Change in Job and Residence permit renewal

If you have the new work permit in hand already, you can use that to initiate your RP renewal (No need to wait for your start date at new job).

Thanks Aneesh, for taking time.

Kind regards,

Dear Aneesh,

My friend has a situation and need your guidance.

1. She found a new job and resigned from company , she has a short term notice of 3 weeks which will end in June.
2. The future employer has started the new work permit process , but it will take 6-8 weeks . She may receive the new permit in hand by end of July.
3. Present employer will cancel the permit by end of June, on last date of employment.
4. Hence she will have a gap of 1 month starting from 1st July till she gets new work permit.

a. Is she allowed to stay in country even after cancellation of work permit by present employer in end of June (I think yes we can stay as long as residence card is valid)?

b. will this gap of 1 month(ending employment with present company and receiving new work permit from future employer )  has impacts on existing residence permit card in any way ?(residence permit is valid till December 2018) ?

A. Yes
B. No

(Theoretically)


Do inform your local commune about the change and get their official confirmation too.

Thank you Aneesh ,

Can she go back to her home country for 1 month and come back once employer receives the new work permit from commune ? [ The only problem could be she might be in her home country when employer receives the permit in Belgium , will it be a problem to come back to Belgium during immigration check for not having the original permit - she will have the residence permit in hand of course ]

My intuition is not to leave The country when paperwork of change of work permit is in progress. Everything may go smooth, as she has a valid residence permit. But why to take risk. When she enters back if (just in case) the immigration officer asks to see her work permit (normally they don't, but in case), there can be issues. Then it will be too late to be cautious

Thank you Aneesh, I have conveyed your suggestions to my friend.

I found couple of old threads in this forum , so one point is clear : you are legally allowed to stay till residence card is valid (even after work permit cancellation).

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=715735https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=780774

Updating this thread for consistency of information:

Work permit cancellation can technically result in RP cancellation too. By law, your employer is supposed to inform the commune that your contract ended, but this is a process and some times it takes time. It is always good to consult the commune on this matter.

If you quit your job or if your contract is terminated, it is your employer's obligation to notify the ministry/commune you no longer work for them, then the ministry/commune will cancel the work permit and also cancel your residence and you have 1 month to leave Belgium. Also, strictly speaking, you are supposed to return your work permit to the commune if you are no longer working, which will initiate a cancellation of your residence permit (as you your RP is granted based on your WP). You may choose not do this and hope they will take forever to cancel.

To conclude, if all goes strictly as per process, you will lose your right to stay when your WP is cancelled. Now the interesting part is how long all this takes. It depends on how fast your employer reports the end of the work contract, then the ministry/commune takes time to process this notification.

Therefore, it is possible that during this whole process, you may stay in Belgium and find a new job, which means a new work permit and continued right of residence. (OR you may already have a job in hand when you leave your current one - well and good in such case).

aneeshks:

could you give some links where did you find that employment contract termination will also terminate a residence permit?

@aneesh

Hi aneesh my contract was terminated this week by employer dont know where to start now starting to look for new job my RP expires in July dont know how fast will my old employer will take to report to commune mostly they are not so sharp on this if i dont find a new job and new employer who is willing to apply for new permit long long am i allowed to stay in belgium

thanks in advvance