New Single Work Permit Procedure - Belgium

Congratulations man... feeling hopeful now!

Hi I applied on 15th jan and on 27th jan my application is accepted for processing. I'm still waiting for Work autorization, does it take more than a month , I heard it is generally with in 4 weeks from acceptance, in most cases in the forum it is immediately after acceptance, does it vary depending on region, I applies for Brussels region , is there any way to know the status , even my employer has no idea

Welcome to the group of stressed!

It looks like they are not following any rules. For some people it takes less time, some others it takes more... no clear path especially regarding the processing time.

All I can say is just wait...😔

I think you should expect some serious delays in these two weeks due to Corona Virus confinement but I think everything will go back to normal after that

Do you think really that COVID 19 could have an effect on work permit process, my application date was on 26/02/2020 and no confirmation mail for file acceptance. Does this sound normal not to receive the mail confirmation on your personal mail?

Hello Everyone,
I have question that some companies putting on jobless to their staff because of coronovirus lockdown.Anybody know what is the impact on your you single permit if they put you on jobless status??

Everything thing here is working on the minimum, at least until 3th april. And yestarday there is a 30 days lockdown to any external UE, so there is no VISA being issued now.

This information is clear on DOFI
dofi.ibz.be /sites/dvzoe /EN/Pages/ home.aspx


Postponement of non-essential travels and consequences of COVID19 on visa activity

On a proposal from the European Commission, the heads of state and government have decided to temporarily close the external borders to third-country nationals on non-essential journeys.

This means that, for the time being and until further notice, no visa application can be received nor any visa issued. In most countries, Visa Application Centers are closing.

Exceptions are possible, however, for travelers who have an essential function, or an essential need.

People who have received a visa are strongly advised to postpone any non-essential travel. If the period of validity of the visa issued for the postponed trip is insufficient to cover the duration of the new trip, a new visa may be requested on presentation of the following documents:

    visa application form indicating the new dates of the trip,
    proof of payment of the handling fee,
    copy of the travel document with the visa issued for the postponed trip,
    proof of the arrangements made for the new trip (eg new date fixed for the conference or professional meeting, new invitation, etc.), and
    travel health insurance covering the duration of the proposed new trip.

The examination of visa applications already submitted continues. However, in the event of a positive decision, the visa will not be issued immediately, unless the applicant has an essential function or an essential need.

If the visa was requested for a short stay, the visa may be issued after normalization of the situation, provided that the applicant still meets the entry conditions.

Thanks  for these valuable information my question was about work permit process and not entry visa or travel ban

@Sofien tunis,
this is the DOFI website, they are responsible for the Single Permit. The information is about the Single Permit,

You can also access the Work secretary of the region (this is from Brussels)
http://werk-economie-emploi.brussels/ fr_FR /news-covid-19?inheritRedirect=true

Single Permits already  required are beeing evaluated, but they will only issue the documents after 02/04.

Are you renewing the Permit? From your profile you already in Belgium, correct? If is a renew your employer can contact the commune for a extension if necessary.

I think that information is specifically about VISA (which you apply for after you get the single permit). I consulted with the Belgian Embassy in my country today: There will be no new applications for visa for next 30days.

But I think there will be a significant delay in single permit process itself also, because of the lock-down. The people from immigration office should work at home (maybe partially at least) and this will for sure slow down the process.

Hi I will be moving to Belgium and this will be a new single permit request.

Hello,

I have applied for a single permit about 7 months ago but no reply yet other than confirmation that the file has been received.

Has anyone waited this long for their permit?

Thanks.

REALLY STRANGE THAT YOU ARE STILL WAITING ?

Allinn wrote:

Hello,

I have applied for a single permit about 7 months ago but no reply yet other than confirmation that the file has been received.

Has anyone waited this long for their permit?

Thanks.

Hey,

I was in the same position like u. I have applied on September. Received SP on March 12th

Regards,
Bala.

