Belgium | Immigration | New immigration procedures applicable for researchers and interns

28 February 2023

Immigration

Belgium | New immigration procedures applicable
for researchers and interns

Summary

As of 1 March 2023, new immigration processes for third country national researchers and interns are applicable. The major impact is that these individuals are no longer exempt from the obligation to obtain a work authorization if they are coming to Belgium for more than 90 days. This raises a lot of questions and concerns. This newsletter will provide a summary of the background, the details of what has changed (practicalities, advantages and conditions) and recommended actions.

Background

At the end of last year, the Royal Decree of 27 November 2022, amending the Foreigner’s Royal decree of 8 October 1981, was published. This was the final pending action in order for the EU Students & Researchers Directive 2016/801 to be fully implemented into Belgian legislation. This EU Directive provided a common EU framework of entry and residence conditions for third country nationals, who are travelling to one of the EU countries for research, internships, study or volunteering purposes. The Directive was adopted in 2016 and its goal was to attract more highly qualified profiles to the European Union, by introducing the ‘search year’ concept and intra-EU mobility possibilities for the non-EU students and researchers.

Belgium was one of the last countries to implement this Directive into its national legislation. In 2021, the Belgian regional authorities introduced the search year card for students. What was however still missing and has now finally been implemented are the rules regarding interns and researchers. Reason for the delay is the complex Belgian political structure and thus involvement of several authorities.

Details of what has changed

Interns

From 1 January 2023 a single permit needs to be obtained for interns coming to Belgium for an internship of more than 90 days (unless an exemption applies).

Researchers with a host agreement

Until now, third country national researchers who had a host agreement with a recognized Belgian research institute, did not need to apply for a work authorization. In case they fulfilled all conditions, they could apply for a visa D at the Belgian consular authorities abroad, travel to Belgium, register at the local town hall and start their research activities.

From 1 March 2023, these researchers will only be able to perform their research activities in Belgium upon obtaining a single permit.

Practicalities and advantages:

• Researchers with a host agreement who are currently already enjoying the work permit exemption, will remain exempted until their current immigration document will expire. It is thus recommended to follow-up on the expiry dates and initiate a single permit application in due time in case an extension is required.
• Based on the prior exemption, the process for researchers was very quick and smooth. Now, the single permit processing times need to be taken into account. These have been set at maximum 60 days for researchers, which is still more beneficial compared to the processing times for highly skilled workers/executives (i.e. maximum 120 days).
• The single permit for researchers facilitates intra-EU mobility rights:
  – for researchers coming from another EU country, they are exempt from applying for a single permit if their research activities are limited to 180 days in Belgium, provided they hold a valid research permit issued by the other EU country;
  – on the other hand, individuals in the possession of a Belgian single permit for researchers will also benefit from easier conditions/process if they have to perform research activities in another EU country.

Conditions for a single permit as researcher:

• The research institute must be officially recognized via BELSPO (the Belgian Science Policy Office).
• The researcher must demonstrate the right qualifications/diploma.
• A host agreement between the researcher and research institute needs to be in place, including a.o. the duration of the research project.
• No specific salary threshold is applicable compared to, for example, a single permit for highly skilled workers or executives. The thresholds as agreed upon in the applicable CBA should however be respected.

Once researchers have completed their research project in Belgium, they can now also apply for a search year card.
This allows them to search for an employment opportunity for a period of 1 year. Note that the search year card needs to be applied at the latest 15 days before the expiry date of the current permit.

Recommended actions

• It is crucial to start following-up on the expiry dates of the current immigration documents of researchers benefitting from the current work permit exemption.
•  When hiring a new candidate, verify the person’s current status and assess the best applicable immigration approach.
• Take into account the processing times for single permit applications ensuring a timely submission.
•  Make sure that you know how to submit single permit applications via the online filing system or authorise a mandate holder to submit these applications on your organisation’s behalf.
•  As it could be very beneficial for your organisation to obtain single permits for researchers (compared to the highly skilled employee category) we strongly recommend verifying whether your organisation meets the requirements to become a recognized research institute as set by BELSPO. If this is the case, an application can be initiated. Once approved, this recognition is valid for 5 years and can be renewed.

Vialto Partners is happy to advise and assist with any of the above formalities. Feel free to reach out in case of any questions or concerns.

Contact us
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:

• Joke Braam, Director | joke.braam@vialto.com
• Ajshe Miftari, Senior Manager | ajshe.miftari@vialto.com@vialto.com
• Silke Van Bauwel, Senior Associate | silke.van.bauwel@vialto.com

Further information on Vialto Partners can be found here: www.vialtopartners.com

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