@Tomkar
Belgian citizen
Forum posts
28
About me
Belgian
Lives in Brussels, Brussels Capital, Be
Registration: 18 September 2025
L Card conditions by Safiu saf
Hello everyone,I have a few questions regarding the eligibility requirements for obtaining an L card. Here is my situation:3 years as a university student;3 years working under a permanent employment contract (CDI) with a limited single permit.I now ...
@Safiu safFor L card, it is up to the requestor to submit his own means of living. So its should be your own payslips. They don’t want you to fall under the State financial help. So try to find another job ASAP. Read More
L card request rejected by Kenzie marisa
Hi ,I have been staying in Belgium for 5years now.and I moved to local contract 2 years back paying social security an tax. And I have not taken any break between both jobs when I applied for L card , it was rejected saying that I was detached ...
@jp_2018 You were paying income taxes + social security contribution. Or you were only paying social security ?You need to pay both to be able to be eligible to the L card. You can also check this with your commune. Read More
L card time frame by Gvad45
Hi everyone,Has anyone recently received their L card in Belgium? How long did it take from submitting your application to actually receiving the card?I’d appreciate hearing about your recent timelines. Thanks!
@Srizzy for my part it’s the date since I received my annex 15 (I arrived first as a student). And this was confirmed by my commune and the foreign office worker with who I exchanged e-mails on my eligibility date. Read More
L card time frame by Gvad45
Hi everyone,Has anyone recently received their L card in Belgium? How long did it take from submitting your application to actually receiving the card?I’d appreciate hearing about your recent timelines. Thanks!
@Gvad45One applied last December and got it in February (Ukkel) and the other one applied March and got it in June (Ixelles). Read More
L card time frame by Gvad45
Hi everyone,Has anyone recently received their L card in Belgium? How long did it take from submitting your application to actually receiving the card?I’d appreciate hearing about your recent timelines. Thanks!
@Gvad45 Hey ! I applied almost 2 months ago, and I’m still waiting for the reply.Looks like the L card processing time by the foreign office is very odd. I’ve one friend who got it 2 months after applying. And another one that got it 3 ... Read More
L card request rejected by Kenzie marisa
Hi ,I have been staying in Belgium for 5years now.and I moved to local contract 2 years back paying social security an tax. And I have not taken any break between both jobs when I applied for L card , it was rejected saying that I was detached ...
@pranav2424Commune matters as some commune take time to send out the file to the ministry !Just a simple example : I applied at Uccle commune, and I got the annex 16 BIS the same day I applied. And I didn’t need an appointment to apply.But at ... Read More
L card request rejected by Kenzie marisa
Hi ,I have been staying in Belgium for 5years now.and I moved to local contract 2 years back paying social security an tax. And I have not taken any break between both jobs when I applied for L card , it was rejected saying that I was detached ...
@Kenzie marisa When did you apply , at which commune and when did you get the answer please ? I’m also waiting for a reply.But as far as I know, if your contract was detached , not local, then the years are not counted for the 5 years required ... Read More
L card application in Antwerp by Valoche328
Hello everyone,I applied for permanent residency (L card) and received Annex 16 + 16bis on 28 October 2025. The Antwerp city hall scheduled an appointment for 28 March 2026 to inform me of the Immigration Office’s decision.However, when I ...
@Valoche328 this is not true at all. After 5 months of waiting, if there is no answer, city hall needs to give you the L card. After the 5 months, no refusal decision from IBZ is valid. Their refusal decision needs to be made before the 5 months. If ... Read More
How are we informed if an application is delayed/rejected by BMM996210
Hi,Just to have an understanding. Does anyone know/experienced a rejection/pending status for their L card.After how many days/months was this communicated to you?.Reason: I would be completing my 5 months period after the L card application and ...
@Diegote22 I’m also waiting for a decision for my L card. I think the best way to know if a decision has been made is to regularly call « Office des étrangers ». I call them every 3 weeks now, to see if a decision ... Read More
B card application by rjBelgium18
Hello, I am working in Belgium from last 7 years and recently switched to local employer.I am paying social security from last 3.8 years. I applied for L card and application was rejected.Commune said that your employer can raise B card request for ...
@rjBelgium18 For B card you need to wait 5 years of working under Belgian contract before applying, if not it will be rejected.May i know, how long did you wait before receiving your L card application decision ? When did you apply and when did you ... Read More
L card - 5 years requirement by Stranger_F
Hello,I live in Brussels/Schaerbeek. One of the requirements for L card is "justifier d'un séjour légal et ininterrompu en Belgique au cours des 5 ans".Do you know from which date those 5 years are calculated? For instance I have three ...
@JalanizCongrats ! I’m also waiting for the L card. Can you tell me how did you get the approval , did the commune directly called you? Also what was the last activities of the past months on your national register ? You can check it online ... Read More
Unavoidable travel after citizenship approval by vinaysem
Dear,My citizenship has been approved today and I have to travel in another 2 weeks to India. Could someone please help and let me know if I can still travel with Indian passport and existing(old) Belgian Permanent residency card?
The short answer is : yes you can travel with your Indian passport + your existing residency card. There is no problem at all.But if you want to travel peacefully, you can go online on your national register, download your citizenship certificate ... Read More
Family Reunification for single permit holders by dj68
Hello all!In the IBZ website, it says that Exceptionally, embassies and consulates-general are authorised to issue a family reunification visa to the spouse and minor children of a foreign national holding a single permit, without prior consultation ...
@dj68 Hi ! I live in Belgium, and I’ve seen situation like this. Yes your spouse reunification visa should be granted fast as it is based on your single permit. If your single permit is already granted, there is no reason that she don’t ... Read More
Belgium Nationality 2026 by callonafo
Hi everyone,Let’s use this topic to share experiences and information about obtaining Belgian nationality in 2026, so we can gather useful and up to date details in one place.To make the information complete and easy to compare, it would be ...
