Belgium to introduce new immigration rules for foreign workers

BELGIUM – The Belgian authorities have announced the latest changes to the immigration rules, targeting overseas workers and visibly making them tougher.

Starting from May 1st, 2024, new policies are set to be implemented, in addition to work permit exemptions, strict requirements for some jobs, and eased educational requirements for EU Blue Card holders.

The new regulations will give more benefits to Belgian and European workers and prioritize them for work. Moreover, the entry permit for foreign nationals is only possible after a complete assessment of the local and regional labor market as per the fresh rules.

More specifically, many activities that currently require a work permit will be allowed to be performed under a business visitor. These activities include attending conferences, seminars, trade events, meetings about business agreements, sales activities, marketing, expansion of business, training sessions, tourism activities and interpretation services.

It has also been reported that under the fresh rules, the employee should not stay in the country for more than 90 days out of 180 allowed days.

The rules have been tightened in the sense that employers seeking to hire people for in-demand medium-skilled jobs will be required to present proof of the applicant’s experience and qualifications which will be evaluated by respective regional authorities – a step which may extend the internal administrative procedure.

The government is also expected to introduce tough requirements regarding the labour test procedure. Under new changes, employers must publish vacancies for at least nine weeks within the four months before the application and jobs must be listed on EURES and VDAB websites. Besides, the authorities will accept only VDAB-recognized shortage jobs, Schengenvisainfor reported.

The rules are expected to be relaxed for certain categories of EU Blue Card holders. For instance, EU Blue Card applicants with managerial or specialist occupations in IT can replace academic credentials with at least three years of relevant work experience gained in the last seven years – a step taken to tackle the shortages related to the IT sector.

Moreover, holders of the EU Blue Card will have eased procedures for switching employers, requiring only notification to the Regional Employment Ministry within the initial 12 months. The country has also introduced other minor changes, including simplified rules for seasonal workers and the updated policies aim to ease the immigration procedure while making sure that the labour force in the Flanders Region of Belgium is used effectively.