Here are a number of things which we did not know before and knowing it would've been very helpful.
Belgium is a very slow country when it comes to processing Resident Permit. Especially if you're going to live in a city like Antwerp or Brussels it takes a lot of time.
We applied for and submitted our documents on November. After a month we got a date of appointment to visit the commune in February. 3 months just for appointment. The process starts only after that and it might go on for another 3 months easily.
The salary of 3k gross per month which most people ask here in the forum is just par for a family. Rents are exorbitant and it is also little difficult to find homes that people will rent for non-dutch speaking people with only their home passport. So you will not find homes and the best price. There's also home insurance which you've to take. Add 100 euros minimum extra to your calculation.
The lower wages in Belgium are compensated with a company car which you will get as cash in other countries. You can't get the car if your driving license is not valid in Belgium. Indian driving license or IDP doesn't work here. And you can't take the driving license test without your eID or national register number. Even the register number on your work permit won't help. There's a queue for taking the test in English. Most people don't crack the practical in the first attempt. There's also a collusion between driving schools and evaluators just like in our countries and you will end up paying more. The book in English costs twice the one in Dutch. So everything together 1000+ euros a bare minimum and up to 2500 euros. Or you don't get that benefit.
Speaking of the language, everything will be in Dutch or French. From foods to phone calls, sign boards everything. Even if you have to take a hospital appointment be prepared to hear things in one of these languages. I have lived only in the Flemish side and can't speak of the other. Honestly, there is a little discrimination based on language. Not from everyone, there are a lot of nice people too. But there is.
Coming to doctor, there is insurance for normal clinic visits too. Visiting a GP without insurance costs 26 euros. Since dependants don't have register number in any form all clinic visits and medicines will be out of pocket till they get resident permit. People coming with young kids beware. New environment, new microbes means a lot of doctor visits. And a doctor visit can cross 100 euros for a pediatrician with a blood test and medicines. Also sick leaves for people who work are paid from taxes/social security. So you need a doctor's note even for a single day sick leave. So your sick leaves have some cost above the insurance amount. Some companies need doctors note for 3 days leave only, so check with your company before coming.
Speaking of holidays, Belgium has one of the lowest holidays in EU. 20 days. But that's more than enough. The only problem is you don't get it in your first year. Yes, there are no leaves in the first year of work in Belgium. In Belgium you work a year to get your 20 days holidays. So the first year it's nil. This is so much pain. The EU scorned at this and made Belgium give something like European holidays to compensate but unfortunately it is unpaid. Even if money is not your concern, you may not be able to take it because as a highly skilled worker you need to be paid a sum which is, guess what, 3k per month. So unpaid holidays bye bye. Whatever happens, you shift house, your kid falls sick, someone in your home country dies, you are left to rue without any leave.
Everything here is based on appointments. So it's like you wait for appointment and the you wait for the work to be done. So have plans already to open bank account. Also it's better to land straight in Belgium by flight and not Amsterdam or Paris and take train/bus. This helps you get Sim card straight in the airport. Not all places have Sim card. A lot of shops with mobile phone ads sell top ups/recharges and not Sim. When you are traveling with a kid bring a stroller and travel lighter on luggage.
Be prepared for 3 months rental advance too as many house owners are asking for 3 from this year. Without RP day care, vaccination for kids is also a problem.
Belgium is also a largely car driving country. Not sure why as they still buy cars mostly manufactured elsewhere. So public transportation is a pain other than in top cities. Places that take 15 mins in car take 1+ hours in bus and it's almost never on time. But it's well connected and if you can wait you don't have to walk much.
A lot of these problems are likely to be solved with the single permit. But guess the single permit might itself be a pain as I can only imagine how much time it will take. The commune advised applying 4-5 months early for renewal. Some of these issues don't apply to people coming onsite.
I might have also missed out a number of things. So others feel free to add. And if I have got it wrong do share better ways. Everyone reading can benefit.
Things to also know before coming to Belgium
Hello,
Nice indictment against Belgium. But if it was such a negative country, why are there more and more Indians coming to work there?
Here are my answers to your fallacious statements chapter by chapter :
Resident permit:
- Administrative delays are fluctuating as in any country. And they can lie down seriously when the documents provided by a person are incomplete and/or poorly prepared.
- Administrative management is fully managed by a single official service. But of course, each applicant believes that it takes precedence over others...
- Having resided and worked in Gujarat for a while, this is frankly no better...
Salary:
- Here are the latest official Belgian statistics, they date from 2018 https://statbel.fgov.be/en/themes/work- … aries#news
- 2/3 Belgian households do not even have half of the benefits granted to you.
Housing:
- Rents are fixed by the Belgian State on very specific criteria. They are not done as in some countries at the head of the person.
