Belgium

Professional card (carte professionnelle / beroepskaart) for self-employment. Belgium requires any non-EU national who wants to freelance, run a sole proprietorship, or actively direct a Belgian company to hold a regional professional card first.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 27, 2026

Professional card (carte professionnelle / beroepskaart) for self-employment

A professional card, generally issued for up to 5 years, paired with the long-stay visa/residence permit needed to actually move to Belgium.

Who qualifies

Proof of the relevant diploma, professional license, or at least 3 years' experience in the sector; regulated professions need recognition by the competent Belgian authority.
Brussels Economy and Employment: Professional card for non-European nationals
A viable business plan showing the activity's economic interest, filed with the region (Flanders, Wallonia, or Brussels) where the activity will take place, since competence for the card is regional, not federal.
Brussels Economy and Employment: Professional card for non-European nationals

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

It could fit.

Belgium requires any non-EU national who wants to freelance, run a sole proprietorship, or actively direct a Belgian company to hold a regional professional card first.

Every door that fits your family

Not legal advice.

What it takes.

Time: 2–4 months for the card, then the separate visa process; total often 4–6 months.
Cost: About $150–200 for the card itself (roughly €90 in Brussels to €140 in Flanders/Wallonia), plus visa fees.
The hard part: Working out which region's rules and office apply, since Belgium splits this by region rather than running one national process.

Citizens by 2033.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

2027
First residence permit
2 years, renewable for 5 years at a time.
2029
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 5 years.
2032
Permanent residence
Long-term resident status after 5 years of legal, unbroken residence, with enough stable income that you have not relied on social assistance.
2032
Apply for citizenship
With a language test and a civics test.
2033
Citizenship
The decision usually takes 5–6 months.

Language: French, Dutch or German at A2.
Civics: No test today. You prove social integration instead (for example a diploma, an integration course or years of work) and economic participation: at least 468 days of work.
Time away: 5 years of legal residence in Belgium without interruption, and an unlimited residence permit when you file the declaration.
Two passports: Yes. You keep your U.S. citizenship.

The first professional card is usually a 2-year trial; later cards run up to 5 years, and the residence card itself may need renewing more often.
The Immigration Office's long-term resident page is behind a captcha and could not be read today; the 5-year rule is taken from its search listing and the earlier research.
The coalition agreement plans a citizenship test and B1 language level; not in force on the official pages as of September 2026. The registration fee rose to about €1,030 in 2025.
How much time abroad breaks Belgian residence continuity is not stated on the pages read; municipal guidance suggests absences under 6 months that total no more than a fifth of the period are allowed.

The law behind these dates

Professional cards for self-employed workers who are not Belgian nationals (Wallonia) · checked 2026-09-25
Long-term resident (FPS Home Affairs, Immigration Office) · checked 2026-09-24
Acquisition of Belgian nationality, over 18 (City of Brussels) · checked 2026-09-25
Losing, retaining and regaining Belgian citizenship (FPS Foreign Affairs) · checked 2026-09-25

Living there.

Time you must spend there: The program sets no minimum number of days. Renewal still expects it to be your home.
Tax: Living in Belgium on this basis makes you Belgian tax resident, with worldwide income taxable and no special low-tax regime for this card.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

Start today.

Read the Professional Card application guidance.Open economy-employment.brussels ↗
Round up the papers.
- The business plan, and the endorsement or approval it needs
- Request your FBI Identity History Summary
- Health cover for the move

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

18 steps, from the first paper to the passport. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →

ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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