We are here to guide you through those first steps of setting up business or starting to work in Belgium. Of course, we are not alone! Our small country is big on organisation, and we have many initiatives, so it may not be easy to find the right partners right away.
Here at the expatcenter, we are impartial. We are not affiliated to anyone, we only care about a positive outcome and want to create a win win situation for all parties concerned.
We will giude you towards your main partners in Business in Flanders.
Check if you need work documents
If you want to work as a foreigner in Flanders, you need to check in advance whether you need an 'admission to work'.
for temporary assignments as detachment or self-employed, you need to register in the Limosa application
Certain categories of foreign workers do not need them. This is the case, among other things, for nationals of the Member States of the European Economic Area (the EU countries + Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) and Switzerland,
The professional card is required if you want to start as a self-employed person in Belgium in a sole proprietorship, a company or association. You do not have the nationality of an EEA Member State or Switzerland.
If you are still abroad you may apply for such a card at the Belgian Diplomatic or Consular Post
If you are in Belgium and you have a valid stay, go to an Approved Entreprise Counter
Some tips on how to motivate your application:
Does your project have economic added value for Belgium? In other words, are you giving our country money?
Are you okay with all your obligations? Do you pay social security contributions and taxes? Vat and RSZ certificates are here proof.
The future employer (or it's representative) of the foreign employee applies for the combined license. He collects the required documents for his application. The documents do not have to be originals, all documents have to be scanned and combined in one pdf document, sent via email to
The department 'gewestelijke dienst ' decides if you will get approval to start work here. This approval does not yet mean you may start work, you still need to wait for approval to reside in the country.
The department 'Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken' takes the final decision regarding residence. If they approve, you will get notified that a combined permit will be issued. If so, the future employer and employee will receive a notification in the form of 'bijlage 46' or 'bijlage 47'.
You have permission to reside and work in Belgium, what next?
Option 1: you are still abroad
The employee takes the document 'bijlage 46 or 47' and goes to the embassy.
The embassy will issue a Visum type D
you may now move to Belgium
After arrival you present yourself at your local commune with your identification, Visum and 'bijlage 46 or 47'
The commune will issue your Combined Permit
Option 2: you are already in Belgium
The employee takes the document 'bijlage 46 or 47' with your identification and goes to the local commune
You will receive a proof of registration called 'bijlage 49'. Now you can start work. In the mean time the commune will issue the request for an electronic residence card A
Once the electronic residence card is ready you will be notified to go and collect it
Short-term Belgian visas – these are visas that permit stays of up to 90 days for tourism or business;
Non-Immigrant visas – these are longer-term temporary visas for studying or working on fixed-term contracts, where the holder doesn’t intend to stay in the country beyond a fixed period;
Immigrant visas – long-term visas for those who want to stay in Belgium either long-term or permanently, for purposes such as work or retirement
All of the above procedures will require one of these visas for you to be able to start work. Your starting point should always be the procedures above.
