Expat help - Process, Childcare, Weather, Travel etc.

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Maximus24 Active member

Member since 28 July 2018

Maximus24Active member06 August 2018 17:19:33

Hello community,

My partner has been offered a job in Belgium. In case we take it up we will be moving together as a family with our one year old son. I have a few questions and doubts,

The employer has left relocation expenditure to us. Visa process and charges will be taken care of by the employer but all other expenditure is on us. Coming from a non-EU country this is a huge upfront expenditure on our part. Flight charges, accommodation, childcare, expenses, travel and everything. Is this normal from Belgian employers?

Is accommodation easily available to outsiders? I am not talking about hotels. We are from India. Will it be easy for us to rent a house from here? How does the renting process work? Any advances we will have to pay?

Initially I will take care of our kid while he gets accustomed to day care. I am thinking of increasing the hours slowly. So I will be out of job and we will have to live with one salary and the gross pay comes to 3k. Any childcare tips? Should /Can I register for subsidised childcare?

Will it be easy for dependant spouses to find job and secure a work permit? I have strong experience in B2B SaaS marketing and entry level Data science.

The employer has offered a car. Ideally when will they be providing the car? The office is not very accessible by public transport. Can we drive with our Indian driving license or should we immediately get an EU license?

In case someone offers us a place to rent, how do we get access to utilities? Power, gas etc. In India, you have to apply for these connections and basically you would need some address proof. What is the procedure in Belgium?

We might reach there by October. Anything that we shouldn't miss out for the kid?

Thanks so much in advance.

aneesh Belgium expert

Member since 11 April 2010

aneeshBelgium expert07 August 2018 07:15:58

2000

Is this normal from Belgian employers?
-> Yes. it is quite common.

Is accommodation easily available to outsiders?
-> Yes. Depending on which area you are looking at. There are threads in the Belgium/Brussels forum discussing this topic (which area, etc)
https://www.expat.com/forum/256-7-accom … lgium.html

We are from India. Will it be easy for us to rent a house from here?
-> It is not a good idea to sign any contract before you physically see the apartment. The best way is to book a temp accommodation (some employers provide 1 month initial accommodation) and use that time to find a long term place.

Childcare: https://www.expat.com/forum/256-20-chil … lgium.html

The employer has offered a car. Ideally when will they be providing the car? The office is not very accessible by public transport. Can we drive with our Indian driving license or should we immediately get an EU license?
-> Depends. Some employers have the car ready on your day of joining. Some takes time.
-> Once you have a residence permit, your Indian DL is not valid in Belgium. More info: https://www.expat.com/forum/256-16-tran … lgium.html

In case someone offers us a place to rent, how do we get access to utilities? Power, gas etc. In India, you have to apply for these connections and basically you would need some address proof. What is the procedure in Belgium?
-> All apartments already may have a gas/electricity contract (most of the recent ones use electricity only - for kitchen and heating too). Once you move in, you transfer the contract from the previous tenant to your name, or you may choose to go with another service provider if the building has more than one electricity providers. You need your rental contract, that is it.

We might reach there by October. Anything that we shouldn't miss out for the kid?
-> Warm clothes, medicines, vaccination record.

Maximus24 Active member

Member since 28 July 2018

Maximus24Active member08 August 2018 04:53:32

Thank you so much.

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