More flexible employment rules for foreigners
From now on, foreigners will be able to arrange their work and residence permits in Belgium through a single procedure. This has been decided by the federal government at the proposal of State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi (CD&V). The more flexible labour rules should make it easier for people from outside the EU with long-term temporary residence status to find work.
By relaxing the labour rules, State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi (CD&V) wants to counteract the increasing shortage on the labour market. People from outside the European Union, who have been residing legally in our country for a long time, will from now on have access to the system to arrange for a work and residence permit in one procedure. This concerns knowledge workers and managers, bottleneck professions or jobs for which there is nobody in our country.
Combined permit
Until now, this combined permit could only be applied for from abroad. Thanks to the relaxation, it can now also be applied for from Belgium. It concerns, for example, people with a humanitarian visa or people who join a family member with a right of residence. Ukrainians are also granted access to the procedure.
These new measures should make it more attractive for employers to offer these people a job. "People have a temporary status that is linked to their residence status. From now on, they can get a residence permit based on their employment status," Sammy Mahdi's spokesperson told De Tijd.
"A woman who comes with her husband now has to leave again when the husband stops working or loses his job or when they divorce. Because of this uncertain and dependent status, they often remain housewives." It is estimated that several thousand people could be activated by the expansion of the system.
The combo scheme for expats started in 2019 and has been a success so far. In 2021, over 5,000 combination permits were issued, this year in April there were already 2,740. Since last year, foreigners can submit their applications via a digital counter. In the first instance, a check is made at the regional level as to whether they can work here, after which the file goes to the Immigration Department (Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken, DVZ), which regulates and checks the residence in our country.
Despite the fact that files can be submitted via a digital counter, processing them still takes too much time, says Alexander De Nys of the law firm Fragomen, which specialises in labour migration.
"It can easily take two months to get an approval for an application. Moreover, after the approval of their file, people have to apply for a visa to come to Belgium via the embassy in their home country. After their arrival, they also have to go to the municipality for registration. It can easily take four to five months before the expat can move to Belgium."
"The procedure via the embassy and the municipality is not included in the digital counter. That makes it still too little transparent and clear," De Nys claims.
According to the cabinet of State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Madhi, long waiting times are rather unusual. "The processing time of two months is exceptional. Flanders and the Immigration Department had to deal with delays due to an influx of files. The backlog has been as good as cleared. The intention is that dossiers will soon be processed within four weeks again."
(AHU)
© BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM - Minister for Development Cooperation Meryame Kitir and State Secretary for Asylum and Migration policy Sammy Mahdi pictured during a plenary session of the Chamber at the Federal Parliament in Brussels, Thursday 24 March 2022.