Belgium digital nomad visa: requirements (2026)
Digital nomad visa in Belgium: dedicated visa.
Belgium published a Royal Decree on 2 August 2026 creating a dedicated Digital Nomad Visa for non-EU remote workers, allowing a 12-month stay renewable once, with a €42,000 gross annual income threshold, proof of a foreign employment contract or foreign company ownership, and private health insurance. Before this scheme, remote relocators had to fall back on the Professional Card (self-employed route) or the single-permit for highly skilled workers, and both routes remain available. Belgium has no classic golden-visa programme, but the Professional Card can serve as an investor pathway on a discretionary basis.
Legal framework
Royal Decree of 2 August 2026 creating a Digital Nomad Visa (announced by State Secretary for Digitalisation Mathieu Michel); administered together with the general long-stay (Type D) visa / single-permit framework run by the Immigration Office (Office des Étrangers / Dienst Vreemdelingenzaken - IBZ) under FPS Home Affairs. EU baseline: Schengen Borders Code, EU Blue Card Directive and Single Permit Directive as transposed into Belgian law.
Key points: digital nomad & residency in Belgium
New Digital Nomad Visa (in force since Aug 2026)
The federal Royal Decree of 2 August 2026 creates a specific residence title for non-EU remote workers whose income comes from a foreign employer or foreign company they own; it is valid 12 months and renewable once, and exempts holders from the standard single-permit procedure.
Eligibility thresholds
Applicants must show a gross annual income of at least €42,000, hold a valid foreign employment contract or own a foreign-registered company, carry private health insurance, and register their Belgian address with the local commune within 8 calendar days of arrival.
Professional Card (self-employed / freelancer route)
Non-EU/EEA/Swiss nationals wishing to be self-employed in Belgium need a Professional Card, issued at regional level (Flanders, Brussels-Capital, Wallonia). It is granted for up to 2 years initially, extendable up to 5 years, and requires demonstrating economic value of the activity (job creation, investment, innovation, cultural/social value).
Single Permit for highly qualified workers
Non-EU nationals employed by a Belgian employer for more than 90 days use the Single Permit (combined work + residence); highly qualified workers need a higher-education degree, a contract of at least 1 year and a salary at 100% of the national average gross salary (80% in Flanders if under 30 or nurse). The permit can run up to 3 years.
Long-stay Type D visa as entry vehicle
Any stay in Belgium of more than 90 days requires a Type D long-stay visa issued by a Belgian diplomatic/consular post, which is then converted on arrival into a residence card (A card) after commune registration; the new digital nomad visa is delivered via this same D-visa channel.
No formal golden visa; investor pathway via Professional Card
Belgium does not operate a citizenship- or residency-by-investment programme comparable to Portugal or Malta. Investors typically obtain residence by incorporating a Belgian company and securing a Professional Card, with authorities reviewing the business plan and economic contribution case-by-case; permanent residence usually requires 3 uninterrupted years of Belgian residence and citizenship 5 years.
Timeline of decisions
- Law · officialBrussels-Capital reforms work authorisation and transposes EU Blue Card
A Brussels Government decision of 16 May 2024 entered into force, transposing the recast EU Blue Card and cutting the period to qualify for an indefinite single permit from four years to 30 months (now counting internships). It eased access to longer-term residence for foreign workers in the capital region.
Brussels Economy and Employment
- Law · officialWallonia transposes EU Blue Card and relaxes work-permit rules
The Walloon Decision of 6 June 2024 entered into force, implementing the recast Blue Card with shorter required contract durations and new professional-experience eligibility pathways for highly qualified non-EU workers.
Wallonia (wallonie.be)
- Law · officialFlanders transposes the recast EU Blue Card Directive
A Flemish Ministerial Decision of 8 March 2024 entered into force, making Flanders the first Belgian region to implement Directive 2021/1883 with more flexible conditions for hiring highly qualified third-country nationals.
Government of Flanders (vlaanderen.be)
- Law · officialEU adopts recast Single Permit Directive (EU) 2024/1233
The recast directive simplifies the single application procedure, strengthens worker rights and allows permit holders to change employers; it repeals Directive 2011/98 from 22 May 2026, with Member States (including Belgium) required to transpose key articles by 21 May 2026.
EUR-Lex (EU)
- Law · officialBelgium completes transposition of the EU ICT (intra-corporate transfer) Directive
The Royal Decree of 26 November 2021 implemented the Act of 31 July 2020, finally establishing the EU ICT permit in Belgium for managers, specialists and trainees seconded within a corporate group, a key route for cross-border staff mobility.
European Commission – EU Immigration Portal
- Law · officialEU adopts recast Blue Card Directive 2021/1883
The revised Blue Card directive lowered salary thresholds, shortened minimum contract requirements and broadened intra-EU mobility for highly qualified non-EU workers, setting the framework Belgium's three regions later transposed in 2024.
EUR-Lex (EU)
- Law · officialSingle Permit enters into force across Belgium
The combined work-and-residence 'single permit' became operational, creating a one-stop-shop for non-EEA nationals staying and working more than 90 days, the central legal route for foreign employees, replacing the separate work-permit/residence process.
Belgian Immigration Office (IBZ)
- Enforcement · officialCommission refers Belgium to the EU Court of Justice over the Single Permit Directive
After a 2014 formal notice and a 2015 reasoned opinion, the Commission referred Belgium to the CJEU for failing to fully transpose Directive 2011/98, pressure that ultimately drove the 2018 cooperation agreement and the single permit's 2019 launch.
European Commission
- Law · officialEU adopts Single Permit Directive 2011/98/EU
The directive introduced a single application procedure for a combined work-and-residence permit and a common set of rights for non-EU workers, the foundation Belgium was obliged to transpose (deadline 25 December 2013) and eventually implemented in 2019.
EUR-Lex (EU)
- Law · officialAct on self-employed activity by foreigners creates the professional card
The Act of 19 February 1965 established the professional card requirement for non-EEA/Swiss nationals exercising a self-employed activity, the legal basis still used today by freelancers and digital-nomad-type remote workers seeking residence in Belgium.
Brussels Economy and Employment
Sources
- visasupdate.com/post/belgium-digital-nomad-visa-royal-decree-2026
- sapeople.com/expats/attention-south-africans-belgium-launches-digital-nomad-visa-j
- expatica.com/be/moving/visas/digital-nomad-visa-in-belgium-2173882/
- dofi.ibz.be/en/themas/onderdanen-van-derde-landen/werk/single-permit
- home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/eu-immigration-portal/highly-qualified-
- home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/eu-immigration-portal/employed-worker-b
- canada.diplomatie.belgium.be/en/visa/visa-belgium/long-stay-visa-d-visa
- economy-employment.brussels/professional-card
- vlaanderen.be/en/working-enterprise-and-investment/working/professional-card-for-fo
Next for Belgium: Internet & Online SafetyComprehensive law
Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 7 Aug 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026