New Single Work Permit Procedure - Belgium

Hi,

This issue has already been treated many times on this website.

It is clearly stipulated on the official websites of the Belgian state that it is necessary to read and provide all the requested documents (with legalized translation, and other specificities). Nine files out of ten refused because they are poorly prepared. We must not forget that English is not an official Belgian language. So even if some employees of the Belgian state are making efforts, all writing must be written in one of the three Belgian national languages.

So every time you miss a step, your record starts again at the zero point !!!

As a result, the waiting time will automatically increase ...

There is also the fact that state services have to handle hundreds of files. And everyone always wants to be the first.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/n … dex_en.htm

I have also submitted a work permit in  Jan and in a similar situation.

Does anybody know whether this single work permit is still granted by the Flemish government or in Brussels?

Immigration is done by the Foreigner's Office (dofi). (Visa / right to stay)

Work permits is handled by the regions (Flemish, Brussels and Wallonia)

==> 2 separates administrations are working together


The region that will handle your case depends where you're planning to work.



In the end, both administration will have to give their approval, through they're working together.

For those who are busy with a single work permit application here's just an update:

It took about 2 and a half weeks for them to inform me that my paper work is complete. The next step is to wait for the approval of the work permit and the residence permit.

Here's to hoping it does not take 4 months!

Hello,

Do you have any news about your single permit ?I have applied on January 22th and just got an email that my application is complete and it is going to be transferred to the authorities for a decision .. I hope it won't take too long, I am supposed to start working on March,1st

Hi There,

I applied around the same time. I was supposed to start 1st of March too, but to be 100% honest the permit will not be ready by then. I'm expecting that it could take another month or 2. Once the file is complete then the authorities have 15 days to send the file to the immigration services who will decide on your residence permit. In this 15 day period it is possible that the authorities will make a decision regarding your work permit before they send the files to the immigration services. However, it is unfortunately also possible that it could take much longer

This process is still really new so there is no telling how long it will take. They say a maximum of 4 months, but I struggle to believe that it would really take that long.

Will keep you informed

I had applied in Jan 25th and my employer has not received any updates

Dnlwht70 wrote:

Hi There,

I applied around the same time. I was supposed to start 1st of March too, but to be 100% honest the permit will not be ready by then. I'm expecting that it could take another month or 2. Once the file is complete then the authorities have 15 days to send the file to the immigration services who will decide on your residence permit. In this 15 day period it is possible that the authorities will make a decision regarding your work permit before they send the files to the immigration services. However, it is unfortunately also possible that it could take much longer

This process is still really new so there is no telling how long it will take. They say a maximum of 4 months, but I struggle to believe that it would really take that long.

Will keep you informed

Hello,
Do you have any updates for us?

Hi there!

Yeah my work permit has been approved (took 3 weeks) and since its in the flemish area it will last for 3 years (new rule for 2019)

My papers are now being sent to the immigration office for residence approval (was told it can take 2 weeks)

In general it looks like the new process is running well. It takes about 4-6 weeks starting from when they inform you that your papers are in order.

That's great, congratulations. and 3 years even if your work contract is less? that's amazing.
Thanks for the follow up

My single permit was approved on 04th March(work and residence). And it is valid until 1 year. It took 5-6 weeks after the date of application to get the single permit and was quite faster than I assumed as its mentioned that it might take upto 4 months.
And just to mention, I had not apostiled pcc or any document.

The work permit took 2 weeks but the residence permit took close to 4 weeks.

That's great to hear, all good news. thanks for sharing

sanghamitra_padhi wrote:

My single permit was approved on 04th March(work and residence). And it is valid until 1 year. It took 5-6 weeks after the date of application to get the single permit and was quite faster than I assumed as its mentioned that it might take upto 4 months.
And just to mention, I had not apostiled pcc or any document.

The work permit took 2 weeks but the residence permit took close to 4 weeks.

And how did you get this permit. Did your employer collect it from Belgian authorities and courier to you, or did the consulate in India (via VFS) gave it to you ? Is it one card or a visa or equivalent stamp on your passport which later to be converted to a card.

Such info can be helpful to others as the single permit is still new to many. Thank you in advance !

Hello,

First of all thank you for sharing. But could you please give a little bit more detail to be more clear.
Thank you

Hi. There is not much more to say?

More information is available online regarding the required documents. It was just important to see that the process is fast and effective and does not take 4 months as stated online.

Dnlwht70 wrote:

Hi. There is not much more to say?

More information is available online regarding the required documents. It was just important to see that the process is fast and effective and does not take 4 months as stated online.

Thank you for your replay, also good to hear that the processing time not as they said.

Because 1st of March my company sent my documents by post, I don't know when is going to arrive to Brussels.

Could I ask you additionally, as I read your processing, you said that you received information after you applied your documents about 2,5 weeks that they approved your work permit, Did they contact you directly to your private e-mail or they contacted to your company and then your company contacted to you ?

Oh yes.

So they contacted my employer and then my employer informed me. So here are the steps:

1) they inform you that your papers are in order (then they have 15 days to send your papers to the immigration offices)
2) the work permit is approved in about 2 weeks (for me and for other people on this forum it has taken about 2 weeks)
3) the residence permit is approved (takes about 2-4 weeks) (immigration office might ask your employer for additional papers or information)

Hope this helps. I am still waiting for step 3 myself

I got the permit through email and have received four documents. Out of which two are addressed to me and my employer. And the third one is Annex 46 which is the decision granting of single permit, and the fourth one is addressed to Indian consulate. They had also informed my employer about the same.

And after I received the permit, I have applied for a long term visa.

sanghamitra_padhi wrote:

I got the permit through email and have received four documents. Out of which two are addressed to me and my employer. And the third one is Annex 46 which is the decision granting of single permit, and the fourth one is addressed to Indian consulate. They had also informed my employer about the same.

