Single Permit (Belgium Work permit)

hello

questions already answered hundred of time.
Please read the other topics.

Don't expect anything during the covid19 chaos

Hello,

I have some questions related to the unlimited work permit:

The request should be done by the employee and once the ministry accepts the request a decision regarding the stay in Belgium will be taken by Foreigners Office.

During this period between Ministry decision and Foreigners office decision, what will be the situation of the employee in term of residence since his former residence permit related to the former work permit (B) will be no more valid?

If the tawnhall gives the annex 50 to the employee until the new residence permit is provided, would this period not be taken into account for calculation of staying duration in Belgium? (interruption since no valid residence permit).

Would this change of work permit (from B WP to A WP) cause a reset for the calculation of the 5 years stay in Belgium?

Thank you in Advance.
Best Regards,
Sooileh

Hello.
Please don't mix subjects, you should have opened a new topic.


As long as there's an administrative process ongoing about a renewal of your resident permit (annexe 50), you can safely stay in Belgium. Meaning you're still in a legal stay.
But you can't work anymore if your work permit has expired! It's your job to start the renew process soon enough to let you continue working without any interruption.


In case the work permit would be denied, your resident permit would not be renewed and at the end of the story, you would receive a formal order to leave the country within x days (7-30 days), normal process is 30d to let you enough time to appeal in justice.

So, no, it doesn't impact the calculation of the 5 years of stay.

As far as I remember (I may be wrong), but A work permit doesn't exist anymore.
Only B and unique permit.


After 4 years of unique permit, you can request to receive the "unlimited" unique permit. Meaning you have unlimited access to work in Belgium and you don't need any work permit anymore.
After 5 years of stay, you can request to become a permanent resident. Work permit is not need anymore.

Hello,

Thank you for your reply and sorry if I mixed subjects (I thought that it will match with the above mentioned subject Single WP).

i already received approval for my 6th Single WP for limited duration and I think that the laws changed recently regarding the duration calculation for the request of permanent residence permit (years under special tax regime are not taken into account if i am not wrong, which is my case).

Before asking for permanent residence permit I would like to request unlimited single permit prior to the request of permanent residence permit to show that I am staying in Belgium not for limited time (as per single limited work permit).

I would just do this as a precaution and it allows some felixibility in changing employer.

What do you think about this option?

If the foreigers office rejects my request for unlimited single WP would it be possible to keep the previous status with temporary single permit with the current valid duration of stay in Belgium (3 years currently in my residence card).

Thank you in advance

You're mixing things...



Regarding laws points of view:
* you have a regime of favor (request toward the administration - that can be easily denied : such as a visa, a single work permit, ...)
* you have a regime of right (you request a law to be applied - that can't be denied if you respect the conditions of the laws)


In case of unlimited work permit, you request a right to be applied.
Meaning that if you fulfill all the conditions, you will get what you ask for ==> an unlimited work permit.
If you do request it, without fulfilling all the conditions, it will be simply denied. Case closed.


Now, in case you request an unlimited work permit that got denied, you can still request a "normal" unique permit renewal... but that would be a favor and not a right to be applied.



At some point, I would say:
you're in Belgium since 6 years... just request to be a permanent resident (if you've been working all that time...).

Thanks a lot for your feedback.

If i understand well, you mean that if the request for unlimited WP got denied by the foreigners office (even if it is accepted by the ministry), i will not keep the current status (temporary WP with resident permit valid until 2023) right?

Would the request of unlimited WP be at risk in my case? (currently under WP for high qualified person).

no.
Your temporary resident card (A card - 1 year) depends on your temporary work permit (1-3 years).
If you've an ongoing work permit, your A card will be renewed easily.


If you have lived and worked for 5 years (or more) in a row in Belgium, without living elsewhere, then do request to become a permanent resident based on the 5 years of work.
Then no more work permit will be needed.

What do you mean by don't expect anything during Covid19 crisis ? Are you saying the employment office doesn't function at all during this time ? These are unprecedented times for everyone but more so for people who lost their jobs. So if you find a new job are you saying you still cannot work for a very long time cos the administrative process in Belgium is so incompetent ?

um89arun wrote:

What do you mean by don't expect anything during Covid19 crisis ? Are you saying the employment office doesn't function at all during this time ? These are unprecedented times for everyone but more so for people who lost their jobs. So if you find a new job are you saying you still cannot work for a very long time cos the administrative process in Belgium is so incompetent ?

