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More on Belgium

Here you will find practical information on living and working in Belgium.

Facts on Belgium

Capital: Brussels
Population: more than 10 million
Official languages: Dutch, French and German
Currency: euro or EUR
Structure: three communities (Dutch-, French- and German-speaking) and three regions (Brussels-Capital, Flanders and Wallonia)
Governments: federal government and regional governments (Flemish, Walloon, Brussels, Government of the German Community)
Member of the European Union
Home to international organizations such as the European Commission, NATO...

Jobs in Belgium

  • On the VDAB website you will find thousands of job offers. Browse the vacancies.
  • Other important job sites:
  • Public employment services in Belgium:
    • VDAB: for Flanders, official language: Dutch. Read more on the VDAB.
    • ACTIRIS: for the Brussels-Capital Region, official languages: Dutch and French
    • Le FOREM: for the Walloon Region, official language: French
    • ADG: for the German Community, official language: German

Working in Belgium

1. Formalities

  • Are you an EU citizen?
    • If you are living in one of the following countries, you may go and work in Belgium without a work permit: Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland.
    • Do you live in Bulgaria or Romania? In that case you need awork permit. You apply for it in Belgium. More info: werk.be.
    • Are you staying longer than 3 months in Belgium to work there? Then you need to apply for a temporary residence permit. To do this you need your identity card or European passport and 3 passport photos. You also have to pay a small contribution. Your residence permit is valid for 3 months and may be extended to one year. After that you may apply for a permanent residence permit, once you have a stable income.
    • Do you want more info on the formalities and the documents needed? Visit:
  • You are not an EU citizen?
    You are not living in one of the countries mentioned above? Then it is not sure that you are allowed to work in Belgium. Contact the Belgian embassy in your country for more information.

2. Social security

  • Everyone who works in Belgium must contribute to social security. This contribution is deducted automatically from your salary. More info: socialsecurity.be.
  • To be entitled to health insurance, you need to register with a health insurance fund. More info: socialsecurity.be.

Living in Belgium

1. Accessibility

2. Living

Are you staying in Belgium only for a short time? As hotels are quite expensive, Youth Hostels or Bed & Breakfasts may be a good alternative. University cities such as Ghent and Louvain offer student accommodation during summer. Interesting links:

Are you staying longer and do you want to rent or buy a house or a flat? Check the orange-black posters on available residences announcing ‘For rent’ or ‘For sale’. Go to an estate agency, look in the papers or surf the internet. Interesting links:

3. Family

Working abroad is not always a success. Adjustment problems of the partner and children are the main cause of failure. It is therefore important to prepare well. Some links that may be useful:

More information

Do you want to learn more about living and working in Belgium? Read our brochure for EU citizens.

Some of the links on this page lead to machine-translated webpages. These may contain mistakes.