And after I received the permit, I have applied for a long term visa.

Hello there,

Thank you for update, just confused, information on internet were saying that your visa d will be ready automatically and you need to go to embassy just to collect your visa. So this means that wrong information were

Dnlwht70 wrote:

Oh yes.

So they contacted my employer and then my employer informed me. So here are the steps:

1) they inform you that your papers are in order (then they have 15 days to send your papers to the immigration offices)
2) the work permit is approved in about 2 weeks (for me and for other people on this forum it has taken about 2 weeks)
3) the residence permit is approved (takes about 2-4 weeks) (immigration office might ask your employer for additional papers or information)

Hope this helps. I am still waiting for step 3 myself

Hey there ,

Thank you also for your update and information, we keep crossed fingers and wait your another updates,

My employer had applied for the work permit along with copy of my passport not original. And hence we have to goto our respective consultate and submit the passport and other documents, so that they stamp and give it back.

However,I am still waiting for the visa to be stamped, fingers crossed.

Did you have to add all your long stay visa documents in to the consulate or did you just give your passport?

We need to schedule  an appointment  and carry the documents as mentioned in diplomatie.belgium.be website.

sanghamitra_padhi wrote:

We need to schedule  an appointment  and carry the documents as mentioned in diplomatie.belgium.be website.

This sounds exactly as old system of work permit, also as you said you didn’t provide pcc with apostille, also I think single permit gives you 3 years not 1 year as I know if I’m not wrong. Are you sure your employer didn’t apply your documents before 01.01.2019 ??

It is only valid for 3 years in the Flanders area All other parts of Belgium only provide the permit for 1 year. I would recommend searching more online for the single work permit system.

What we have provided here is indeed information on the single work permit system. Do not worry.

Dnlwht70 wrote:

It is only valid for 3 years in the Flanders area All other parts of Belgium only provide the permit for 1 year. I would recommend searching more online for the single work permit system.

What we have provided here is indeed information on the single work permit system. Do not worry.

Yes you are right, I checked just Flanders area, that’s why it stayed on my mind 3 years. But it’s really interesting to apply without pcc with appostille. Because my employer told me this is the most important documents and also medical certificate.

Nope, it was applied on Jan 25, 2019. And while submitting the visa, I had to submit the dingle permit which I had received.

sanghamitra_padhi wrote:

Nope, it was applied on Jan 25, 2019. And while submitting the visa, I had to submit the dingle permit which I had received.

Understood, thank you very much. Please keep us updated. Wish you luck from now to your new life in Belgium. You are the first who received single permit officially in this forum.

Thanks. I am hoping to get the visa soon.

I have question my employer told me they already applied my work permit last 22nd of feb.but they never ask any documents like orginal medical certificate and pcc as i only send it via email.they just only ask my cv and complete address where i was living at the moment. They only told me that process everything and waiting for the approval of the work permit.do u think they will ask for another documents as what mostly i read here that all documents need for work permit is original? Hope some can answer my questioned thank in advance.

Thanks for the details. Did you get the single permit for Brusells region?

csuresh86 wrote:

Thanks for the details. Did you get the single permit for Brusells region?

Yes, I got the single permit for Brussels region.

Rena123 wrote:

I have question my employer told me they already applied my work permit last 22nd of feb.but they never ask any documents like orginal medical certificate and pcc as i only send it via email.they just only ask my cv and complete address where i was living at the moment. They only told me that process everything and waiting for the approval of the work permit.do u think they will ask for another documents as what mostly i read here that all documents need for work permit is original? Hope some can answer my questioned thank in advance.

I am not sure but I believe it also depends from which country you are applying from.

You said, we need to book appointment  https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en and submit pcc and other original documents in Belgium consulate for verification

I am little confused here.

1. When/Why do I need to book appointment to Belgium Consulate for original document verification ?
2. To get visa , I need to submit all my original documents to Vfs .  Vfs will take care on contacting with Belgium consulate for original document verification..etc?.Or  I need to book appointment to Belgium consulate and submit the document

Please help me out on this

Where did you get this information from? This forum simply shows what the steps are to Get a single work permit and how long the process will take. I am sure that your employer will tell you what needs to be done once your single permit has been approved. Until that is done, there is no need to stress yet about your visa.

Once I have gone through that process regarding the visa I will add a section on that over here. Until then we cannot give all the answers as this is a new process for everyone, but it seems that once you have your single permit, you have to go through the usual steps needed to receive a Visa D. (Steps on how that works are found on other expat pages)

The Document that needs verification is the PCC and this needs to be done before applying for the single work permit.

They applied in Belgium..thats get me confused since they just only asked the complete details of my cv. And they informed me that they already applied the work permit and just waiting for the approval. Actually i already submit the documents needed for my visa d in VFS dubai. Together with the original contract which they send here for additional documents of my visa d. But the process wont go through. Cos im still waiting for my work permit. Its showing in the system of belgium embassy in abu dhabi still on process.thats why im confused why didnt ask the original documents of my medicL certificate and pcc.

csuresh86 wrote:

You said, we need to book appointment  https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en and submit pcc and other original documents in Belgium consulate for verification

I am little confused here.

1. When/Why do I need to book appointment to Belgium Consulate for original document verification ?
2. To get visa , I need to submit all my original documents to Vfs .  Vfs will take care on contacting with Belgium consulate for original document verification..etc?.Or  I need to book appointment to Belgium consulate and submit the document

Please help me out on this

For Flanders region, please check this link below and right click on google chrome and translate it in English. Detail explained.

https://www.werk.be/online-diensten/van … -procedure

You need to first apply for and receive your work permit and then apply for your visa.