@callonafo I see that your L card will be available middle of this month. I also applied and I’m waiting for the reply of OE. May i ask when did you apply and when did OE checked your national register ? You can see it in Mydossier if you have ... Read More
L type card processing time by guestuserbrs
hello , When I applied L type card in commune, they informed that maximum time taken for decision is 5 months and if any decision is not taken you can come after 5 months to commune for further processing.Now 5 month period is over and commune is ...
@Taimtaim11 did you finally apply for the L card ? And did they approve it ? Read More
How to apply for L card, Schaerbeek? by Stranger_F
Hello!I'm eligible for L card and scheduled appointment via internet with townhall (appointment type "document d'identite Belge, L carte").However upon arrival they said that this appointment can't be used to submit documents and instead I should ...
@Stranger_F I guess it depends on the commune. I live in Ukkel and I went today to apply for the L card with all the supporting documents. I took a ticket, then when my turn arrived, the commune lady took my documents, and then gave me both the ... Read More
Search year visa after graduation and Annex 15 in Belgium by Nnajiu
I would like to ask a few questions about the search year (orientation year) visa process in Belgium for non-EEA graduates. If you applied for the search year after completing your studies while your student residence permit was still valid, does ...
@Nnajiu Please don’t be fool, don’t commit an error,you need to take the annex after your student card expires and then wait for the decision of immigration. Otherwise you can have some issues. If you don’t have an annex, your ... Read More
Single permit processing 2025 by sarasaroub98
Hi all,I created this post for people that are waiting for their single permit and future applicants, please share your timeline here : Application date : 11/11/2024Region: Flanders WP: 02/12/2024RP: waiting
Update ! WP : 17th June 2025Residency / Annex 46 : 30th October 2025Tomorrow i will go to the commune and order the new identity card,Good luck to everyone Read More
Single permit processing 2025 by sarasaroub98
Hi all,I created this post for people that are waiting for their single permit and future applicants, please share your timeline here : Application date : 11/11/2024Region: Flanders WP: 02/12/2024RP: waiting
@kvct83 I was in the same situation, and i just received my single permit Read More
Single permit processing 2025 by sarasaroub98
Hi all,I created this post for people that are waiting for their single permit and future applicants, please share your timeline here : Application date : 11/11/2024Region: Flanders WP: 02/12/2024RP: waiting
@Sumito Nagasawa Did you apply on your search year too? Read More
12 months salary before applying for "sejour ilimite"? by nyamani77
Hello, I faced a bizarre situation today: I completed 5 years of legal non-interrupted residence in Belgium as per 14 August 2025. I worked for >700 days (as per ONSS) but in two jobs. between the two jobs there was a few months of interruption ...
@nyamani77 may I ask you which commune asked you to work 12 months before applying ? They just need the last 3 months payslips and that’s all. People at the commune really think that they have a kind of « power », it’s so ... Read More
Terminated contract and L card is processing at the same time by Mai Rose
Hello everyone!While I was just terminated contract by the employer, I went to commune to ask my status, they said I meet the requiments to apply L card (they did not see my contract was just terminated). Now I have some questions, if some one has ...
@Mai Rose Can you please share how it finally went ? did you get another job while waiting for the L card ? And has it finally been approved ? Read More
L card application eligibility by jithuadm
Hello all, I was a PhD researcher between 2019 March and June 2024 in Belgium.I had a Social Security-covered grant from 2019 March until 2019 December (Exempted from tax but considered as paying tax). I had a Belgian fellowship Grant between ...
@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 Read More
Single permit processing 2025 by sarasaroub98
Hi all,I created this post for people that are waiting for their single permit and future applicants, please share your timeline here : Application date : 11/11/2024Region: Flanders WP: 02/12/2024RP: waiting
@Jey70 no they didn’t give me. But yesterday i sent them again an email to ask the waiting time. It’s so crazy how fast it’s very slow here in Belgium for governmental processings Read More
Single permit processing 2025 by sarasaroub98
Hi all,I created this post for people that are waiting for their single permit and future applicants, please share your timeline here : Application date : 11/11/2024Region: Flanders WP: 02/12/2024RP: waiting
Single Permit Application for the first timeRegion: FlandersSubmission date: 17 June 2025Work Permit: 17 June 2025Residence Permit: WaitingBeginning of October I sent an email to ibz, they said they are exceptionally prolonging the treatment time. ... Read More
Single permit processing 2025 by sarasaroub98
Hi all,I created this post for people that are waiting for their single permit and future applicants, please share your timeline here : Application date : 11/11/2024Region: Flanders WP: 02/12/2024RP: waiting
@Eline Paul Congrats ! Did you receive the annex 46 via mail or via the single permit website ?Plus your application went straight from approved work to approved residency ? Or there were processing by IBZ in the meantime ? Read More
Single permit processing 2025 by sarasaroub98
Hi all,I created this post for people that are waiting for their single permit and future applicants, please share your timeline here : Application date : 11/11/2024Region: Flanders WP: 02/12/2024RP: waiting
@TJ_Bel , Hello, I’m in the same situation as you !My company applied for the single permit for me in May, there were some documents missing. And we provided the documents on June. The same day right after providing the documents, the work ... Read More
Card L Brussels by Taimtaim11
Hello,I have been legally residing in Belgium since January 2021. I understand I can apply for the permanent residence card (Carte L) after 5 years, which will be in January 2026.However, my municipality (Brussels 1000) invited me to apply early in ...
@Taimtaim11 can you please tell us if you received an answer for your L card application ? Read More