Employing a foreigner in Flanders: European Blue Card

With a European Blue Card, highly qualified foreigners can work and stay in Flanders for at least 6 months under certain conditions. A Blue Card is not the same as a single permit.

Not every foreigner needs a work permit

Foreigners coming to work in Flanders, the employer must obtain a work permit beforehand. For certain groups of foreigners, this requirement does not apply and you are exempt.

This applies,among others, to:

Employment for up to 90 days, so-called short-term mobility, in particular short-term employment with a Limosa declaration.
Persons participating in a restricted meeting in Belgium, with a maximum of 60 days per calendar year in our country, and no more than 20 consecutive calendar days per meeting.
The foreign employee receiving training at the Belgian headquarters of a group of companies. That training is part of a training agreement between the headquarters of that group. The training, and therefore also their stay, shall not exceed three months (with a Limosa declaration).

The full list of exemptions can be found here.

Therefore, if the foreigner does not belong to one of these groups, a work permit is required. The employer can only employ the foreigner if they meet the conditions which apply to the type of work which the foreigner is to perform.

What is a European Blue Card

As an employer, you can apply for a European Blue Card for your highly qualified employees from a non-EU country to live and work in Flanders. With this European Blue Card, a highly qualified foreign employee can work and stay in Flanders for at least 6 months.

Difference between a Blue Card and a single permit

The Blue Card is for highly qualified employees with a higher salary and offers benefits for mobility within the EU.
The single permit is more widely accessible to diverse employees, including medium-skilled and low-skilled employees.

The advantage of a European Blue Card over the single permit for a highly qualified employee is that the Blue Card is valid for any employer after one year of effective employment, as long as the employment meets the conditions of the Blue Card. However, an application for a work permit must still be filed.

Another advantage is that the holder of a European Blue Card, issued in another EU Member State, can benefit from exemption from a work permit in the context of:

temporary business activities: the holder of the Blue Card is in Belgium for business interests of the foreign employer
provision of services according to the Van der Elst principle: this means that the holder of the Blue Card provides services in Belgium on behalf of their employer, based on the Van der Elst ruling, which regulates the temporary posting of workers within the EU without additional work permits.

This constitutes an additional benefit regarding short-term mobility within the EU in addition to those already applicable. Long-term mobility remains unchanged. This means that a holder of a European Blue Card issued in another EU Member State, who wants to obtain long-term employment and residence in Belgium, must obtain a new European Blue Card in Flanders. That remains the same, only the procedure has a shortened processing time of 30 days maximum (extendable by another 30 days), where the employment can be started after those 30 days anyway.

Procedure for obtaining a work permit of fixed duration, more than 90 days, European Blue Card

As an employer, you apply for the single permit of fixed duration for your future employee, and under category, you choose the European Blue Card.

