IMMIGRATION POLICY
*The full text of this article is available as PDF below.
In principle, every foreign person in Belgium has a residence status, i.e. a legal category that entails rights and obligations.
The scope of these rights and obligations differs according to the legal category to which the data subject belongs. Generally speaking, the more stable the residence permit, the more extensive the rights are (access to the labour market, social assistance, etc.).
Each of these statutes is embodied in a specific paper or electronic document.
Many applications for residence in Belgium are subject to the payment of an administrative fee which must be paid before the application is submitted and which is in addition to the embassy and communal fees.
Some people have a right of residence in Belgium, they are said to be admitted to stay in Belgium, others, on the other hand, may apply for a residence permit, subject to the discretionary power of the Aliens Office.
In order to obtain a residence permit for more than 3 months, any foreigner (who is not a citizen of the European Union) who wishes to come to Belgium must meet the following conditions:
Cash, cheques and credit cards accepted in Belgium, an original undertaking to take charge, an employment contract, account statements, an entry in the commercial register, certificates of professional activities, are all elements that can be used to prove that the person concerned has means of subsistence.
NB; candidate refugees are exempt from providing proof of sufficient means of subsistence.
Nationals of countries (outside the EU and outside Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway and Switzerland) are subject to a long-term visa requirement if they intend to stay in Belgium for a period of more than three months.
The visa application must be submitted by the person (him/herself) to the competent Belgian embassy or consulate in the country where he/she resides.
If there is no Belgian embassy or consulate in the country where the person resides, he or she should contact the Belgian embassy that is competent for that country (usually in one of the neighboring countries).
The visa application procedure can take quite a long time (several weeks and even months) in some cases. It is therefore necessary to apply for a visa as early as possible.
Specific procedures are foreseen for a number of situations, namely the visa in sight:
Depending on the reason for the visa application, a number of documents will be required.
Foreign official documents must generally be “double” legalised (varies according to the country in which the documents were drawn up: see: diplomtie.belgium.be – Legalisation of documents): the document must first be legalised by the authorities of the country of origin, and this legalisation must then be submitted for legalisation by the Belgian embassy in the country of origin.
Foreign official documents written in a language other than German, English, French or Dutch must be translated by a sworn translator.
Possibilities of appeal in case of visa refusal
The Belgian authorities must give reasons for all decisions to refuse and inform of the possible possibilities of appeal.
A decision to refuse a visa can be challenged by lodging an “appeal for suspension and annulment” with the Aliens Litigation Council by registered mail.
The action must be brought within 30 days of notification of the contested decision. It must be addressed to:
Aliens Litigation Council rvv-cce.be
As soon as he arrives in Belgium (within 8 days), the foreigner must go to the municipal administration of his place of residence to register. At the time of registration, the person will receive a “declaration of arrival” from the municipality.
There are several types of residence depending on the person’s situation and the nature of their application (studies, family reunification, etc.).
The general rule (even for persons intended, a priori, to reside in Belgium for an indefinite period) is that a residence permit of limited duration (possibly renewable) is issued first. Unlimited residence is only granted directly in exceptional cases. In most cases, it is only after 5 years of limited residence that the residence permit becomes unlimited.
Formalities to be completed with the municipal administration during his stay in Belgium:
It is always imperative to:
Please note that failure to comply with these obligations may result in removal from the municipal registers (which implies that the person is no longer considered to be living at that address) and result in the loss (or non-renewal) of the residence permit, or even the right of residence. In this case, the person finds himself or herself residing illegally.
The establishment is an authorization to stay in the territory indefinitely.
The stay of an established alien may be terminated only in serious circumstances – if it has seriously undermined public order or national security – following expulsion proceedings.
Established foreigners benefit from very extensive rights (exemption from work permits, right to social integration with a public social welfare centre, etc.).
Established foreigners are entered in the population register and are issued with a foreigner’s identity card: yellow paper card or electronic C card.
Conditions of grant:
The applicant must:
And be in one of the following situations:
Unless that alien
Submission of the application
The application for establishment is made to the municipal administration of the place of residence, using a form available at the municipal administration (Annex 16).
Withdrawal
The Aliens’ Office may withdraw the settlement permit if the alien has resorted to fraud or other illegal means which were decisive for the recognition of the right of residence or the granting of the residence or settlement permit.
Foreigners benefiting from a stay of unlimited duration
Foreigners can stay in Belgium indefinitely.
This person has slightly less rights than an established foreigner (e.g. he or she is also exempted from the work permit requirement but is not entitled to social integration: the PCSW will grant him or her financial social assistance if he or she meets the conditions).
This person is registered in the aliens’ register for an unlimited period and receives a certificate of registration in the aliens’ register (CIRE): a blank paper card without any indication or an electronic B card.
The long-term resident
General
It is a kind of “exportable” right of residence in another EU country for third-country nationals who have been living in an EU country for at least 5 years. Long-term resident status is a kind of super status for established foreigners: their right of residence in Belgium is unlimited.
The long-term resident is registered in the population register and receives an electronic D-card.
There is a distinction to be made:
Conditions for the right of residence in Belgium for foreigners who have acquired the status of long-term resident in another Member State of the European Union
General terms and conditions:
Conditions for acquiring long-term resident status in Belgium
Who is involved?
An alien who is not a citizen of the European Union, who has been granted an unlimited residence permit and who can prove that he has resided legally and continuously in the Kingdom for five years.
Established foreign nationals may apply for long-term resident status at any time.
These provisions do not apply to recognised refugees or to aliens enjoying subsidiary protection.
Conditions?
The applicant must:
Who should I talk to?