Lots of government offices are closed not just in Belgium but across the world so Belgium isn't incompetent. Also Europe is has closed its borders to people outside the EU. So if you are outside the EU, you wouldn't be able to enter anyway.

um89arun wrote:

What do you mean by don't expect anything during Covid19 crisis ? Are you saying the employment office doesn't function at all during this time ? These are unprecedented times for everyone but more so for people who lost their jobs. So if you find a new job are you saying you still cannot work for a very long time cos the administrative process in Belgium is so incompetent ?

Dear,

If you don't like the way Belgium works at the moment, you are free to return to your country.

I am in Belgium and I lost my job in March due to the crisis. I have given a lot of interviews since but most of them didn't give me an offer because of the long wait time to switch my employer linked to the single permit. This puts everyone looking for a job at this moment in a tough situation.
When bars, restaurant and even gyms are open in Belgium I really don't understand how can you not have a functioning government office at least for the essential services.

have a nice day

phipiemar wrote:

um89arun wrote:

What do you mean by don't expect anything during Covid19 crisis ? Are you saying the employment office doesn't function at all during this time ? These are unprecedented times for everyone but more so for people who lost their jobs. So if you find a new job are you saying you still cannot work for a very long time cos the administrative process in Belgium is so incompetent ?

Dear,

If you don't like the way Belgium works at the moment, you are free to return to your country.

Thanks for your wonderful advice. Really shows where you're coming from.

um89arun wrote:

I am in Belgium and I lost my job in March due to the crisis. I have given a lot of interviews since but most of them didn't give me an offer because of the long wait time to switch my employer linked to the single permit. This puts everyone looking for a job at this moment in a tough situation.
When bars, restaurant and even gyms are open in Belgium I really don't understand how can you not have a functioning government office at least for the essential services.

Have you tried even phoning the office?

um89arun wrote:

What do you mean by don't expect anything during Covid19 crisis ? Are you saying the employment office doesn't function at all during this time ? These are unprecedented times for everyone but more so for people who lost their jobs. So if you find a new job are you saying you still cannot work for a very long time cos the administrative process in Belgium is so incompetent ?

No, i contacted the regional employment in Brussels for WP, and they told me that they are working faster than normal condition. As they are working from home, they have more time to do their jobs (no meetings with colleagues).

In their site they mention that all requests should be don via email (see link below).

http://werk-economie-emploi.brussels/en … t-covid-19

AlexFromBelgium wrote:

no.
Your temporary resident card (A card - 1 year) depends on your temporary work permit (1-3 years).
If you've an ongoing work permit, your A card will be renewed easily.


If you have lived and worked for 5 years (or more) in a row in Belgium, without living elsewhere, then do request to become a permanent resident based on the 5 years of work.
Then no more work permit will be needed.

Thanks a lot AlexFromBelgium for your response Anyway, i had a look at the applying conditions for unlimited WP an i see that i don't fulfill all the condition as my current WP is for high qualified persons (link below).

http://werk-economie-emploi.brussels/en … -unlimited

"Attention. The following employment situations cannot be taken into account to calculate the number of employment years covered by a type B work permit or a single permit (royal decree dated 9 June 1999):

- interns;
- highly qualified staff;
- seconded employees;
- invited researchers and professors;
- specialised technicians;
- au pairs;
- spouse, registered partner or children of a foreign worker with a type B work permit or self-employed status (Art. 9.16);
- spouse, registered partner or children of a foreign worker exempted from a work permit (Art. 9.17);
workers in training (article 9,18 and 9,19 of the royal decree dated 9 June 1999)"

Therefore i will directly apply for "D" card. At the town-hall they told me that i can make the request via email due to COVID-19 measures, and they will send me a scan of "Annex 16bis" by email.

I hope it will work.

Best Regards,
Sooileh

Sooileh wrote:

AlexFromBelgium wrote:

no.
Your temporary resident card (A card - 1 year) depends on your temporary work permit (1-3 years).
If you've an ongoing work permit, your A card will be renewed easily.


