ashiseverywhere
Hong Kongese expat in Belgium
Forum posts
28
About me
Hong Kongese
Registration: 02 May 2024
Single permit processing 2025 by sarasaroub98
Hi all,I created this post for people that are waiting for their single permit and future applicants, please share your timeline here : Application date : 11/11/2024Region: Flanders WP: 02/12/2024RP: waiting
RenewalApplication date : 25/07/2025Region: FlandersWP: 31/07/2025RP: waiting Read More
Seeking advice on F to F+ Card by nikwan92
Hi everyone,I鈥檇 really appreciate your advice or insights on my situation.I鈥檝e been living and working in Belgium for 6 years now. The first 3 years were on an A card, and then I got married to an EU citizen (Czech). She held an E card ...
Mia0210 is right. For F+, the 5-year period starts from the date of your application for a residence card of a family member of a Union citizen. L card offers superior EU mobility (up to 6 YEARs within EU) and independence, but absence limits are ... Read More
Foreigners buying property in Belgium by kezz
Hi all.I'm a Nigerian with an F card, married to a Belgian. Can we buy a house together assuming we both have good steady jobs and income. My husband is of the opinion that I can only be allowed to buy properties if i have Nationality. I think he's ...
@nyamani77 You don't need a permanent residency to get a mortgage. For example, KBC provides mortgage for A-card holders who meet their requitements. Read More
PhD Unemployment benefits by Suzie0
Hi everyone!With the hopes that any experienced fellow PhD students out there... My question is about unemployment benefits. I am doing my PhD in Brussels. I have been a full time teaching assistant for four years (paid under scholarship), and the ...
HiWith a study visa, a PhD student cannot legally hold a full-time employment contract as a teaching assistant... Non-EEA students with a study residence permit can work up to 20 hours per week during the academic year, expect holidays. If you had a ... Read More
Permanent residence permit (card B or L) by vavashapov
Hello everyone, I live in Brussels. I speak French and Dutch. I did here a PhD, and now I work as a post-doc for a year, which totals 5 years. I'll continue to work for another year. I am currently in possession of an A card. Can I apply for a B or ...
Only if you held a single permit for you PhD, otherwise, I don't think so. And you cannot apply for a B-card if you do not have the residence status as 'recognised refugee', 'subsidiary protection" and such! Read More
L Card 鈥� Time Calculation for student/ search year by ashiseverywhere
Start Date for Counting:Your Annex 15 issue date marks the official start of your 5-year residency count 鈥� not your actual physical arrival in Belgium nor your first A-card.Why do many city halls use the A-card date?Many city halls in Belgium ...
@vavashapovYou can find it in Official Journal of the European Union - the COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents. Article 4/2:Regarding the cases covered in ... Read More
L Card 鈥� Time Calculation for student/ search year by ashiseverywhere
Start Date for Counting:Your Annex 15 issue date marks the official start of your 5-year residency count 鈥� not your actual physical arrival in Belgium nor your first A-card.Why do many city halls use the A-card date?Many city halls in Belgium ...
@Husi123You can also go to "Mijn Burgerprofiel" -> "Attesten en toelatingen" then ask for " attest gezinssamenstelling" or "Attest van hoofdverblijfplaats met historiek". It shows the date that you were registered in Belgium. And you do NOT need ... Read More
Belgium increases nationality fee starting July 2025 by Mia0210
Belgium has officially decided to raise the fee for applying for Belgian nationality 鈥� from 鈧�150 to 鈧�1,000. The change is supposed to start from July 1, 2025, but only if the Senate approves it before their summer holidays. If not, ...
@ievgenfeldmannThe increase is virtually certain to happen but it still needs the Senate to approve it. And, yes, Senate will approve it anyway but not yet, as of today June 19, 2025. After the approval of Senate, the next step is royal assent, and ... Read More
L Card 鈥� Time Calculation for student/ search year by ashiseverywhere
Start Date for Counting:Your Annex 15 issue date marks the official start of your 5-year residency count 鈥� not your actual physical arrival in Belgium nor your first A-card.Why do many city halls use the A-card date?Many city halls in Belgium ...