- All over the world depending on whether you live in a big city or in the countryside, rents vary.
https://www.combien-coute.net/locstudio … /belgique/https://www.combien-coute.net/locstudio … /belgique/
- Many homeowners have had trouble with insensitive/disrespectful tenants. So the conditions of access are strict without a xenophobic idea.
- You are free not to take home insurance. But don't come crying the day something happens in your home and you will have to pay for everything with your own money.
- As a rental guarantee, you only have to ask your employer to countersign the rental lease...
Car & driving license:
- It is not Belgium's fault if your driving license is only officially recognized by 21 countries. https://www.bookmyforex.com/blog/21-cou … -is-valid/
- But you are still allowed to drive under certain conditions for six months. This is a sufficient period to pass the tests of the Belgian driving license.
- Of course driving schools take advantage of the opportunity as you want to pass the driving license in a foreign language that is not officially recognized by the state. Belgium has three recognized national languages, which are French, Dutch and German.
Spoken languages:
- Again, nothing in the Belgian law requires to receive the foreigner in his language. On the other hand, nothing prevents you from learning one of our languages. Many learning streams are set up by private and / or public bodies.
- Following my experience in your country, it's not better. You have so many local dialects that you have been forced to declare the language of the former colonizer as the official language ...
Health :
- https://healthpowerhouse.com/media/EHCI … report.pdf
- The Belgian healthcare system is in fifth place at European level. France is in eleventh place.
- Belgium has a highly developed social security system. Foreigners are also entitled to certain benefits and social assistance. The benefits you can enjoy as a foreigner depend heavily on the conditions in which you are staying in Belgium.
- If you come to Belgium to live, work or study, your rights in relation to social security (family allowances, pensions, reimbursement of medical expenses, inability to work,...) depend on the possible agreements that Belgium has concluded With your country of origin or European regulation. These rights are also specific to your personal situation and vary according to your nationality and status (salaried, independent, detached, pensioner,...).
- You are automatically asked to take out a private healthcare insurance until your registration to the Belgian system is finalised. So it's up to you to do what it takes for you and your family...
- https://www.international.socialsecurity.be/
Holiday:
- Again, you're making a false statement. The twenty days relate to the paid leave.
- In Belgium, full-time salaried workers normally benefit from four weeks ' leave per year. However, the calculation of the number of days off and vacation allowance is different for workers, employees, apprentices, artists and civil servants.
- For the workers, for example, it is the benefits and the salary received during the year preceding the holiday year that constitute the starting point of the calculation. The national annual Holiday Office pays them the holiday allowance between May 2 and June 30 of the holiday year.
- For the employees, it is the benefits and the salary received in the previous year and the current year that are taken into account. Employees continue to receive their wages during their vacation days ("Simple vacation allowance"). In addition, they receive a double vacation allowance calculated on the basis of the salary received in the previous year.
- If you have not worked enough to acquire the right to four weeks off, you may, depending on your personal circumstances, resort to additional, young or senior vacation days. Your holiday nest egg will be either an advance on the next year's vacation allowance or an allocation from the National Employment Office (ONEM).
Appointments:
- False, it is only because of the fact that you do not speak one of the Belgian national languages, it is a gesture of kindness to you that to propose an appointment with a person speaking a language not recognised by Belgium.
- But does not prevent you from coming with an interpreter...
Left to rue:
- One cannot expel a person from his or her home without a procedure before the court. This procedure takes at least one month and is forbidden during the winter period. So once again you're lying
Public transport:
- Only honest part of your statements.
The supply of public transport is actually not sufficient. But it is still diversified.
- But is it better in India?
Anyone in any country in the world can complain about the country in which he or she has expatriated. But before you complain, you have to open up to others and especially adapt to others. It is not for the citizens of the country of expatriation to adapt to you!!!
Dear Phipemar,
Sorry this is no indictment against Belgium nor it is a competition between one country and another as you're taking it. May be the blunt truth makes you feel so.
You've not shared anything that shows that I got it wrong and there are better ways of doing it, so that I could or anyone could learn. It is a very passionate defence. But sorry that was not the intention there. There are already enough people fighting for countries and enough people fighting anonymously on internet. Sadly, I don't fall under either categories.
I have lived in many places but I didn't find it compulsory to drive a car and the one country which was very big and a car would be beneficial recognized that license. So I am struck with the license I got at 18. But thanks for the list and hey, when I get Belgian driving license, the list would expand I guess.
Ik leer nederlands. Ik volg een cursus. I love learning languages and nothing for hate. But I have already noticed this tone from you in many replies. So doesn't surprise.
What I said about holidays is also true. So people who are coming on permit B and not onsite do have it in mind.
In fact, I took the time to write this post as well as this reply just to create awareness and empower people to make a validated decision. Whatever concerns the reader just google and make your own decisions.
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