STEP 01Employer
Your employer files a single permit applicationIn the online one-stop shop, under the category European Blue Card. Only complete files are accepted; documents can’t be added afterwards.
How I got my EU Blue Card in Belgium, and how it works now
This is the story of how I got my Blue Card in 2018, with all the bits nobody told me, followed by how the process works today, so you can tell which parts still apply.
Last checked: October 2026 Rules shown: Flanders My application: 2018
This is my experience plus a summary of the official rules, not legal advice. Salary thresholds change every year and differ by region (Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia). Always check the official sources at the bottom before you or your employer apply.
The short version
- What it is: a combined work and residence permit for highly qualified employees from outside the EU. In Belgium you receive it as an H card; an ordinary single permit is an A card.
- Who qualifies (Flanders): a higher-education degree from a programme of at least 3 years (ICT and management specialists can show 3 years of relevant experience in the last 7 instead), an open-ended contract or one of at least 6 months with a Belgian employer, and a gross annual salary of at least €63,586.
- Who applies: your employer, online, while you’re still abroad. You then collect a D visa and register when you arrive.
- Brussels and Wallonia set their own salary thresholds, so check the region where your employer is based. Not sure whether you need a Blue Card at all? Blue Card or single permit: the difference →
How it went for me (2018)
Moving to Belgium for work is a pretty niche thing to do. That’s exactly why, back then, I could hardly find anything online about how the Blue Card actually works when you apply from outside the EU. So once mine was finally in my hands, I promised myself I’d write it all down.
AFTER SIGNING THE CONTRACT Step one happened without me
Once I’d signed with my employer, HR applied for a provisional work permit on my behalf. The official line was “within a month”. Two weeks later, they emailed me the scan.
That was the last part that went exactly as expected for a while.
NOVEMBER 2018 The Belgian office back home, and a document list nobody had published
Next came the long-stay D visa, together with the actual Blue Card application. The list of documents on the office’s website didn’t match what a Blue Card applicant needs, so I wrote to them, and they sent me the real one.
It was long: the visa fee, three copies of the application form in Dutch or French with a photo on each, a passport valid for at least another year, my contract showing the salary, a medical certificate from one of their designated hospitals, a police record that had to be certified first, a form choosing my administrative language, and a full insurance policy in English for a year, covering medical costs, hospitalisation and repatriation, each one spelled out.
I handed everything in, in person, and they took my photo on the spot. Officially it would take a month. About two weeks later, they told me to come and pick up my visa.
Visa in hand, application sent. In theory, that meant I could start working. But it wasn’t over yet…
DECEMBER 2018 Landing in Belgium
I flew in with my D visa and a copy of the provisional work permit. From that moment I was legally allowed to work. Now I just had to become someone who actually lived here.
THE FIRST WEEKS Ghent, an address, and a knock on a Saturday evening
My visa said I had to register within eight days of arriving. In practice, you can’t register without an address, and I didn’t find an apartment until my second week. Around day eight, I pulled all my documents together and emailed them to the city’s expat counter.
If everything is in order, they write back with a heads-up: at some point, a police officer will come by to check you really live there. Mine came two weeks later, on a Saturday evening. He knocked, had a look around the apartment, asked me to sign, and that was it.
Then came a letter with an appointment at the town hall, and a list of what to bring: my passport with the D visa, the original work permit, the original employment contract, one passport photo with a white background, and a small fee. I brought everything, gave my fingerprints, and they started making my card.
A WEEK AND A BIT LATER The card
Just over a week later, I got the message that I could pick it up: an electronic H card. My Blue Card.
It’s pink, not blue. But at that point, I didn’t care. It was done.
Looking back, the process for Blue Card applicants was clearly meant to be the faster track. But as far as I could tell, I was one of the first people to apply for one through that office, and my file was a first for the clerk in Ghent too. There were a lot of unknowns along the way. It worked out in the end, which is the main reason I’m writing this: so the next person has a few fewer unknowns.
How it works now (Flanders, 2026)
The process has changed since my application. Today it’s one combined application, filed online by your employer.
STEP 02Authorities
The region checks the work part, the Immigration Office the residence partFirst the region decides on the work permit. If that’s positive, the file goes automatically to the federal Immigration Office, which decides on residence. A positive result is a decision letter (Annex 46 or 47).
STEP 03You
You apply for a D visa abroadAt the Belgian embassy or office responsible for where you live, with your passport and the decision. A visa marked B29 means highly qualified employee (EU Blue Card).
STEP 04Commune
You register at the commune within 8 working daysAfter you arrive, register at your town hall. Expect the unannounced police address check before your card is issued.
STEP 05You
Later: changing jobs and renewingDuring the first 12 months, changing employer needs approval first. After 12 months, you can change employer without that approval, as long as the new job meets the same Blue Card conditions, including the salary threshold. Your new employer still has to submit the application for you through the one-stop shop. Renewal is also filed by your employer, 2 to 4 months before expiry; after 24 months you receive a 3-year card.
Documents your employer will ask you for
For the application in Flanders. They must be no more than 6 months old when the file is submitted.
- A copy of every page of your passport
- Proof that the administrative fee has been paid
- An extract from your criminal record (if you’re over 18), legalised and translated into Dutch, French or English
- The standard medical certificate
- Proof of health insurance, or your employer’s declaration of commitment
- Your higher-education diploma (programme of at least 3 years)
- Your employment contract, signed and dated, in the language of the region
What changed since my application
| 2018 (me) | Now (Flanders) | |
|---|---|---|
| Procedure | A provisional work permit first, then the Blue Card application at the visa post | One combined single permit application, filed online by the employer |
| Who files | Mostly me, at the Belgian office abroad | Mostly the employer; you apply for the D visa |
| Salary threshold | €51,882 per year at the time | €63,586 per year in Flanders |
| Changing employer | — | After 12 months, no approval needed if the new job meets the same conditions; the new employer still submits the application for you |
What I’d tell my 2018 self
- Email the Belgian embassy or office early and ask for their full, current document list. The website may not tell the whole story.
- Start on the police record and its legalisation first. It’s the slowest piece of the puzzle.
- Line up a temporary stay. You can’t register without an address, and you can’t get the card without registering. My first 30 days checklist covers that loop.
- Scan everything, twice. You will be asked for the same documents again at renewal.
Official sources
- Flanders: Employing a foreigner, European Blue Card — conditions, threshold, procedure, renewal
- Working in Belgium one-stop shop — where employers file the application
- Immigration Office (DVZ / Office des Étrangers) — residence part, fees, medical certificate
- Brussels: work authorisations — Brussels thresholds
- Wallonia: work permits — Walloon thresholds
Next in this series: Renewing your Blue Card →