Application for a European blue card
Highly qualified staff
(art. 9,2 AR 09/06/1999)
Conditions to be met to benefit from a European Blue Card
- Minimum gross annual remuneration of 60.998 € from 01/01/2023 (4.382,04 € x 13,92) and 65.053 € from 01/01/2024 (4.673,35 € x 13,92)
- Employment contract for an indefinite period or at least a year
- Higher education degree that necessitated three study years
- Not a seconded worker, a long-term resident, a researcher a person under temporary protection, an asylum seeker nor a seasonal worker - Consult the list of excluded categories
If all these conditions are not met, see the section "qualified worker".
Apply for a Blue Card
- Prepare the necessary annexes (.pdf)
- Fill in an application for a single permit via the digital counter "Working in Belgium".
If you have any questions about this application, please consult the FAQ.
What is the procedure?
Period of validity
The employment entitling authorisation is granted for the duration of the employment contract, with a maximum duration of three years.
For an employment of more than a year :
- the employer needs to provide a form as well as certain documents yearly to prove that the eligibility conditions are still met.
- the wages must continue to respect the established thresholds. The indexation of the amounts on 1 January of every year is immediately applicable.
Documents that need to be provided in case of a contract lasting more than a year
Yearly, the employer needs to provide the following documents, at the latest a month after the anniversary of the employment entitling authorisation :
- a photocopy of the payslips or pay settlements for the entire duration of the employment entitling authorisation;
- a copy of the individual account.
Regulation
- Law dated 30 April 1999 on the employment of foreign workers
- Royal decree dated 9 June 1999 implementing the law dated 30 April 1999 with regard to employing foreign workers
- Royal decree dated 5 July 2018
- Decree of the Brussels-Capital Government dated 16 May 2019 amending the Royal Decree of 9 June 1999 implementing the Law of 30 April 1999 on the employment of foreign workers with regard to admission to work for activities carried out within the framework of a transfer within a company, a seasonal
- Decree of the Brussels-Capital Government dated 25 June 2020 amending the Royal decree dated 9 June 1999 implementing the Law of 30 April 1999 with regard to employing foreign workers More