Single permit
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Gecombineerde vergunning / Permis unique / Einheitliche Genehmigung as of 2026-08-13[7][11] Dutch, French and German. Belgium has three official languages and the instrument is named in each. |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | Single permit as of 2026-08-13[5] The Immigration Office's own English wording; the EU instrument behind it is Directive 2011/98/EU. |
| Legal basis | Loi du 15 decembre 1980, art. 61/25-1 to 61/25-7 (Titre II, Chapitre VIIbis); Cooperation agreement of 2 February 2018 and its implementing cooperation agreement of 6 December 2018; regional employment rules: Besluit van de Vlaamse Regering van 7 december 2018 (Flemish Region), Ordonnance du 1er fevrier 2024 relative a la migration economique and Arrete du 16 mai 2024 (Brussels-Capital Region), Arrete du Gouvernement wallon du 6 juin 2024 (Walloon Region) as of 2026-06-24[1][2][9][10] |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-08-13[5] An A card carrying the mention 'labour market' is issued; a B card follows when the residence permit becomes unlimited. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EU, EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-13[6][7][11] |
|---|---|
| Criminal-record condition | Yes as of 2026-08-13[5] An extract from the criminal record or an equivalent document is required for applicants over 18. |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | Not established from a qualifying source[8] The residence authorisation follows the work authorisation, whose duration is set by the Region and by the employment contract; no single statutory figure exists. The Flemish medium-skilled category is capped at one year and must be renewed annually even on an open-ended contract. |
|---|---|
| How the initial term is set | matches the contract |
| Renewable | Yes as of 2026-08-13[5] Renewal is applied for through the employer to the Region at the latest two months before the A card expires, and that application is simultaneously the residence renewal. Where the Region has renewed the work authorisation but no decision has issued, an Annex 49 covers the stay for 30 days, twice renewable; it carries labour-market access only if the work authorisation was in fact renewed. |
| Maximum total duration | up to 5 years as of 2026-08-13[5] Of the limited-duration residence permit only: 'The residence permit granted by the Immigration Office remains limited to 5 years.' After five years the residence permit is renewed for an unlimited period and a B card is issued, provided the holder is not in one of the cases of art. 3, 5 to 10, is not dependent on the Belgian welfare system, and is not staying for a purpose other than the one authorised. This is a ceiling on the temporary phase, not on the stay. |
| Work rights | employment only as of 2026-08-13[5][7] |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Yes as of 2026-06-24[1] |
|---|
Requirements
| Job offer required | Yes as of 2026-08-13[5] The application is filed by an employer established in Belgium; there is no self-nomination path. |
|---|---|
| Salary threshold |
|
| Labour-market test | No as of 2026-08-13[8] |
| Qualification requirement | none as of 2026-08-13[5][8] The single permit as such sets no qualification condition; the condition is category-specific. The Flemish medium-skilled category requires the occupation to be on the migration list and the worker to be classified within the joint committee as skilled or experienced rather than unskilled, evidenced by a diploma, certificate or proof of experience – a classification test rather than a qualification level. Degree-based categories are recorded on be-single-permit-highly-qualified and be-blue-card. |
| Employer sponsorship | Yes as of 2026-08-13[5] The employer is the applicant for the work component and is notified of the decision alongside the worker. |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-08-13[5] The employer files with the Region through the one-stop counter; that filing is simultaneously the residence application. A worker who gives a foreign address then collects a type D visa at the Belgian diplomatic post. Since 1 January 2023 a foreigner already holding a short-stay or long-stay authorisation in Belgium may apply from Belgium; a person holding only a temporary document pending a decision may not. |
|---|---|
| Statutory processing time | 4 months as of 2026-06-24[1][5] Aliens Act art. 61/25-5, para 2: the minister or his delegate decides within four months of the application being declared complete, extendable in exceptional circumstances related to the complexity of the file. Positive silence: if no unfavourable decision is taken within that period the residence and work authorisations are considered granted. A separate 15-day clock runs first for the Region to forward the file, and an incomplete file gets 15 days to be completed or is declared inadmissible. |
| Fees |
|
| Quota |
Physical presence
| none stated | to keep the permit as of 2026-08-13[1][5] Neither the Aliens Act nor the administering authority imposes a minimum physical presence or an absence ceiling on this permit itself. What does end the stay is the end of the employment relationship: if the Region terminates the work authorisation, the residence permit terminates automatically 90 days later unless the Immigration Office withdraws it sooner. The country-level right-of-return rule of Aliens Act art. 19 applies to every residence title and is recorded at country level, not here. |
|---|
Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Yes as of 2026-08-13[1][6] Family reunification runs off the general regime of Aliens Act art. 10bis rather than off this instrument. The holder of a limited-duration residence title is a sponsor within art. 10bis, para 2, and the conditions – stable regular sufficient means at 110% of the guaranteed average minimum monthly income plus 10% per additional dependant, sufficient housing, and health insurance covering all risks in Belgium – are recorded on be-family-reunification-limited-stay-sponsor. The Immigration Office's work hub states directly that a third-country national authorised to work and reside for more than 90 days 'may be accompanied or joined by his/her spouse or partner (partnership registered under a law) and minor children, under certain conditions.' |
|---|---|
| Eligible relations | spouse, registered partner, minor child, adult dependent child as of 2026-08-13[1][6] Aliens Act art. 10bis, para 2 admits the family members listed in art. 10, para 1, al. 1, 6, a) to e): the spouse and the registered partner (both at least 21), their common minor children, the minor children of either, and an unmarried disabled child over 18 who produces a medical certificate. adult_dependent_child carries that last limb; the vocabulary has no narrower value for it. |
| 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.
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Verification
| Sources cited | 12 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 12 |
| 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] Remuneration minimum – permis unique
Bruxelles Economie et Emploi / Brussel Economie en Werkgelegenheid, Service public regional de Bruxelles · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-19 - [3] Contribution fee
Immigration Office (Office des Etrangers / Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken), FPS Home Affairs · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [4] Contribution fee indexation
Immigration Office (Office des Etrangers / Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken), FPS Home Affairs · official guidance · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [5] Single permit
Immigration Office (Office des Etrangers / Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken), FPS Home Affairs · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [6] Work – third-country nationals
Immigration Office (Office des Etrangers / Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken), FPS Home Affairs · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [7] Een buitenlander in Vlaanderen tewerkstellen: hooggeschoolde
Government of Flanders (Vlaamse overheid), Department of Work and Social Economy · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [8] Een buitenlander in Vlaanderen tewerkstellen: middengeschoolde functie
Government of Flanders (Vlaamse overheid), Department of Work and Social Economy · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [9] Wetgeving – een buitenlander in Vlaanderen tewerkstellen
Government of Flanders (Vlaamse overheid), Department of Work and Social Economy · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [10] Carte bleue europeenne
Service public de Wallonie – Emploi et Formation professionnelle · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [11] Personnel hautement qualifie
Service public de Wallonie – Emploi et Formation professionnelle · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-13 - [12] Autorisations de travail et permis de travail B : seuils salariaux a respecter par les employeurs
Service public de Wallonie – Emploi et Formation professionnelle · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-08-10 · Accessed 2026-08-13