The application for long-term resident status shall be sent to the municipal administration of the place of residence of the person concerned using the form ‘Annex 16’.
An application for long-term resident status is equivalent to an application for a settlement permit.
A foreign national who has been granted a temporary stay
These are various situations in which the foreigner’s right of residence is limited in time. These include, in particular:
In all these situations, the right to reside in Belgium is limited in time and, consequently, the rights of the foreigner are less extensive than if he or she had an unlimited residence period (for example, there will be no automatic exemption from the need for a work permit, even if for certain activities and under certain conditions, access to the labour market will be facilitated, certain employment aids will not be available, etc.).
Most of the time, the renewal of the limited-term residence permit is subject to certain conditions (continuation of studies, work contract, not emigrating to the CPAS, living together with a family member, …).
The person is registered in the Aliens’ Register for a limited period and receives a certificate of registration in the Aliens’ Register (CIRE): a white paper card with an indication of the duration of stay or an electronic A-card.
The procedures can be lengthy and sometimes very long.
Pending a decision on family reunification, recognition of refugee or subsidiary protection status or a decision on medical regularisation, foreigners are usually issued with a certificate of registration. This is an orange paper document, valid for 3 months and renewable, as the case may be, for periods of 3 months or from month to month.
The residence of these people in Belgium is extremely precarious and their rights are also not very extensive: in principle, no possibility to work (except for candidate refugees who can access the labour market under certain conditions), limited CPAS assistance, etc.).
In certain cases, when an alien has been refused a residence permit and lodges an appeal with the Aliens Litigation Council, he receives a special residence document, Annex 35, for the duration of the proceedings before that court.
In Belgium, foreign persons who have obtained a residence status can or must have access to schemes and measures to facilitate their integration into their new host society. Some of these measures are general and accessible to the entire population (employment, housing and training support services, etc.).
Others have been set up specifically for newcomers. These are the reception or integration pathway systems. Their general objective is to welcome and accompany new foreign residents, to help them acquire basic knowledge of the functioning of the host society and social relations so that they can lead their lives independently and increase their social, economic and cultural participation.
The integration of foreigners is a community matter whose competence, at the French-speaking level, has been transferred to the French Community Commission (COCOF) in the Brussels Region and the Walloon Region. On the Flemish side, it is the Flemish Government (Vlaamse Regering) which is responsible for integration. Thus, the reception or integration pathway is managed differently whether one is in Flanders (and Dutch-speaking Brussels), the Walloon Region or French-speaking Brussels. The different pathways are established by decrees.
The French-speaking and Walloon Brussels decrees define a newcomer as any foreigner over 18 years of age who has been living in Belgium for less than three years and who has a residence permit for more than three months and is registered in the aliens’ register of a Walloon or Brussels municipality. Citizens of a Member State of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland and their family members are excluded from the Walloon decree, whereas they are also considered as newcomers in the French-speaking Brussels decree.
In the Flemish decree, a newcomer is defined as any foreign person aged 18 and over who comes to settle in Flanders or Brussels on a long-term basis and a person of Belgian nationality born outside Belgium and at least one of whose parents was not born in Belgium.
In each of the regions, reception offices make it possible to make a social and linguistic assessment of newcomers and to direct them to structures (internal or with partners) that implement the various components of the pathway.
In Flanders
The civic integration or “Inburgering” programme has been in place since 2003. Since 2006 the public of former arrivals (oudkomers) is also taken into account in the decree. The integration programme is currently being implemented by six Provincial Offices (part of the Inburgering en Integratie agency) that are relocating their activities to Flanders and Brussels, in collaboration with the Huis van het Nederlands for Dutch language courses.
The scheme is divided into two parts, the first of which is compulsory for newcomers and certain specific groups, and includes :
A 60-hour social orientation in Dutch or in the mother tongue, which aims to give the keys to understanding the Belgian system.
More or less basic Dutch courses (between 90h and 600h – on average 240h).
Career guidance in the form of vocational guidance (directed towards obtaining a job), educational guidance (directed towards further education or training or social guidance) or guidance aimed at participation in socio-cultural life, volunteering in order to determine the most appropriate activity in view of the person’s profile.
At the end of this first part, the person receives a certificate and can decide to extend the course on a voluntary basis for the different aspects present in the first part (e.g. job search, Dutch language course, etc).
More information :
The welcome course began in May 2014tip and evolved in 2016 into a compulsory integration course. It is run by the 8 Regional Integration Centres (CRI) and can take place in approved local associations.
The mechanism provides for the signature of a compulsory reception agreement which is divided into 4 parts which include
And according to the needs analysis in the social balance sheet:
In the Brussels-Capital Region, the Dutch-language “Inburgering” tip and the French-language welcome course coexist. The latter, adopted in September 2013tip, has been implemented since March 2016 by the welcome offices for newcomers (BAPA).
In the French-language reception programme, newcomers are initially (primary section) given individual support consisting of a welcome, information on their rights and duties (10 hours), a language assessment (or evaluation of the level of mastery of the language), a social assessment (or identification of needs and achievements on the social and economic level), and, where appropriate, help in completing certain procedures (in terms of housing, health care, education, and the promotion of achievements, including diplomas, etc.).
In a second phase (secondary section), and if the social and linguistic assessments have highlighted needs in terms of specific training, newcomers have access to French language courses (depending on the alpha or foreign language stream and needs, from 240h to 750h) and citizenship training (50h).
The French and Dutch-speaking systems are currently not compulsory in Brussels but should become so, by order of the Joint Community Commission (COCOM), in 2017. Each municipality will then have to direct people to a reception office, either Dutch-speaking or French-speaking, according to the person’s choice.
