Employment authorization

Foreign nationals coming over to work in Belgium mostly need an authorization before they start their employment in Belgium. A distinction needs to be made between "employees" and "self-employed persons".

- For employees

When is a work permit required?

An employer may not employ a foreign national in Belgium unless he first obtains permission from the relevant competent immigration authorities.
Certain categories of employees are exempt from needing to be in possession of the work permit, such as:

• Nationals of a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA) and their spouses, their descendants aged under 21 years or who are still dependent on them, relatives in the ascending line who are dependent on them and their spouses. (The members states of the EEA are as follows: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.)
• The spouse of a Belgian national and their descendants aged under 21 or who are dependent on them, their dependent relatives in the ascending line and their spouses.
• Foreign nationals authorised or admitted to live in Belgium for an unlimited period of time.
• Recognized refugees in Belgium.
• Students who are staying legally in Belgium can work without a work permit during school holidays (the Christmas holidays, the Easter holidays and the summer holidays).
• Students on training courses that are mandatory as part of their studies in Belgium.

What are the rules for issuing a work permit?

In general, work permits are only issued if it is absolutely impossible to find a suitable local employee in the labour market within a reasonable time.

In addition, such permits are only issued to nationals of countries that have signed international treaties about the employment of employees. However, these rules do not apply to employees who can be considered highly qualified employees and to executives.

The request to employ a foreign citizen and to obtain a work permit for him must be made by the employer in Belgium. If the employer is not established in Belgium, he should appoint a person or company domiciled in Belgium who will make the application on his behalf and will carry out all steps and formalities.

A work permit will normally be issued after about 4 weeks (although it can take longer depending on the region and the time - holidays etc).

Please note that permission to employ a foreign national will be granted by the authorities by returning a special form to the employer. The issuing of permission to employ a foreign employee automatically entails the issuing of a type B work permit to the foreign employee.

The type B work permit is always linked to a specific job with one employer. If the foreign employee gets another job within the same company or starts working for another company, a new type B work permit needs to be applied for.

The documents that need to be attached to the work permit application file depend upon the employment status of the employee in Belgium (whether he is a seconded employee, exempt from Belgian social security or a local employee and subject to Belgian social security).

Finally, special attention should be paid to the salary the employee concerned will earn. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that a distinction is made between highly qualified foreign personnel and executives:

• Highly qualified foreign employees, whose employment in Belgium is limited to 4 years (renewable for another 4 year period under certain conditions), will be entitled to work permits, even if suitable labour
  is available in Belgium to fill the vacancy, as long as their gross salary exceeds EUR 33,677 per year;
• Executives fulfilling a leading function in a Belgian company will be entitled to work permits on condition that their annual gross salary exceeds EUR 56,187. These amounts are linked to the conventional salaries' index and will be reviewed each year. The salary levels referred to are applicable with effect from January 1 2007.

- For self-employed persons

When is a professional card required?

All non-EU nationals (except EEA nationals, EU-nationals and citizens of Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) who wish to undertake self-employed work in Belgium need a professional card if:

• they desire to reside in Belgium to carry out a lucrative independent trade or profession;
• they are appointed as a (self-employed) director in a company incorporated in Belgium (N.V./S.A. or B.V.B.A./S.C.R.L.);
• they hold a power of attorney to operate a branch of a company incorporated in another country.

Therefore, if a foreign national wishes to undertake self-employed work in Belgium, he has to obtain a professional card authorising him to do so either as an ordinary person, a legal entity or as a representative of a company or association (regardless of him being paid/remunerated or not for this job).

What are the rules for issuing a professional card?

Applications for professional cards can be filed either with the Belgian diplomatic or consular post in the country of the last residence of the person concerned or with the local authorities of the (Belgian) commune if the applicant has already obtained a Belgian resident card and is already legally residing in Belgium at the time of the professional card application.