Finally!!!
I got the single permit. I was quite hopeless that I wouldn't be able to get it for a while, because of the situation, but here it is

Submission: 24/12/2019
WP: 5/2/2020
SP: 31/3/2020

Wish the best luck for everyone here who is still waiting!

Congrats

Congratulations!

Could you let us know how the SP was sent to you?
Was it sent to you to your personal email or to your employer?

I thought all processes were suspended due to the COVID-19 containment measures...

fmmaciel wrote:

Congratulations!

Could you let us know how the SP was sent to you?
Was it sent to you to your personal email or to your employer?

I thought all processes were suspended due to the COVID-19 containment measures...

Thank you.
It was sent to my employer (the agency that handles the procedure for my employer, precisely speaking).
I also thought so too, so this is very unexpected.  I think they are still working on it, it is just slower than usual because they have to work from home.
Hope you get one soon too.

The new on dofi is pretty clear:
the examination of visa applications already submitted still continues.
But the visa will not be issued immediately, unless the applicant has an essential function (meaning high skill medical staff, researcher, ...).
Further more, no new visa request can be done at consular/embassy/visa center for the time being.

If you've a visa request ongoing, the visa will only be granted AFTER the covid19 situation calm down... (except for essential function)
So congratz about your SP, but you'll have to wait before requesting a visa to come in Belgium

Just a question for work permit approval did your receive notification by mail or it was sent to your employer or agency directly. I mean file acceptance and them work permit approval was it sent to your mail directly?

Sofien tunis wrote:

Just a question for work permit approval did your receive notification by mail or it was sent to your employer or agency directly. I mean file acceptance and them work permit approval was it sent to your mail directly?

I didn't receive them myself. My employer notified me, for all of them!

Congratulations!

To which region was your file submitted?

Jalaniz wrote:

Congratulations!

To which region was your file submitted?

Thank you!
It's for Flanders

My employer in Brussels applied for my single permit around 16th December and I got my work permit approval on 23rd January. Now I am awaiting notification from immigration department with annexe 46. I sent an email to immigration infodesk to enquire about the same and got below response:
We can't find you in our system. Ask your employer to contact the regions to ask why their decision isn't received by us.

I have sent an email to my employer regarding it and awaiting their response. Has anyone faced this issue and know what can be the problem and where my application is stuck?

How many did you got  attachments from department for approval?
Only annex 46 I got today for my work permit and you same got ?

Vinask wrote:

How many did you got  attachments from department for approval?
Only annex 46 I got today for my work permit and you same got ?

Yes that's the only thing I got too. And I think that's only thing we need.

Vinask wrote:

How many did you got  attachments from department for approval?
Only annex 46 I got today for my work permit and you same got ?

Yes, this is the only thing i received today from my employer.

Now did you applied for visa at Vfs?

AlexfromBelgium commented a few post before about visas according to dofi website:

"The new on dofi is pretty clear:
the examination of visa applications already submitted still continues.
But the visa will not be issued immediately, unless the applicant has an essential function (meaning high skill medical staff, researcher, ...).
Further more, no new visa request can be done at consular/embassy/visa center for the time being.

If you've a visa request ongoing, the visa will only be granted AFTER the covid19 situation calm down... (except for essential function)
So congratz about your SP, but you'll have to wait before requesting a visa to come in Belgium"

Vinask wrote:

Now did you applied for visa at Vfs?

No.. I also personally consulted the Belgian embassy here, and they said they will not receive any application in the month of April and asked me to contact them again in the beginning of May.

Hello,

Here's my single permit timeline for Brussels Region:

application submitted: 26.11.2019
wp: 08.01.2020
sp (annex-46): 31.03.2020

Good luck to all those who are in that painful process of waiting for the sp. Meanwhile it might also be a good idea to contact the work permit authority (économie and emploi) to check whether they've sent the documents to Foreigner's Office for sp examination.

For the rest of us, it seems that we'll need further luck for the visa and relocation due to Covid-19 restrictions.

