Contract is terminated and Residency status for a non-EU resident

Hi ,

First of all im sorry to you lost your job.

If you are thinking it was not fair then you can look for your rights with an union or lawyer.

Staying on A Card Until 2027:

After your company reported that your work contract terminated , your card (certificates in it) still valid 90 days. As soon as 90 days finished , you can not use your card digital functions. After the following days your municipality should invite you to visit them and take the card.

However lets say due to the lack of communication they didnt  take the card.And you travelled out of Belgium.

If i were you i wouldnt do that. There is already a process ongoing and on the other hand you have a big risk to not re enter territory.

If your domicile still in Belgium  you would not inform the municipality but as i said you shouldnt travel with a non valid card and take risk your re entry.

Good luck with both work and L card process on going.

@Mai Rose

I had the exact same situation, here is what I have done.

First of all, you should retain very well that life is not fair in those circumstances. I am a doctor and I worked in Brussels and my credentials were from Canada. I was in a permanent job offer and they terminated it because my English is bad !!!! can you believe it! Canada's first language is English and I lived and studied in English. They just give you any reason to terminate your contract, it is not because you are bad, maybe the company where you worked at is in a financial deficit and they had to terminate few people.

Don't overthink it, that's life, you have to go on so quickly and close this chapter of your life, your next offer will be much better.

My A card supposed to expire in May 2025, I have been terminated from the job November 2023. I did not know what to do or what is the role. I took it easy thinking that as long as the card will expire in May 2025 then I am ok and have enough time to search for a job. I explained to a friend of mine what happened and she told me that they might expel you from the country if you did not find a job even if your card says the expiry date in May 2025. She told me the very first step is to go to a lawyer. I don't know which city you are living in but in Brussels there is this organization which consists of lawyers who helped people for free: https://bajbruxelles.be/index.php/fr/rendez-vous of course they should verify how much income you get right now and they will ask for few documents before even seeing you ...etc I went there multiple times. during that time I received a letter about "retrieving your work permit" in early June 2024. I understand from the lawyer that after this letter, you will get another one from ministry of foreign affair within a month or two to ask you to leave the country and you have 90 days to leave. That made me panicked because I thought I have until May 2025.

Of course I made an intense search and asked all the friends and people around me. Thankfully I found a temporary job for one year which is more than enough to get my things in order. And just last week received a renewed ID card valid until September 2025.

Why I still stay in Belgium and not returning back to Canada. well it is because I got married and I need some time to arrange my return. but my ultimate plan is absolutely to return back to Canada.

Hope this help you, good luck, be strong.

You will not get L card before March is for sure...you have 3 month to change your status...ur bank ur ID all ur digital stuff will be blocked incl. Insurance

@Mai Rose

I had the exact same situation, here is what I have done.

First of all, you should retain very well that life is not fair in those circumstances. I am a doctor and I worked in Brussels and my credentials were from Canada. I was in a permanent job offer and they terminated it because my English is bad !!!! can you believe it! Canada's first language is English and I lived and studied in English. They just give you any reason to terminate your contract, it is not because you are bad, maybe the company where you worked at is in a financial deficit and they had to terminate few people.

Don't overthink it, that's life, you have to go on so quickly and close this chapter of your life, your next offer will be much better.

My A card supposed to expire in May 2025, I have been terminated from the job November 2023. I did not know what to do or what is the role. I took it easy thinking that as long as the card will expire in May 2025 then I am ok and have enough time to search for a job. I explained to a friend what happened and she told me that they might expel you from the country if you did not find a job even if your card says the expiry date in May 2025. She told me the very first step is to go to a lawyer. I don't know which city you are living in but in Brussels there is this organization which consists of lawyers who helped people for free: [link under review] of course they should verify how much income you get right now and they will ask for few documents before even seeing you ...etc I went there multiple times. during that time I received a letter about "retrieving your work permit" in early June 2024. I understand from the lawyer that after this letter, you will get another one from ministry of foreign affair within a month or two to ask you to leave the country and you have 90 days to leave. That made me panicked because I thought I have until May 2025.

Of course I made an intense search and asked all friends and people around me. Thankfully I found a temporary job for one year which is more than enough to get my things in order. And just last week received a renewed ID card valid until September 2025.

I have no idea what is card L and did not do any application with this regard.

things I don't advise:

at this moment don't get any info from the commune, I never did, one of the lawyers advised me to not go until he told me so. He warned me that they might take your ID card then you stuck, I don't know but he was afraid to do so during this time.

I was travelling in-out Belgium, until I received the letter to retrieve my residency status, then I stayed in Belgium (June to September 2024) until I got the job, I was working tirelessly to get it. I also send emails to Brussels economic that I got the job, so they will not send any letter to ministry of florigen affair to ask me to quit the country.

Why I still stay in Belgium and not returning back to Canada. well it is because I got married and I need some time to arrange my return. but my ultimate plan is absolutely to return back to Canada.

Hope this help you, good luck, be strong.

Thank you @maharaji1984, @nyamani77 and @ievgenfeldmannfor providing detailed information and guidance regarding my residence permit situation in Belgium.

I am currently registered with the Ixelles commune. I will contact a agency  as you suggested by this link https://bajbruxelles.be/index.php/fr/rendez-vous

I am grateful for the support and will ensure that I follow the necessary procedures accordingly.

Have a nice evening!