Professional card for foreign entrepreneurs
Route status
Active as of 2026-08-13[5]
Open to new applications under the rules recorded below.
| Territorial scope | Flemish Region (establishment unit of the self-employed activity in Flanders); the card issued is then valid throughout Belgium as of 2026-08-13[5] Competence follows the address of the establishment unit as recorded in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises; where a company operates across regions, the region of its headquarters decides. Mutual recognition applies: 'Holding a professional card for the Flemish Region allows you to offer your services in the Walloon Region, Brussels-Capital Region, and the German-speaking Community without needing another professional card', and in reverse. |
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Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Beroepskaart as of 2026-07-28[5][7] Dutch. The Flemish Decree of 15 October 2021 and the Flemish portal both use 'beroepskaart'; the portal's English pages render it 'professional card'. |
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| Official name (English) | Professional card for foreign entrepreneurs as of 2026-08-13[5] The Government of Flanders' own English wording. From 1 September 2026 the innovative-entrepreneur and start-up strand is additionally marketed as the 'Innovation & Startup Permit' — see pending_changes. |
| Legal basis | Decreet van 15 oktober 2021 over de uitoefening van zelfstandige beroepsactiviteiten door buitenlandse onderdanen, arts. 5-12; Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 17 december 2021; residence limb: Loi du 15 décembre 1980, art. 9 as of 2026-07-28[3][6][7] Professional cards became a regional competence and Flanders legislated its own regime with effect from 1 January 2022; the Decree of 15 October 2021 expressly amends the federal Law of 19 February 1965 for the Flemish Region. The card is an economic authorisation, not a residence title: an applicant abroad who is granted the card then applies to the Belgian diplomatic post for an authorisation for provisional residence (type D visa) under 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][8] 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[4][5] A criminal-record extract dated within the last six months, issued by the competent authority of the country where the applicant is lawfully resident, is required with every first application; the applicant must also not pose a threat to public order or security in Belgium (Decree art. 5 § 1, 2°). |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | 1 to 3 years as of 2026-07-28[4][7] Decree art. 12, 3°: the card is granted for the duration of the self-employed activity, to a maximum of three years. The portal states the granted validity is 'between one and three years and is set according to the value added by the file'. |
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| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-07-28[4][7] Decree art. 12, 3°: 'Als de geldigheidsduur van de beroepskaart is verstreken, kan de beroepskaart hernieuwd worden.' |
| Work rights | self-employment only as of 2026-07-28[5][7] Decree art. 12, 2°: the card is limited to the self-employed professional activity for which it was issued. Any change of or addition to the activity requires a new card. A card may be held alongside employment as a main occupation, in which case a valid work permit for at least a half-time position must be produced — that employment right comes from the work permit, not from the card. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-06-24[1] Aliens Act art. 15bis § 1 al. 2 lists exhaustively the categories whose residence does not count toward EU long-term resident status — students and vocational trainees, beneficiaries of temporary protection, holders of protection other than international protection, and further listed cases. Residence for a self-employed activity is not among them, and art. 15 (establishment) requires only five years' regular and uninterrupted residence. |
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Requirements
| Minimum capital | EUR 22,838 as of 2026-08-13[4][5][7] Applies to the economic-added-value category only, not to the innovative, sporting or cultural/artistic categories. Decree art. 7 al. 1 sets the start capital at EUR 18,600, to be used for developing the activity, and al. 4 lets the Flemish Government change the amount but never below EUR 18,600; the portal states EUR 22,838 as the indexed amount from 1 January 2026 and requires evidence that it is held in a financial account in the applicant's own name. The applied 2026 figure is recorded here and the statutory floor is recorded in this note; the two are not in conflict. |
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| Business plan required | Yes as of 2026-08-13[4][5] A full business plan covering target market or target group, market size, competitive analysis, SWOT analysis and marketing plan is required for the economic and innovative categories. Applications in the sporting, cultural or artistic categories may instead submit a financial plan or liquidity forecast, so the requirement is a planning document in every case but not a full business plan in every case. |
| Endorsement required | No as of 2026-08-13[5] No committee, accelerator or incubator vetting is a condition of the card. Cooperation with an incubator or accelerator, or with a research and knowledge-dissemination organisation, is one of three alternative ways of showing innovative added value, and from 1 September 2026 a signed cooperation letter also buys fast-track processing — in both cases an option, not a gate. |
| Innovation criterion | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-07-28[5][7] |
| Jobs to be created | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-07-28[5][7] |
| Own means requirement | 1.10 × guaranteed average minimum monthly income per month as of 2026-07-28[1][5][7] |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-08-13[4] 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. The 'orange card' (attest van immatriculatie) is expressly not accepted as valid residence for this purpose. |
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| Statutory processing time | 120 days as of 2026-08-13[4] 'The decision on your professional card will be communicated within 120 days of your application being accepted', extendable for a complex file on notice. If no decision is reached within that period plus any extension, the professional card is deemed approved and is issued — a positive silence rule. |
| Observed processing time | 2 to 2 months as of 2026-08-13[5] |
| Fees |
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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 |
| Additional means per family member |
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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 | 8 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 8 |
| 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] Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 17 december 2021 tot uitvoering van het decreet van 15 oktober 2021 over de uitoefening van zelfstandige beroepsactiviteiten door buitenlandse onderdanen
Vlaamse Overheid (Belgisch Staatsblad) · gazette · Tier 1 · Published 2022-02-24 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [4] Applying for your first professional card (Flemish Region) — documents, fees, decision period, validity
Government of Flanders — Department of Work, Economy, Science, Innovation and Social Economy (WEWIS) · official portal · 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 card — legislation, forms and documents (list of governing instruments)
Government of Flanders — Department of Work, Economy, Science, Innovation and Social Economy (WEWIS) · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [7] Decreet van 15 oktober 2021 over de uitoefening van zelfstandige beroepsactiviteiten door buitenlandse onderdanen — consolidated text (Justel), updated to 28 July 2026
Vlaamse Overheid (Belgisch Staatsblad / Justel) · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-28 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [8] 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