More on Belgium

Jobs in Belgium

• On our website you will find thousands of job offers. Browse our vacancies.
• Also interesting: workinflanders.be.

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: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland.
  • Are you staying longer than three months in Belgium to work there? Then sign up within three months after your arrival in the municipality of your residence.
  • Do you want more info on the formalities and the documents needed? Visit Eures, the European employment services network.
• 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.
• To be entitled to health insurance, you need to register with a health insurance fund.

Living in Belgium

1. Accessibility

• Airports: Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Liège, Ostend
• Trains: NMBS
• Busses and metros: MIVB (Brussels), De Lijn (Flanders), TEC (Wallonia)
• Info on traffic regulations: wegcode.be

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:

• jeugdherbergen.be
• booking.com
• bedandbreakfast.com
• casamundo.co.uk/belgium/

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:

• immoweb.be
• livios.be
• vlan.be
• hetportaal.be

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:

• flanders.be
  Explore Flanders.
• belgium.be
  Explore Belgium.
• ond.vlaanderen.be
  Practical information about the school system.
• netexpat.com
  This company helps partners find a job through multicultural training, career guidance, application training...
• xpats.com
  A site for expats in Belgium, with clubs, language courses, news, etc.