According to the EU Commission Guidance on the Implementation of Covid-19 restrictions, “....persons deriving their right to reside from other EU Directives or national law or who hold national long-term visas” are exempted from the Covid-19 visa/travel restrictions... guidance can be found here, page 4: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites … ort_en.pdf

Does anyone know whether such exemptions apply in our case (for sp holders) and if not, why?

Again, Belgian and other European countries do not issue visa anymore, unless you're a high skill doctor/researcher/... and Belgium needs you, right here, right now.

Other peoples will have to wait to request a visa in 1-2-3-4..... months, when the Covid19 panic will lower and borders will open again.

AlexFromBelgium wrote:

Again, Belgian and other European countries do not issue visa anymore, unless you're a high skill doctor/researcher/... and Belgium needs you, right here, right now.

Other peoples will have to wait to request a visa in 1-2-3-4..... months, when the Covid19 panic will lower and borders will open again.

What about visa application that is already submitted, in my case is family reunification with single permit holder, it was submitted on feb 27, 2020.     i know visa will not be issued in current situation but worried if i need to submit visa application again.

Hello,

How many times all of you will ask the same thing?

All procedures are dormant until an unknown date !!!

As soon as the situation has returned to normal, everything will resume without the suspension period being taken into account.

Hello everyone. Joining the club of SP recently approved:

My Timeline for first time application
Region: Flanders
Application Filed: January 22nd, 2020
Application Admissibility: Unknown
WP Approval: February 06th, 2020
Single Permit Approval: March 21st, 2020

My employer received my single permit.

Hi guys just got a question in case of someone who don't have bachelor or master degree can the year of experience and trainings replace it in the application of single permit. In my case I have high school certeficate plus trainings certeficate however they have requested bachelor degree. Can someone advise?

Hello everyone,

Hope everybody is staying safe.
I would just like to share my latest exchange with the dofi infodesk.

My employer submitted the documentation for the single permit on December 4th 2019, and received back the admissibility confirmation (dated January 9th 2020) along with the work permit on January 22nd, from the Brussels region.

We have thus been waiting for the Residency Permit and Single Permit to be issued by the Immigration Office. My employer said they tried to contact them by phone (I learnt from this forum that this was a mistake) and by email, but claimed they never received an appropriate reply.

So a few days ago, I decided to contact them myself through infodesk[a]ibz.fgov.be. I provided my passport number as well as the Reference number mentioned in the Work Permit.

Their reply was "We can't find any request on your name.".

I sent in the Work Permit attached and they said it would be forwarded to the relevant service to clear it out, but I haven't received any new reply since.

Has anyone faced a similar situation, or have any idea regarding what may have happened in this case?

Thank you.

I guess you should let your company handle it... it's going to be a pain to handle if you don't speak french / dutch...
You should inform your human resource about it, and they should manage it/contact them.

Administration can sometime be a real pain... especially in case of failure...

fmmaciel wrote:

Hello everyone,

Hope everybody is staying safe.
I would just like to share my latest exchange with the dofi infodesk.

My employer submitted the documentation for the single permit on December 4th 2019, and received back the admissibility confirmation (dated January 9th 2020) along with the work permit on January 22nd, from the Brussels region.

We have thus been waiting for the Residency Permit and Single Permit to be issued by the Immigration Office. My employer said they tried to contact them by phone (I learnt from this forum that this was a mistake) and by email, but claimed they never received an appropriate reply.

So a few days ago, I decided to contact them myself through infodesk[a]ibz.fgov.be. I provided my passport number as well as the Reference number mentioned in the Work Permit.

Their reply was "We can't find any request on your name.".

I sent in the Work Permit attached and they said it would be forwarded to the relevant service to clear it out, but I haven't received any new reply since.

Has anyone faced a similar situation, or have any idea regarding what may have happened in this case?

Thank you.

I was in the same situation. If u would went through previous threads u may know. No worries, you file wouldn't have uploaded digitally. Info desk is like front desk they login and see with Ur detail and if they didn't find any details they just tell it's not found.
I may ask u to wait for some more days. And ask ur employer to follow up vigorously.