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Single work permit and Type B in Belgium
Document Checklist
Contrat de travail / arbeidsovereenkomst
Signed employment contract
Required: Signed (or ready-to-execute) contract between the Belgian employer (or the Belgian entity hosting an intra-corporate transferee) and the foreign worker, on terms equivalent to those applicable to Belgian workers performing comparable functions
Where to get: Issued by the prospective employer in Belgium
Cost: Already issued
Salary must meet at least the federal guaranteed monthly minimum wage (revenu minimum mensuel moyen garanti — RMMMG). Category-specific routes (highly qualified worker, EU Blue Card, intra-corporate transferee) carry absolute salary thresholds set by each region and revised periodically; check the regional employment authority for the current figure at the time of application.
Passeport / paspoort
Valid passport
Required: Copy of identity pages and of any current visa; validity must cover the intended period of stay
Cost: Already issued
The passport is needed at every stage — regional application file, federal residence examination, consular visa, and commune residence-card issuance on arrival.
Description de fonction / functiebeschrijving
Detailed job description
Required: Document describing the duties, place of work, working hours, and required qualifications; used to assess whether the position is qualification-adequate and whether a labour-market test applies
Cost: Self-prepared by the employer
Shortage occupations, EU Blue Card, intra-corporate transferee, researchers, post-doctoral researchers, and highly qualified workers are exempt from the labour-market test. General routes are subject to it.
Attestation ONSS / RSZ attest + extrait BCE / KBO-uittreksel
Employer good-standing evidence
Required: Recent good-standing attestation from the federal social-security office (ONSS / RSZ) and an extract from the Banque-Carrefour des Entreprises (BCE / KBO) evidencing the employer's legal identity and registration
Where to get: ONSS / RSZ portal for social-security; BCE / KBO public extract
Cost: Free of charge for the ONSS / RSZ attestation and the public BCE / KBO extract
The employer must also be in good standing on tax obligations. Outstanding debts to the federal collector can block the regional admissibility decision.
Diplôme / diploma
Diploma or qualification evidence
Required: Original or certified copy of the qualifying diploma or, for category routes requiring a degree-equivalence, an equivalence decision from the competent Community service (NARIC-Vlaanderen for the Flemish region; the Service Reconnaissance académique et professionnelle of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles for the Walloon region; DG Ostbelgien for the German-speaking Community)
Where to get: Awarding institution; equivalence services as listed above
Cost: Equivalence-decision fees are set by each Community service and depend on the source diploma
Foreign-language diplomas require sworn translation. For regulated professions (medical doctors, nurses, certain engineers and teachers), a recognition of the right to practise is required in addition to the academic equivalence.
Curriculum vitae
Curriculum vitae
Required: Detailed gapless CV documenting education and employment history, prepared in one of the three administrative languages (French, Dutch or German) of the region of work, or in English where the regional authority accepts it
Cost: Self-prepared
Used by the regional examiner and, for intra-corporate transferees, to evidence the qualifying period of prior employment with the originating undertaking.
Traduction jurée / beëdigde vertaling
Sworn translations of foreign documents
Required: Documents not originally in the administrative language of the region of work must be translated by a sworn translator (traducteur juré / beëdigd vertaler)
Where to get: Sworn translators registered with the relevant Belgian court of first instance
Cost: Market-priced; depends on document volume and source language
Self-translation and machine translation are not accepted. Source documents from outside the EU may additionally require legalisation or apostille under the 1961 Hague Convention.
Certificat médical / medisch attest
Medical certificate
Required: Issued by a doctor approved by the Belgian diplomatic mission in the worker's country of residence; the consular post specifies the form and the issuing-doctor list
Cost: Paid in the originating country to the issuing doctor; rate set locally
Required for the consular long-stay visa step. The mission may refuse to accept certificates not issued by an approved doctor.
Extrait de casier judiciaire / uittreksel uit het strafregister
Police-clearance or good-conduct certificate
Required: Issued by the authorities of the worker's country of residence and any country of prior residence covering the period requested by the consular post; legalisation or apostille may be required
Cost: Set by the issuing country
Required for the consular long-stay visa step and for the federal residence-side examination.
Convention d'accueil / gastovereenkomst
Hosting agreement (researcher route)
Required: For applicants on the researcher route under EU Directive 2016/801: hosting agreement between the worker and an accredited Belgian research organisation
Cost: Already issued
Researchers admitted under the hosting-agreement procedure are typically exempt from the regional labour-market test.
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