New work permit process for dependants in Belgium

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Member since 05 April 2019

Shikha13Member05 April 2019 11:36:26

Hi All,I came to Belgium on a dependant visa (my husband's employer in India sent him here on a project). I found a job here and my employer requested a work permit for me from Belgium government in Nov 2018. I got it and started working. It is valid until my RP is valid.

Now our RP needs renewal (expiring on 30 April) and we filed extension request already on 31 January. The Ministry said they received the file on 1 March (not sure why after a month) and it can take upto 4 months to get our renewed RP, which means we will be without RP for about 2 months.

My question is related to my job. Since now there is a new process called Single Work Permit for expats and the dependants won't need a work permit filed separately w.e.f. January 2019, can I still continue to work until my new RP is under process as I don't need a work permit now? This seems logical and my RP number will remain the same, it is just under renewal process which can take god knows how much time, plus I am eligible to work automatically as a dependant.

My employer is sceptical about this and might ask me to stop work until my new RP arrives as I will be without any paperwork. He might have to pay fines if government finds out that he employed an expat and there is no paperwork (for April onwards)...

What can I do to keep my job going? It will be a loss to my career and income both.

Hello Aneesh, could you please kindly help here.

Thanks,
Shikha

ansarahmed Member

Member since 08 March 2014

ansarahmedMember05 April 2019 11:50:08

HI,

Your employer requested a work permit for you from Belgium government in Nov 2018 and you got it, that means you have valid Work permit at least until Nov 2019. If you have valid Work Permit you can legally work even if you don't have RP. Also when you had applied for RP you might have got Annexe to show that you have requested for new RP. So you can show that to employer and there should be no problem.

Shikha13 Member

Member since 05 April 2019

Shikha13Member05 April 2019 12:25:58

Thank you for your reply. My WP also expires 30 April since it was linked to my RP. And no I did not get any annex also. We applied via an agency (from my husband's employer) and they filed it for us. We went to commune after that for checking the status but they had not heard back from Ministry and did not hand over any doc/Annex to us.

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