If you have lived and worked for 5 years (or more) in a row in Belgium, without living elsewhere, then do request to become a permanent resident based on the 5 years of work.
Then no more work permit will be needed.

Thanks a lot AlexFromBelgium for your response Anyway, i had a look at the applying conditions for unlimited WP an i see that i don't fulfill all the condition as my current WP is for high qualified persons (link below).

http://werk-economie-emploi.brussels/en … -unlimited

"Attention. The following employment situations cannot be taken into account to calculate the number of employment years covered by a type B work permit or a single permit (royal decree dated 9 June 1999):

- interns;
- highly qualified staff;
- seconded employees;
- invited researchers and professors;
- specialised technicians;
- au pairs;
- spouse, registered partner or children of a foreign worker with a type B work permit or self-employed status (Art. 9.16);
- spouse, registered partner or children of a foreign worker exempted from a work permit (Art. 9.17);
workers in training (article 9,18 and 9,19 of the royal decree dated 9 June 1999)"

Therefore i will directly apply for "D" card. At the town-hall they told me that i can make the request via email due to COVID-19 measures, and they will send me a scan of "Annex 16bis" by email.

I hope it will work.

Best Regards,
Sooileh

I find it funny that the "highly qualified staff" in the content has been removed. You can recheck again the link

It was not removed, it's included in the last bullet:
workers covered by article 2 of the royal decree dated 9 June 1999

http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_lo … e_name=loi

Thanks Alex, because I did not read carefully that Article.

AlexFromBelgium wrote:

It was not removed, it's included in the last bullet:
workers covered by article 2 of the royal decree dated 9 June 1999

http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_lo … e_name=loi

The condition of Unlimited work permit is actually lifted (excluded) for Highly skill worker!

https://www.agii.be/nieuws/wijzigingen- … ijk-gewest

Wijzigingen voorwaarden gecombineerde vergunning onbepaalde duur

Daarnaast voert het besluit enkele wijzigingen door aan de voorwaarden voor een gecombineerde vergunning van onbepaalde duur in het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest:

hooggeschoolden worden niet langer uitgesloten

Hi everyone,

I have a student visa (A-card) tied to my PhD that expires on the 31st of January. In the meantime, my employer applied for a work permit. It has been approved by the Regional Employment Ministry but has yet to be finalized at the federal level. I am a bit "afraid" of staying more than the validity of my student visa. Any suggestions?

Hello,

Do you know if the 4 years of working in Belgium need to be continuous, in order to apply for the unlimited permit?

I changed employer once and waited for 3 months to get the new permit, and I was now told that the count has to be reset because of this (unwilling) interruption.

So I have to spend 4 years with the new employer to be eligible to apply. All the time I worked previously in Belgium goes to waste. It's truly illogical to me, especially because I took that break for administrative reasons, not for fun.

Thanks,
Milena

mognj wrote:

Hello,

Do you know if the 4 years of working in Belgium need to be continuous, in order to apply for the unlimited permit?

I changed employer once and waited for 3 months to get the new permit, and I was now told that the count has to be reset because of this (unwilling) interruption.

So I have to spend 4 years with the new employer to be eligible to apply. All the time I worked previously in Belgium goes to waste. It's truly illogical to me, especially because I took that break for administrative reasons, not for fun.

Thanks,
Milena

Hi, it looks like that because I am informed also by the region that I need to switch job just in time to avoid any gap. And yes, the official end date of the previous job must be followed directly by a start date of the next one. The region consulted me this and recommend me following this way so that I negotiated between employers on those official dates.

The reason is because I was based on Single permit due to Job so if there is a Job break that means the Residence is also considered to be not in order. Thats what they explained. So basically, continuous job = continuos residence, if you stay here based on your job. If you have visa on other purposes than it is another story

I suppose I will have issues applying for permanent residence because of that as well.. So annoying !

Probably yes as an interruption so your permanent residence count is restarted indeed. Best to ask the Ministry. They will answer you how long you will be able to apply for permanent residence instead of guessing

Good morning

Can anybody advise if work permits being issued to red zone country citizens at the moment? We were notified in June that in put on hold indefinite.


