Professional card for non-European nationals
Route status
Active as of 2026-08-13[2]
Open to new applications under the rules recorded below.
| Territorial scope | Brussels-Capital Region (registered office in the Region, or activities mainly carried out on its territory); the card issued is then valid throughout Belgium as of 2026-08-13[2][5] Brussels Economy and Employment takes the file where the registered office is in the Brussels-Capital Region or the planned activities mainly take place there. The card, once granted, allows the holder 'to exercise activities in all of Belgium', and the Flemish administration states the mutual-recognition rule in both directions. |
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Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Carte professionnelle / Beroepskaart as of 2026-08-13[2] French and Dutch are both official in the Brussels-Capital Region and the administration publishes the card under both names. |
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| Official name (English) | Professional card for non-European nationals as of 2026-08-13[2] Brussels Economy and Employment's own English wording. |
| Legal basis | Ordonnance du 1er février 2024 relative à la migration économique (Région de Bruxelles-Capitale); Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale du 16 mai 2024 portant exécution de cette ordonnance; Arrêté royal du 3 février 2003 (exemptions); residence limb: Loi du 15 décembre 1980, art. 9 as of 2026-08-13[2][3][4] The three instruments are the ones Brussels Economy and Employment lists under 'Regulation' on the professional-card page itself. As in Flanders, the card is an economic authorisation and the residence limb runs on art. 9 of the Aliens Act. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-13[2][5][6] Nationals of the European Economic Area (EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) and of Switzerland do not need a professional card to work as self-employed persons in Belgium. efta is listed to carry Switzerland, which the bloc vocabulary has no separate value for; the three EFTA states that are also EEA parties are covered twice rather than left out. |
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| Criminal-record condition | Yes as of 2026-08-13[2] An extract from the criminal record (certificate of good conduct) is required with both first applications and renewals. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 5 years as of 2026-08-13[2] 'The professional card is attributed for a maximum period of five years. Generally, an initial card is granted for a probation period of two years.' The bounds form carries the published ceiling; the two-year first card is administrative practice the page describes as general rather than a rule, so it is not recorded as the value. |
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| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-13[2] Renewal must be applied for at least two months before expiry, through an enterprise counter, and is conditioned on regulatory, tax and social compliance, on the economic-value criterion, and on the profitability of the business unless losses are explained by investments likely to contribute to future success. |
| Work rights | self-employment only as of 2026-08-13[2] 'The permit is issued for one or more specific activities as mentioned on the card.' A new permit must be obtained before changing or adding activities. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-06-24[1] Same basis as the Flemish route: residence for a self-employed activity is not among the categories Aliens Act art. 15bis § 1 al. 2 excludes from counting toward EU long-term resident status, and art. 15 requires only five years' regular and uninterrupted residence. |
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Requirements
| Minimum capital | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2026-08-13[2] Brussels publishes no capital minimum for the professional card. The economic test is qualitative — the project must benefit the prosperity of the Brussels-Capital Region — and the page states no figure. Recorded unknown rather than zero: the run did not establish that the Ordinance of 1 February 2024 or its implementing Decree is silent on the point, only that the administering authority's own page is. |
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| Business plan required | Yes as of 2026-08-13[2] 'Your business plan (or a summary). The transmitted document must comprise a maximum of 20 pages' is on the list of documents every first application must include; renewals require an updated business plan of the same maximum length. |
| Endorsement required | No as of 2026-08-13[2] No accelerator, incubator or committee endorsement appears among the conditions or the required documents. The assessment is made by Brussels Economy and Employment itself against the three criteria of residence right, regulatory compliance and benefit to the Region's prosperity. |
| Innovation criterion | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-08-13[2] |
| Own means requirement | Not established from a qualifying source as of 2026-08-13[2] |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-08-13[2] An applicant living abroad files with the Belgian diplomatic or consular post in their country of residence; an applicant already lawfully in Belgium on a registration certificate model A or a certificate of registration in the register of foreign nationals files domestically. |
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| Observed processing time | 3 to 3 months as of 2026-08-13[2] |
| Fees |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-13[2] No minimum presence or absence ceiling is published for the card. 'The validity of the card is linked to the cardholder's right of residence. If this right is revoked, the card can no longer be used and must be returned' — the condition is the residence title, not a day count on the card. |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2026-06-24[1] |
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| Eligible relations | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Family may apply at the same time | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Family members' work rights | Not established from a qualifying source |
Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
Profile benefits
- A 30-minute call with our consultant, who reads your profile first.
- An offer for legal support built around your case, covering the whole process.
Verification
| Sources cited | 6 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 6 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-06-24 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-13 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-17 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Loi du 15 décembre 1980 sur l'accès au territoire, le séjour, l'établissement et l'éloignement des étrangers — consolidated text (Justel), updated to 24 June 2026
Service public fédéral Justice (Moniteur belge / Justel) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-24 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [2] Professional card for non-European nationals (Brussels-Capital Region) — conditions, procedure, fees, validity
Brussels Economy and Employment (Brussels Regional Public Service) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [3] Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale du 16 mai 2024 portant exécution de l'ordonnance du 1er février 2024 relative à la migration économique
Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (Moniteur belge) · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2024-06-11 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [4] Ordonnance du 1er février 2024 relative à la migration économique (Région de Bruxelles-Capitale)
Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (Moniteur belge) · gazette · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [5] Requirements for a professional card (Flemish Region)
Government of Flanders — Department of Work, Economy, Science, Innovation and Social Economy (WEWIS) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [6] Professional cards for self-employed workers who are not Belgian nationals (Walloon Region)
Service public de Wallonie — Département de l'Emploi et de la Formation professionnelle · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13