Belgian Professional Card : How to Apply

You should apply for a Belgian professional card through the use of two request forms. If you are currently living abroad when applying then you must use the ‘Application Form for the Belgian Professional Card for Foreigners’ (which should be submitted to the Belgian representation within your country). If you hold a valid ‘Model A’ registration certificate then the form must be submitted to an enterprise counter of your choosing.
The form must be filled out in full with all required and requested documents being attached to the Belgian professional card application. A proof of payment of any tax due at the time of applying must also be included.

Belgian Professional Card : Application Rejected

Should your application be rejected, you will have to wait two years before applying again, the time period starting from the date that the previous application was submitted. However, this will not be the case if the application has been refused on the decision due to not conforming to set standards, if you can claim any new evidence or if the application you submitted is related to a differing professional activity.

Belgian Professional Card : Examination Procedure for Application

In order to understand the procedure, we have broken down the steps taken by the authorities to assess your application. To start, the diplomatic representative that will receive your application then forwards it, within 5 working days, to the Economic Permit Unit.

The EPU will then verify whether your application for a Belgian Professional Card indeed complies with the rules laid out by the authorities. Should your application not comply, the application will be rejected with a notification arriving from the consulate. If the rules are adhered to then the EPU will assess your application. The assessment takes into account the right of residence. Should you not have the right of residence, you must then apply for the right at the relevant and closest Belgian embassy or diplomatic representation at precisely the same time as you apply for a Belgian professional card.
The second criteria set for a Belgian professional card is the compliance with the necessary regulatory obligations, the obligations surrounding professional activity in particular. Finally, the relevance of your project in Belgium is taken into account. This involves looking at the response to the economic needs of the time, creation of jobs in that sector, the benefits for employers and companies in Belgium and new opportunities.

This part of the application for a Belgian Professional Card requires you to contact the EPU or enterprise counter, depending on the consulate you submitted your application to. Also at this stage, should your company or yourself not have access to the professional activity that you want to partake in, you are still required to contact an enterprise counter. They will take into consideration the relevance of the project about to be undertaken. This revolves around a detailed description of the project, the experience, professionalism and skills of the expatriate/applicant, the financial aspects, opportunities on the contract and finally a market study. This all determines the governmental view of relevance on the project.

Belgian Professional Card : The Decision

Should your application meet the required criteria then the EPU will issue the Belgian Professional Card. This will be distributed by the enterprise counter but if not, the EPU will give you notice and the reasons for their decision.