Search year after higher studies
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Zoekjaar / Sejour apres les etudes en vue de trouver un emploi ou de creer une entreprise as of 2026-06-24[1] The Aliens Act heading of Titre II, Chapitre III, Section III. The A card issued carries the mention 'job seeker'. |
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| Official name (English) | Search year after higher studies as of 2026-08-13[2] The Immigration Office's own English page title. |
| Legal basis | Loi du 15 decembre 1980, art. 61/1/9 to 61/1/15 (Titre II, Chapitre III, Section III); Arrete royal du 8 octobre 1981, art. 104/5 and 104/6 as of 2026-06-24[1][2] Inserted by the Law of 11 July 2021, in force 15 August 2021, transposing art. 25 of Directive (EU) 2016/801. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-13[2] An A card marked 'job seeker' where the application is made in Belgium; a type D national long-stay visa where it is made at a consular post by a mobility graduate. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-13[2] |
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| Criminal-record condition | No as of 2026-06-24[1][2] Art. 61/1/9, para 2 lists four documents – passport, Belgian higher-education diploma, health insurance, sufficient means – and no criminal-record extract. Public order is a refusal ground under art. 61/1/13 rather than a document condition, which is why this is recorded false rather than true. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 12 months as of 2026-06-24[1][2] Art. 61/1/9, para 1: a stay of at most 12 months to look for work or set up a business with a view to obtaining a residence title for employment. The Immigration Office states the A card is valid 12 months from the date of issue, or from the date of the Annex 15 where one was already issued. Recorded with bound maximum because the statute frames it as a ceiling. |
|---|---|
| Renewable | No as of 2026-06-24[1][2] Nothing in arts. 61/1/9 to 61/1/15 provides for renewal, and the permit's whole purpose is to be converted into a work or self-employment title within the twelve months. The Immigration Office expressly frames the year as temporary access pending a combined permit or a professional card. |
| Maximum total duration | up to 12 months as of 2026-06-24[1] |
| Work rights | full as of 2026-08-13[2] 'During the year granted to find work or set up a business, the third-country national has unrestricted access to the labour market. As such, he can work legally during this period.' The Immigration Office qualifies this as temporary access to allow the holder to earn a living while a combined permit or a professional card is obtained, and states that employers wishing to employ such a person are advised to apply for a combined permit from the competent Region promptly. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source[1] |
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Requirements
| Job offer required | No as of 2026-06-24[1] The route exists precisely to allow a graduate to look for one; no offer is required at application. |
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| Labour-market test | No as of 2026-06-24[1] None; there is no employer and no post. |
| Qualification requirement | degree as of 2026-06-24[1][2] Proof of a diploma from a Belgian higher-education institution, or – in the mobility case – from a higher-education institution in the first or second member state other than Belgium. |
| Employer sponsorship | No as of 2026-06-24[1] The graduate applies personally. |
| Own means requirement | EUR 1,062 per month as of 2026-03-04[3][4] |
| Job-search route | Yes as of 2026-06-24[1][2] This route is itself a job-search instrument, in the v1.0 sense of the flag: a standalone permit whose purpose is finding employment or founding a business, not a sub-feature of another work route. |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-06-24[1][2] The ordinary case is in-country: the graduate applies to the municipal authority of their place of residence at the latest 15 days before the A card expires. The mobility case is abroad: a graduate who obtained the diploma in another member state but studied part of the course in Belgium applies to the competent Belgian diplomatic or consular post within three months of obtaining the diploma. |
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| Statutory processing time | 90 days as of 2026-06-24[1][2] Art. 61/1/12, para 1: the minister or his delegate decides and notifies within 90 days of the acknowledgement of receipt. Where the A card expires during the examination the municipality issues a document provisionally covering the stay, valid 45 days and twice renewable for the same period. |
| Quota |
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Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-13[2] No day-count rule. The substantive continuation condition is the reasonable-prospect test of art. 61/1/14, recorded under permit.renewal_requirements, together with the requirement not to become a burden on the Belgian public authorities during the year. |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Not established from a qualifying source[1] |
|---|---|
| Eligible relations | Not established from a qualifying source Depends on the answer above. |
| 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
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Verification
| Sources cited | 4 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 4 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-03-04 |
| 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] Search year after higher studies
Immigration Office (Office des Etrangers / Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken), FPS Home Affairs · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [3] Sufficient means of subsistence (students and search year)
Immigration Office (Office des Etrangers / Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken), FPS Home Affairs · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [4] Minister raises minimum financial requirements for non-EU students in Belgium
European Migration Network – Belgian National Contact Point (Immigration Office, FPS Home Affairs) · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-03-04 · Accessed 2026-08-13