Stap 1
Employee identity document
Employee is not in Belgium at the time of application:
Personal data in an international passport.
Employee is in Belgium at the time of application:
Personal data in an international passport
And a Belgian residence permit.
Proof(opens in new window) that the requested administrative costs (fees) have been paid
Extract from the criminal register(opens in new window), if the applicant is over 18 years of age. Legalised(opens in new window) and translated (Dutch, French or English)
The standard medical certificate (in Dutch)(opens in new window) showing that the employee is not suffering from a disease which is a threat to public health, as referred to in the annex to the law of 15 December 1980
Proof that the employee has health insurance(opens in new window) or a declaration of commitment (in Dutch)(PDF file opens in new window)
These documents must be no more than 6 months old at the time of submitting your application.
Stap 2
An employment contract signed and dated by both parties.
The employment contract must be drawn up in the language of the region where the employer concerned is established.
Employment through service vouchers or as a community worker is excluded for work permits.
Stap 3
Employee’s diploma
Awarded by a higher education institution, locally recognised by the local government
Showing that the employee has completed post-secondary programme higher education - minimum VKS (Flemish Qualification Structure) 6:
They attended classes for that purpose at an educational institute recognised as a higher education institution by the state where it is located.
Their studies for that diploma lasted at least 3 years.
Management and information and communication technology specialists are not subject to the diploma requirement. However, they must then demonstrate 3 years of relevant professional experience within the 7 years prior to application;
Additional requirements for the employment contract
indicating a gross annual salary of at least 130% of the average gross annual salary (currently this is € 60 621,60).
the duration of the employment contract is at least six months (if fixed duration) or of indefinite duration
only with a Belgian employer (no posting possible)
Stap 4
Only submit a complete application. It is not possible to email documents afterwards to add them to a file which has already been submitted.
If the file has been processed, but you want to cancel/stop the application, you can do so via the ‘stop’ button. The Economic Migration Department will then process the cancellation/stop request.
If the employment contract with the employee has been terminated early, you must press the ‘stop early’ button in the employee’s file.
After you have submitted the complete application via the one-stop shop, it is automatically forwarded digitally to the competent region. The competent regions, besides Flanders, are:
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussel Economie en Werkgelegenheid
Directie Economische Migratie
Sint-Lazarusplein 2
1035 Brussels
02 204 13 99 (from 9 to 12)
Website of the competent service in Brussels(opens in new window)
Walloon Region
Direction générale de l’Economie, de l’Emploi et de la Recherche 
Direction de l’Emploi et des Permis de travail
Place de la Wallonie 1
5100 Jambes
081 33 43 62
permisdetravail@spw.wallonie.be(opens in your email application)
Website of the competent service in Wallonia(opens in new window)
German-speaking Community
Ministerium der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft
Abteilung Beschäftigung, Gesundheit und Soziales,
Gospertstrasse, 1
4700 Eupen
087 59 64 86
Website of the competent service for the German-speaking Community (in Dutch)(opens in new window)
Stap 5
The competent region will examine the “employment” section of your file.
After you have submitted the complete application, you can follow up the status of your application in the one-stop shop(opens in new window). For each change of status of your file, you will receive a notification and a digital letter via your eBox (in Dutch)(opens in new window).
These statuses are possible:
The file has been submitted
Additional information requested by the region
Admissibility
Inadmissibility
Positive decision concerning work or negative position concerning work
After a ‘positive decision concerning work’, the file is automatically forwarded to the Immigration Department of the federal government, which will examine the “residence” section of your application. The following stages are possible:
Being processed by the Immigration Department
Additional information requested by the Immigration Department
Positive decision concerning residence (Annex 46/47) or negative decision concerning residence (Annex 48).
In case of a positive decision on both work and residence (single permit), the Immigration Department will communicate this decision to the employee, the employer and the municipal council or the Belgian diplomatic and consular post specified in the application.
If the employee is in Belgium, the Immigration Department will issue an electronic single permit via the municipality. This permit contains both the work permit and the residence permit.
If the employee is abroad, the employee, who has provided a foreign address in their application for a work permit, must apply for a visa D (national long-stay visa) at the Belgian diplomatic or consular post competent for their place of residence.
That post will issue the visa, upon presentation of a valid passport and the decision to grant a single permit (Annex 46 or 47), provided that the decision presented by the employee is fully consistent with the decision communicated to the post by the Immigration Department.
The national entry B34 made on the visa D means that the employee has received a single permit. The entry B29 means that the employee is a highly qualified employee (EU Blue Card).
If the employee has arrived in Belgium
Then, within 8 working days, the employee must register in the aliens’ register (in Dutch)(opens in new window) of the place of residence and apply for the issue of a single permit.

What to do in the event of changing employer

during the first 12 months a new work permit is not necessary. Notifying the Economic Migration Department in writing is sufficient, you can use this document for this purpose (PDF version / Word version).
The employment can only be started after approval of the change by the Economic Migration Department (within 30 days)
after 12 months, the European Blue Card issued is valid for any employer, provided the employment meets the conditions of Article 21. No notification of a change of employer is required;
after 24 months (= renewal application), a 3-year European Blue Card is issued, valid for any employer and valid for employment under the European Blue Card.

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