum stay of 3 years as a manager or specialist and 1 year as a trainee; a new transfer is possible after a gap of 3 months (Art. 61/38).
- Short-term mobility of up to 90 days from another EU state with a Limosa declaration; long-term mobility with that state’s ICT permit.
- In Flanders the ICT thresholds are a rebuttable presumption: a lower sector average can be argued.
- Thresholds per region are in the salary table above.
What the authorities charge
Official fees only. Our own fee is a fixed quote, agreed before we start.
Sources: the three regions, Belgian embassy fee notices for 2026 and the federal tariff list for identity documents.
Bringing your spouse and children
Families of single permit, Blue Card and ICT holders can often be processed together with the main applicant. Families of professional card holders face more variable embassy timelines.
Holders of a single permit, Blue Card, ICT permit, researcher permit or professional card have a limited stay, so their family joins under Art. 10bis of the Immigration Law. The Law of 18 July 2025, in force since 18 August 2025, tightened the rules.
- Income: at least 110% of the guaranteed average minimum monthly income (revenu minimum mensuel moyen garanti / gemiddeld minimummaandinkomen), plus 10% for each additional dependent family member, with no cap (Art. 10, § 5). On the April 2026 figure that was EUR 2,408.79 a month for one family member, plus EUR 240.88 for each additional one. The minimum income was indexed again on 1 July 2026, so the amount applied now is higher. Social integration income and family allowances do not count.
- Age: spouses and partners must generally both be 21 or older (18 before the 2025 law).
- No waiting period for these sponsors. The waiting periods apply to sponsors with an unlimited or humanitarian stay.
- Also needed: suitable housing and sickness insurance covering the family in Belgium.
- Time limit: nine months from filing as a rule; four months for the family of EU Blue Card holders; 90 days for the family of ICT transferees and researchers (Art. 10ter).
- Fees: Immigration Office fee of EUR 218 (2026) and the visa D handling fee of EUR 250 per person.
- Transition: sponsors admitted before 18 August 2025 stay under the old rules for first applications filed before 18 August 2027.
From the commune to long-term residence
Most of our clients plan for five years from the start: the card, the family, then long-term residence or settlement.
Commune registration and your card
Register at the commune (commune / gemeente) of your address within eight working days. Single permit and professional card holders receive an A card, Blue Card holders an H card. The card follows the permit, so renew it at the commune before it expires, after the regional renewal for workers. In Flanders we file a single-permit renewal about four months before expiry.
EU long-term residence
Five years of legal and continuous residence, stable and sufficient resources and sickness insurance give EU long-term resident status (Art. 15bis). Absences under 6 consecutive months and 10 months in total do not break the five years; for Blue Card holders, up to 12 and 18 months outside the EU. You apply at the commune and receive an L card; the status has unlimited validity (Art. 18).
Belgian nationality by declaration
After 5 years of legal main residence, with an unlimited residence title at filing (A and H cards do not qualify), A2 in French, Dutch or German, proof of social integration and of economic participation: 468 working days in the last 5 years as an employee, or 18 months (6 quarters) self-employed as a main occupation. The registration fee rose from EUR 150 to EUR 1,000 on 29 July 2025 and is indexed each year. A citizenship test and B1 level have been announced but are not law.
Belgian permits suit some plans far better than others
A good fit if
- ✓
You will run a real Belgian business
The professional card rewards a credible plan, investment and jobs; we write it for the region that decides.
- ✓
The salary clears the regional threshold
Highly qualified, executive and Blue Card routes have no labour market test: a salary floor and, for most, a qualification.
- ✓
Your group already has a Belgian entity
An ICT permit covers a temporary secondment of up to 3 years for managers and specialists.
Probably not for you if
- ✕
You want an investor or start-up visa
Belgium has neither. Founders use the professional card. Compare Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
- ✕
You only attend board meetings
A director living abroad who comes for board and general meetings, up to 90 days in 180, needs no card at all.
- ✕
The role is low-skilled in Flanders
Since 1 January 2026 Flanders excludes low-skilled roles from the single permit and limits medium-skilled roles to listed shortage occupations.
One team for the work file, the residence file and the company
We coordinate the region, the Immigration Office, the Belgian post and the commune, and tell you early if another country fits better.
- ✓
Route choice
Professional card, single permit, Blue Card or ICT, matched to your role, region and salary.
- ✓
Business plan for the card
The plan, the added value and the financial evidence, written for the region that decides.
- ✓
Employer file
Contract checks against the threshold, the one-stop-shop application and the Flemish retribution.
- ✓
Documents, visa and arrival
Translations and apostilles, the D visa file, commune registration and renewals.
- ✓
Family
Reunification files for spouse and children, filed with or after the main permit.
- ✓
Company and director
SRL formation, director appointment and social insurance fund registration.
From first message to residence card
The region and the Immigration Office set the pace. A complete file on day one is what we control, so we start the documents and translations immediately.
Tell us the plan
Role, region, salary or business, nationality, where you live now and who comes with you.
Get your fixed quote
Route, document list and a realistic date plan after a short call.
File prepared
Plan or contract, translations and apostilles; the employer or you file with the region.
Visa, commune, card
D visa at the Belgian post, registration within eight working days, then your residence card.
Moving to Belgium or hiring someone who is?
Tell us the role, the region, the salary or the business, and who will come with you. We send a fixed quote covering the regional file, the residence and visa side, the family and, if needed, the Belgian company, and tell you on the call if Luxembourg or the Netherlands fits better.
Do I need a professional card to be a director of a Belgian company?+
Not if you live abroad and only come for board meetings and general meetings, within 90 days in any 180-day period: that is the business-traveller exemption in the Royal Decree of 3 February 2003, as amended in 2022. If you manage the company from Belgium or live there, you need a professional card or a work permit as an employee, unless your residence status exempts you.
How long does a professional card take?+
Flanders must decide within 120 days of accepting the application, and the card is deemed granted if it does not. Wallonia takes about three months on average. Brussels publishes no processing time. Then comes the D visa. Allow four to six months or more from a complete file to arrival.
What does the professional card cost?+
The region charges EUR 140 per application and EUR 90 per year of validity, so EUR 320 for a two-year card. For the D visa, the Immigration Office charges EUR 242 (from 1 January 2026) and the visa handling fee is EUR 250 (since 1 July 2026). Our fee is a separate fixed quote.
What salary does a highly qualified employee need in 2026?+
Flanders: EUR 48,912 a year, the 2025 amount still applied in 2026 (EUR 39,129.60 under 30 on a local contract). Wallonia: EUR 53,220 a year (EUR 42,576 under 30), rising to EUR 54,709 on 1 January 2027. Brussels: EUR 3,703.44 a month in gross basic salary.
Is the EU Blue Card better than a highly qualified single permit?+
It needs a higher salary, a degree and a Belgian contract of at least six months. In return: a 90-day residence decision that cannot be extended, a free change of employer after 12 months and mobility to other EU states.
Can my spouse and children join me straight away?+
Yes. Families of single permit, Blue Card, ICT and professional card holders have no waiting period. You need housing, sickness insurance and at least 110% of the guaranteed average minimum monthly income, plus 10% per additional family member; partners must generally be 21 or older.
When can I get long-term residence or Belgian nationality?+
After five years of legal and continuous residence you can apply for EU long-term resident status at your commune. Nationality by declaration also needs five years, plus an unlimited residence title at filing, A2 in a national language, social integration and economic participation.
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Read the provisions themselves, translated into English article by article, with the original alongside.