Kind Regards

@PhDstudent@work

How long did you wait to receive your new residence permit?
Can we do anything to speed up the process or just wait? And the commune will contact us when they have information from the Office des Estranger or do we need to actively ask the commune or our company?

Many thanks.

tiendo wrote:

@PhDstudent@work

How long did you wait to receive your new residence permit?
Can we do anything to speed up the process or just wait? And the commune will contact us when they have information from the Office des Estranger or do we need to actively ask the commune or our company?

Many thanks.

Is this the first time you are in Belgium?

What you said is correct! It is the commune will send you a letter to come and ask for the single permit if the Ministry approved.

There is no way to speed up and the only way is waiting. If everyone has an option to speed up something then this country will be blowed up.
Your company can send a request for a progress update.

Peterjohn123 wrote:

tiendo wrote:

@PhDstudent@work

How long did you wait to receive your new residence permit?
Can we do anything to speed up the process or just wait? And the commune will contact us when they have information from the Office des Estranger or do we need to actively ask the commune or our company?

Many thanks.

Is this the first time you are in Belgium?

What you said is correct! It is the commune will send you a letter to come and ask for the single permit if the Ministry approved.

There is no way to speed up and the only way is waiting. If everyone has an option to speed up something then this country will be blowed up.
Your company can send a request for a progress update.

Thank you for your information.
I have been living in Brussels for some years under a student visa.

Can I, as a prospective employee, send an email directly (though I haven't figured out the email address yet) to ask for the progress or it has to be the company?

Hi,

My new employer has filed for my single permit on 20 July in Flanders region. However, I have not received any update / query regarding work authorisation approval yet. My consultant mentioned last week that the ministry is currently processing July 1st week applications.

Has anyone else applied during the same time period as me and received any updates?

Just needed this information as I need to understand when to put down my resignation.

Normally you could ask as you have the consent about the information relating to you.

I am not sure if you already got green light from the Work office relating to the work or not. Normally in Brussels both Work office and Immigration office do the application parallel.

So you could send the info email to IBZ including your ID card to ask for the status. They will answer within 4 days.

The_cap_87 wrote:

Hi,

My new employer has filed for my single permit on 20 July in Flanders region. However, I have not received any update / query regarding work authorisation approval yet. My consultant mentioned last week that the ministry is currently processing July 1st week applications.

Has anyone else applied during the same time period as me and received any updates?

Just needed this information as I need to understand when to put down my resignation.

Hmm its weird. It happened in my case that I got approval from the region only in 1 week because I told them the date of resignation and the start date so they just process. I assume (thinking heh) that because you have not mentioned the resignation date, which I also found it strange because they asked me to give a resignation letter before they process my file, then they just process your file as non-urgent or something.

My experience with Flemish work office was always fast 1~2 week max!

Thanks for the info.

Was your application filed recently? Because my consultant told me that due to holidays, there is a delay.

The_cap_87 wrote:

Thanks for the info.

Was your application filed recently? Because my consultant told me that due to holidays, there is a delay.

Yes, I think it is what they assumed because ofcourse, a lot of people go holidays on July and August. Its normal.
I even did another last year also in August. Everything was also fine. Applied on Monday and got it Friday the same week. And I can already start from the following Monday (indeed, I needed to rely on my end-date of the current contract and start-date of the new one).
But its Belgium, case by case is a norm here. Good luck!

Message Removed

The_cap_87 wrote:

Thanks for the info.

Was your application filed recently? Because my consultant told me that due to holidays, there is a delay.

Any update on this? Mine was submitted a few days after yours.

Have you not yet got yours? Seems a long time, no?

Peterjohn123 wrote:

Have you not yet got yours? Seems a long time, no?

In another post, someone replied saying that they are processing applications submitted on 26th July last week. Mine was submitted on 30th July. Let’s see

gc1092 wrote:

The_cap_87 wrote:

Thanks for the info.

Was your application filed recently? Because my consultant told me that due to holidays, there is a delay.

Any update on this? Mine was submitted a few days after yours.

I got my work authorisation approval on 10 sep. not yet got single permit