@Mu Jaycee I noticed that the you might not count the time you held Annex 15 as part of the search year. It is count as student status so it counts as half. As long as you held the Annex 15 while applying search year for more than 10 days, you are ... Read More
L Card 鈥� Time Calculation for student/ search year by ashiseverywhere
Start Date for Counting:Your Annex 15 issue date marks the official start of your 5-year residency count 鈥� not your actual physical arrival in Belgium nor your first A-card.Why do many city halls use the A-card date?Many city halls in Belgium ...
Example 2: Master + Search year (Zoekjaar) + Single PermitTimeline:18/07/2022 鈥� Arrived in Belgium for Master08/08/2022 鈥� received Annex 15 (official start of counting)08/09/2023 鈥� Finished Master02/11/2023 鈥� Received Annex ... Read More
L Card 鈥� Time Calculation for student/ search year by ashiseverywhere
Start Date for Counting:Your Annex 15 issue date marks the official start of your 5-year residency count 鈥� not your actual physical arrival in Belgium nor your first A-card.Why do many city halls use the A-card date?Many city halls in Belgium ...
Example 1: Master's + PhD (Switched to Single Permit)Timeline:01/09/2022 鈥� Arrived in Belgium to start Master鈥檚20/09/2022 鈥� Received Annex 15 (official start of counting)31/10/2024 鈥� Completed Master 02/11/2024 鈥� ... Read More
L Card 鈥� Time Calculation for student/ search year
Start Date for Counting:Your Annex 15 issue date marks the official start of your 5-year residency count 鈥� not your actual physical arrival in Belgium nor your first A-card.Why do many city halls use the A-card date?Many city halls in Belgium ... Read More
L card - 5 years requirement by Stranger_F
Hello,I live in Brussels/Schaerbeek. One of the requirements for L card is "justifier d'un s茅jour l茅gal et ininterrompu en Belgique au cours des 5 ans".Do you know from which date those 5 years are calculated? For instance I have three ...
Many city halls in Belgium calculate the 5-year period for an L card (long-term resident card) starting from the date your first A card was issued. This is likely because they follow the same logic applied to the B card, which is explained clearly ... Read More
L card - 5 years requirement by Stranger_F
Hello,I live in Brussels/Schaerbeek. One of the requirements for L card is "justifier d'un s茅jour l茅gal et ininterrompu en Belgique au cours des 5 ans".Do you know from which date those 5 years are calculated? For instance I have three ...
@uygarts9Legally, your period of residence in Belgium is generally counted from the date you officially register at the commune, not from the date your A card is issued. so... YES! You can see the date by requesting doc called "Attest van ... Read More
L card application waiting time. by maharaji1984
Is there anyone recently applied for an L card in Antwerpen ? How long it took from application to contact back?According to their website its written that they are now evaluating the applications from 10.12.2024. And last week was 06.12.2024. It ...
@maharaji1984 Hi! Did you get your appointment in the beginning of April? Since on 05 april 2025. and the city hall is handling the application (aanvragen) from 02 January 2025.May I ask when your appointment is? Read More
L card with PHD period by Hodaya Biske
Hello everyone,I need help in understanding the scenario. I have been living in Gent since June 2020:I did my PhD on a scholarship from Ghent University on which social security was paid for four years.Since July 2024 I have working with a Belgium ...
@brla15 It depends on you contract of cause... just like PhD can be considered as work and need to get single permit to do your PhD, vice versa Read More
L card with PHD period by Hodaya Biske
Hello everyone,I need help in understanding the scenario. I have been living in Gent since June 2020:I did my PhD on a scholarship from Ghent University on which social security was paid for four years.Since July 2024 I have working with a Belgium ...
I think a lot of people misunderstand the concept of paying social contributions. Almost everyone in BE with income pays that. Even a student with a job, they also pay social contributions and taxes! A Doctoral scholarship holder, since you are ... Read More
L card with PHD period by Hodaya Biske
Hello everyone,I need help in understanding the scenario. I have been living in Gent since June 2020:I did my PhD on a scholarship from Ghent University on which social security was paid for four years.Since July 2024 I have working with a Belgium ...
If your PhD was not under a single permit, that means you came here with a student visa (long-term visa, D visa for study purpose). You renewed your A-card every year AND your PhD salary was not subject to income tax, I assume. If so, unfortunately, ... Read More
Single permit if I lost my job by lumozoid
Hello, I have single permit for work in belgium and I needed to start working 2 September. I've made visa D and came to Gent. now I received a call from employer that they can't take me to work anymore. Does it mean that I can't live in ...
