L card application eligibility

I suppose you are with visa type D here. If i were you i would apply for type L rather than single permit.

Both will take same time to be issued.

@maharaji1984

Thank you for the suggestion.

My employer wants to apply for a single permit.

Should I ask them to apply for the L card or should I get the work contract and apply myself or the L card?

@jithuadm

Hi,

Your future employer is doing the correct procedure.

However they can not apply for an L card for you.

This is something that you should do.

Then let them apply for single permit, in parallel yourself apply for an L card.

Whichever issues first you start work that fast.

Good luck

@jithuadm

Hi, as my experience recently. Your employer will apply for you working permit, when working permit is approveed (2-4 months), you apply for A card yoursel (single permit)

you should go to commune now to apply for L card or unlimited working permit,.. should ask commune which one

which types of your cards from 2019 to now?

Good luck!

Thank you, everyone, for your advice.

I am planning to apply for the L card soon. May I know what documents are mandatory for this application?

Thank you in advance.

@jithuadm

1. Last 3 months Payslips
2. Passport copy
3. Health insurance proove
4. 
   

Was for applying in Antwerpen. May varying to other regions.

Looking forward to hear experiences.

Thank you, everyone, for your advice.
I am planning to apply for the L card soon. May I know what documents are mandatory for this application?
Thank you in advance. - @jithuadm

Hi @jithuadm

Any update on this? Did you apply. for your L card? if so, how was it?

Also, I have another  question regarding  your unemployment  benefits. Did you apply for them during your search year ? (I mean the orientation year after graduation from your PhD? Did they give it to you? Because I read that this might put on risk your residence. If you could share your experience would be really helpful as I am in this situation and I dont know if to apply for them or not. Also I have applied for L card. ( I was a postdoc for 5+ years)

Thanks

Hi everyone,

my wife is going to apply for her L card tomorrow. She came to Belgium in 2018 and was a student until 2021. In 2021, we applied for samenwonen and she received an orange card. At that time, I had a single permit, and the municipality said she would receive the same type of card as mine, so they issued her an A card.

She later renewed her A card, but the process took a long time because of delays caused by the racist Aalter municipality (which was even mentioned in the news).

I have two questions:

    1.    Does the period with the orange card count toward the 5-year residence requirement, or is it considered an interruption?

    2.    Is the 6-month waiting period during the renewal process also counted toward the 5 years?

@Ehf2025

Hey

I heard that if someone comes through cohabitation or family reunification, they get full access to the job market right away. That’s how it worked for your wife, right? Meanwhile, with a single permit, you're tied to one employer, at least at first. That’s a bit surprising, can you confirm it?

Her student years from October 2018 to 2021 were under an A card, which count toward the 5-year residence requirement at half value. Then she got the orange card in 2021 through cohabitation, which counts as legal residence. Once she received the A card via family reunification, her residence started counting fully.

I had Annex 15 from October 2021 to January 2022 while waiting for my A card, and it didn’t affect my L card eligibility—I just got it. So my assumption is that if she was first registered in October 2018, her 5 counted years were completed around April 2024. She could’ve applied for the L card before the end of last year.

@Mu Jaycee

Thank you

@Mu Jaycee

Quick question, for your 5 years count, did you take the annex 15 starting date before getting the student A card ? You counted from your student A card ? Can you please give your time line ? Thank you

@@Tomkar

Great question!

Just to clarify: the Annex 15 between A card renewals can be different from the Annex 15 you get when you first arrive in Belgium. What I’m sure of is that Annex 15 periods during renewals are considered legal stays, so they count toward the 5-year requirement — as long as you treat them as part of the A card period they follow.

The counting is actually simple arithmetic:

1. Student time counts as half
2. Search year counts as full
3. Working time counts as full

If you held Annex 15 after your student A card expired, that period might count half, unless it was the one held after the end of your search year while waiting for issue of single permit  — in that case, it should count fully, because the search year itself is a fully recognized legal stay and the Annex 15 following it is part of that legal continuity.

I suppose the search year counts fully only if it transitions into a job or another legal status other than going back to student status. Otherwise, it might be considered differently depending on the context or how the authorities interpret it.

Hope that helps clarify things!

So when do they start counting for L card ?

@Gvad45

For estimating the duration spent, I believe the dates printed on the A‑cards you held provide the most reliable starting and ending points.

@Mu Jaycee

What considers as 'student' ? Nowadays, I see most of PhD students has scholarship contract and are getting paid.

Is it a specific type of residency that lies under 'student' category?

Anyone knows?

@Mu Jaycee

No i dont think so, the approval couldve been prior to the date mentioned on the card itself

@Mu Jaycee
What considers as 'student' ? Nowadays, I see most of PhD students has scholarship contract and are getting paid.
Is it a specific type of residency that lies under 'student' category?
Anyone knows? - @Mehrdad_AS

As long as you have a "student" residence permit, you are considered a student by the immigration office, your scholarship contract doesn't change that.

@Josefine23

Sorry for bumping, but I do want to ask a follow-up question to this about the situation in reverse.

I am currently working as a postdoc similar to OP. However, I'm hired under a "fellowship" where the employer doesn't have to pay income tax for up to 3 years, and I technically do not have an employment contract. I think this arrangement might be specific to the French-speaking universities. mycareer.socialsecurity.be does indeed show me being employed by my uni as a salaried worker though.

In this case: do you happen to know if my timeline would be counted as regular full-time employment, or as half-time similar to those on a student visa? I've been trying to ask people I know and research information on this, and I've heard both answers...

@Josefine23
Sorry for bumping, but I do want to ask a follow-up question to this about the situation in reverse.

I am currently working as a postdoc similar to OP. However, I'm hired under a "fellowship" where the employer doesn't have to pay income tax for up to 3 years, and I technically do not have an employment contract. I think this arrangement might be specific to the French-speaking universities. mycareer.socialsecurity.be does indeed show me being employed by my uni as a salaried worker though.

In this case: do you happen to know if my timeline would be counted as regular full-time employment, or as half-time similar to those on a student visa? I've been trying to ask people I know and research information on this, and I've heard both answers... - @EmmieBE

Based on your description—specifically that mycareer.socialsecurity.be shows you as being employed by the university as a salaried worker—your postdoc fellowship is likely counted as regular full-time employment for social security and residency purposes, not as half-time student work.

I think you need to consult https://www.minfin.fgov.be/. If in previous years for tax reports you always had 0 in the section (column) for your salary I think for that period it is counted as half.

Im in a similar situation, i’ve been residing for more than 6.5 years, and working for the 4 years, normally i shouldve been eligible to apply a week ago, but i lost my job 3 weeks before my eligibility date due to bankrupcy, i dont know how to apply , i am currently registered as job seeker and registered at chomage

@Gvad45

apply it quickly, do not mention when you apply you lost the job

I was the same situation

@Mai Rose they ask for 12 payslips  the last payslip i got was the one mention in the C4 and it was half payslip

Do someone know that, If you lost your job after you applied L card? might it effect your getting card during 5 month waiting time? Or there is any solution for this?

@Sabri rer

I have seen a colleague losing job after application..he got his PR..no impact..

It happened in  late 2025.

@pranav2424 good to hear, And he found his new job immediately or was unemployed during this period

@Sabri rer

He HAD TO START new job Only after getting PR... because company fired him..so he HAD NO PERMISSION FOR ANY JOB..

he found job 1-2 months AFTER application for PR...but start date was AFTER GETTING PR..so he Waited for 5 months to start new job.. because PR took 5 months