In cases where a professional card will have to be applied for the person concerned without him having a Belgian residence card, the application should be made with the Belgian Embassy in the place of residence.

The Belgian Embassy overseas will then transfer the file to the authorities in Belgium.

Generally, the application for a professional card through the Belgian Embassy takes quite a long time (up to 5 months) and usually takes much longer than when an application for a professional card is made directly with the authorities in Belgium. However, in the latter case, one must be registered in Belgium.

The card is valid for a maximum of five years and defines precisely the activity that the individual is authorised to practice.

It should be mentioned that the application for a professional card is not the only requirement to be met before a self-employed person can start his work in Belgium. Access to the profession is essential in order to be registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises as a self-employed person. Such access can be gained by submitting evidence of your basic management knowledge to an authorised one-stop business shop. Furthermore, a person wishing to operate in one of the 42 regulated professions must also provide evidence of specific professional skills.

Application for a temporary residence permit

Once in possession of the work permit or professional card, the foreign national should apply for a visa with the Belgian consular authorities in the place of residence abroad.

For a period of stay of less than 90 days in Belgium, a type C visa is required (although citizens of some countries are visa exempted for such short periods).

For a period of stay of more than 90 days, a type D visa should be applied for.

Generally, the hereafter mentioned documents are required by the Belgian Embassy/Consulate to issue a type D visa:

• A work permit or professional card;
• An original certificate of good conduct covering the last 5 years issued by the police department of the applicant's place of residence;
• A valid passport;
• A medical certificate;
• 3 identity photographs;
• 2 or 3 visa application forms duly completed and signed. These forms can be obtained at the Embassy and can also be completed there.

The person should check with the relevant Embassy/Consulate whether supplementary documents need to be provided in order to obtain the visa.

Inscription in a Belgian commune - obtaining a Belgian residence card

Upon arrival in Belgium, the foreign national should present himself at the municipality he will be living in and should report to the city authorities in his place of residence in Belgium (usually within 8 days after his arrival) in order to be inscribed in the register of foreigners of the commune and to obtain a Belgian residence card (the so-called white card).

To this end the city authorities will ask for the passport with visa stamp, the work permit and lease contract in Belgium. Depending on the municipality, supplementary documents may be asked for.

In principle, the Belgian residence card is valid for a period of 1 year and can be renewed each year on the basis of an extended work permit or professional card.

Mandatory LIMOSA-declaration

In 2006, the Belgian Council of Ministers approved an e-government project relating to social security. The project aims to modernise the management of the Belgian social security system and the legal framework for monitoring and controlling the employment of foreign nationals (called LIMOSA).

The system, which came into effect on April 1 2007, consists of:

• A mandatory declaration for each foreign national seconded employee and all foreign self-employed persons working in Belgium (comparable with the DIMONA-declaration for employees who are subject to the Belgian social security system);
• An information exchange system between the different Regions (competent for applications for work permits), the Ministry for Middle Classes (for professional cards) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (for residence permits). The information will be available and exchangeable between the different authorities.

In practice, the implementation of LIMOSA ensures that each foreign employee who is assigned to Belgium without being subject to Belgian social security (even on a temporary and/or partial basis) and all foreign self-employed persons who are working in Belgium need to be declared to the Belgian social security
authorities before they start working in Belgium.

When filing the Limosa declaration, the employee's name, contract details, place of employment, type of employment (full- or part-time), the period of assignment and other information will need to be provided.

Exemptions are created for, amongst others, short term assignees (business trips up to 5 days per month) and certain categories of trainees.

The Limosa declaration is a legal requirement. Non-compliance can result in penal or administrative sanctions. Both the employer, the person appointed by him or his agent can be punished.

The person for whom (or on whose premises the work is carried out in Belgium) can also be prosecuted if he fails to declare the absence of a Limosa declaration to the government! In other words, the Belgian "user"/principal can be held liable for non-compliance of contractors who employ foreign nationals on the premises of the "user".