Hi @Guest123456I am not sure if it is the best idea to apply for a professional card as from what I have heard it can take a really, really long time, like a 8 months. You can stay in Belgium but you can't work. I would say ask your employer (the ... Read More
L card (with expiring A) vs B card by John Deyta
Hi,My first registration was in September 2020, and I am currently have an A-card (onbeperkt), which expires in December 2025. I have lived and worked in Flanders since the start, without any gap.My 5-year period will be completed in September 2025, ...
Let's draw the time line.Let's say you can apply L-card on the 1st September 2025And your A-card expires on 1st December 2025.2025Sep: Apply L-card (= permanent residence)Oct:Nov: Apply A-card (apply A-card 2 months before the expire date)Dec: Get ... Read More
L card (with expiring A) vs B card by John Deyta
Hi,My first registration was in September 2020, and I am currently have an A-card (onbeperkt), which expires in December 2025. I have lived and worked in Flanders since the start, without any gap.My 5-year period will be completed in September 2025, ...
You can apply L-card. While you are waiting for you L-card, and your A-card expires, you will get an annex. Read More
Search Year Permit by GuestPoster45
Hello all, a friend of mine applied for the Belgian search year permit to search for a job in Belgium for 12 months after studying in Belgium. Although he applied with the residence permit (RP) of another EU member state because the Annex33 that was ...
@tosinosu The commune can definitely issue annex 15 for your friend if he is already registered in the foreigners' registrations his application for a search year is timely and complete 15 days before his Annex 33 expired.In result, his stay as a ... Read More
Search Year Permit by GuestPoster45
Hello all, a friend of mine applied for the Belgian search year permit to search for a job in Belgium for 12 months after studying in Belgium. Although he applied with the residence permit (RP) of another EU member state because the Annex33 that was ...
If your friend gets a Annex 33, that means he is a 'border student鈥�. His commune may think since he has a valid residence permit of The Netherlands, France, Germany or Luxemburg, it is not needed to issue any paper to come/stay/work here. In ... Read More
Who to contact in case of question on citizenship? by peterjohn1104
Hi all,i know we have several sources to ask for information on the citizenship but what I would actually ask is where could we ask for legal advices (not lawyer as it is very obvious).the issue is that the commune does not agree the way I count the ...
Try this: https://www.advocaat.be/en/free-legal-aidIf you are in Antwerp : https://www.atlas-antwerpen.be/en/integrators/new-in-antwerp/get-advice-on-your-residence-and-documents/advice-on-your-residence-situation Read More
Annex 15 and expired residence permit by dambada
Hello everyone;My husband came to Belgium at the beginning of this year with a family visa. I am a student and my husband needs to renew his resident card depending on me. In September 24, we applied for a extension of residence card that will ...
It happened to me as well: residence card was about to be expired and no annex 15 either. Called city hall, they said "The annex 15 will be issued only after your card expires". I asked " But that's a gap in between! What if I got a police check in ... Read More
New rules for unlimited WP by gannam
Did you know? From October 1, if you requested unlimited WP in Brussels, it is possible to do it now after 30 months of work. Also other rules for work permit in Belgium have been simplified, especially changing jobs for limited WP - but this change ...
@gafarvictoir I'm afraid you can't because "These regulations apply to non-European nationals working for an employer located in the Brussels Capital Region." Read More
Belgium Nationality 2024 by Nothing_serious35
Hello,I'm living and working in Antwerp, Belgium for 6 uninterrupted years. I've applied for a permanent residency 5 months ago and have an appointment to get the result in a month. Considering it'll be approved, I wanted to apply for citizenship ...
Hi @BMM996210May I ask which commune you were/are in? Because I heard it otherwise. The city hall staffs suggested my friends apply for PR and nationality at the same time. One got the nationality directly; one is still waiting Read More
Flemish training leave by Ewms
Hello, I have a question regarding the training leave particularly those that have done it in the Flemish region. Does the it affect your salary if you are working in the private sector? My understanding is that it doesn't and that the government ...
Hi Ewms,1.For the salary:It does affect your monthly salary if you earn more than the government reimbursement.Now the salary limit is 3500 euros gross per month. Above this amount, you won't get the reimbursement. However,聽 it is more ... Read More