Do I need to hand in my passport when applying for a visa?

@Mirage123 Hi, your work will handle your work visa (D card) and your single permit for residence in Belgium.

Based on that application you apply for the travel visa in your country of residence. At that time indeed you will need to give your passport to get the visa stamped.

Once you are in Belgium you will use the single permit document to apply for your residence permit.

What they are doing now is applying the single permit (work permit + residence authorization). this will take a few weeks. Once they have secured the single permit, you will be notified and you will receive the documents related to single permit (anexxe 49, etc). With your passport, these documents and whatever additional docs are needed, you will apply for a visa. As mentioned in the comment above, only then you need to submit your passport.

@BMM996210 @Aneesh

Thanks both. I take it once I have my single permit, there's no 'time limit' to carry on with the process, so to speak?

So I could in theory get my single permit, hold on to it while I travel/do what I need to do with my passport, and then continue my application once I return and can safely hand over my passport?