Belgium: Changes to Immigration Policy for Foreign National Workers in the Flanders Region

Work permit exemptions to be expanded.

The government will allow the following activities to be conducted as a business visitor, whereas currently, they typically require a work permit:

• Attending conferences and seminars; internal and external business meetings; trade fairs and exhibitions;
• Negotiating business agreements;
• Engaging in sales or marketing activities;
• Conducting internal audits or customer audits;
• Exploring business opportunities;
• Conducting or attending training courses;
• Tourism personnel; and
• Translation and interpretation.

• Employees will be able to perform additional business visitor activities for a longer duration without requiring a work permit.
• Employers should still conduct an assessment of the allowed activities and track their employees’ time spent in Belgium to ensure they comply with the 90 in a 180-day period stay rule.

Shortage occupation rule restrictions.

Employers will need to submit documents supporting an individual’s competencies, experience and qualifications for medium-skilled shortage occupation applications, as this will now be evaluated by the Regional Employment Ministry (REM). Previously, employers were not required to submit such supporting documents.

• Since employers will need to request additional documents from the applicant, employers will likely see the internal administrative process (including document production and collation timeframes) take longer.

Labor market test rule restrictions.

• More stringent vacancy publication rules. Employers undergoing a labor market test process will need to publish the vacancy for a minimum uninterrupted period of nine weeks (within the four months preceding the application). This is up from the current six weeks. Furthermore, the vacancies will also need to be published on EURES (the European Jobs Network), in addition to the existing requirement to publish on the Flemish employment services (VDAB).
• Shortage occupation requirement. The government will only accept labor market test applications for professions that are on the VDAB list of shortage occupations (119 professions are on this list). Renewals will remain possible outside of this list for the same job with the same employer.

• The longer job vacancy posting will prolong the overall immigration process, which may delay start dates.
• The narrower list of shortage occupations will limit which occupations foreign employees can fill.

Professional experience accepted for EU Blue Card information technology (IT) applicants.

For EU Blue Card applicants in the IT sector, professional experience will be accepted in lieu of academic qualifications if the candidate is a manager in the field, as listed in International standard classification of occupations (ISCO) code 133, or a specialist in the field, as listed in ISCO-08 code 25; and if the candidate has at least three years of relevant professional experience acquired within the seven years before applying for an EU Blue Card.

It will be easier to hire foreign workers with experience in the IT sector who do not have academic qualifications, which is key at a time when there is a shortage of IT workers in Belgium.

Easier change of employer rules.

• Holders of an EU Blue Card can change employers by notifying the Regional Employment Ministry (REM) within the first 12 months of their employment. Previously, they were required to obtain a new work permit in order to change employers in this period.
• An employee will be able to change employers without any immigration formalities after 12 months on an EU Blue Card (down from the current 24 months).

EU Blue Card holders will no longer need to apply for new work permit if they seek to change employers, as long as the new employer meets the minimum salary level and notifies the REM within the first 12 months, which will save time and costs for the foreign worker.

Salary threshold increased.

The immigration salary threshold for an EU Blue Card has increased to 130% of the average income, which for 2024, corresponds to EUR 60,621 annual taxable salary.

New initial Blue Card applications will need to meet the new higher salary threshold.

The new threshold will not apply to EU Blue Cards already issued as long as the employee does not change employers.

Easier qualifications for managers under EU ICT status.

ICT managers will no longer need to demonstrate that they hold a degree of higher education to qualify for EU ICT status.

This will make it easier for managers to qualify for EU ICT status, which offers advantages over other statuses, notably in terms of intra-EU mobility. 

Relaxed EU ICT eligibility for IT workers.

EU ICT IT workers with professional experience but no academic qualifications will be eligible for an EU ICT permit if they are a manager as listed in ISCO-08 code 133, or specialist as listed in ISCO-08 code 25; and if they have at least three years of relevant professional experience acquired within the seven years before applying for an EU ICT Permit.

It will be easier to hire foreign workers with experience in the IT sector who do not have academic qualifications, which is key at a time when there is a shortage of IT workers in Belgium.