Running the company: address, director, bank, founder residence
Self-Employed Visa for Belgium: the Professional Card
Hero
Belgium has no self-employed visa. We prepare and coordinate the professional card file and the visa D that follows; the Region decides.
- No visa of that name exists
- Decided by a Region: Brussels, Flanders or Wallonia
- State fee EUR 140 on filing, all three Regions
- Decision: 3 months in Brussels, 120 days in Flanders
No self-employed visa exists: what you apply for instead
Belgium has no visa called self-employed, entrepreneur, startup or investor, and no golden-visa programme: the official lists contain none. You apply for a professional card granted by a Region, then, if you apply from abroad, for a long-stay visa D at a Belgian post.
The card is for people who run their own activity, including a founder running a company. If that company needs a seat, read about giving a Belgian company a registered seat without renting an office. The single permit and the EU Blue Card are employee routes, which this page does not cover.
What's included
The Region decides; we prepare and coordinate the file.
Do you need a card at all
We check your nationality and the exempt groups first. EEA and Swiss nationals need no card, and neither do holders of an unlimited-duration residence document.
Which Region decides
We fix the Region from the criteria each one publishes: the registered office or main planned activity in Brussels, the KBO establishment unit in Flanders.
The business plan and the added-value case
We build the case each Region tests: a Brussels plan of at most 20 pages, or the five elements Flanders lists for its business plan.
The document set
We assemble and check the documents. Apostille and sworn translation come in only where a Region states them, as Flanders does. There is no general rule.
The filing route
We coordinate filing through the Belgian post abroad, or through a business counter if you already hold a qualifying Belgian residence document.
After the grant
We coordinate the visa D, card collection and registrations, then what the activity needs: a ready-made Belgian company, opening a company account in Belgium and VAT registration for a foreign company.
Who needs a professional card
A non-EU founder abroad
You file through the Belgian post of the country where you may reside, never with the Region directly. The visa D follows the grant.
A founder already in Belgium
With a qualifying Belgian residence document you file at an accredited business counter. Flanders does not recognise the orange attest van immatriculatie.
Working for a foreign company
Flanders says you must first establish a Belgian branch, subsidiary or separate company. That company needs directors: see a local director for a Belgian company.
No card needed
EEA and Swiss nationals, holders of an unlimited-duration residence document and the assisting spouse need none. Board-meeting trips fall under a narrow exemption, covered in the questions below.
How the professional card process works
Durations are the administrations' own. Where none is published, the step says so.
Decide whether a card is needed and which Region decides
Actor: you, with us, using the tests in the table below. No official timing.
Build the case
Actor: you, with us. No administration publishes a timing, and in practice this is the longest step.
Assemble the documents
Actor: you. No official timing; the slowest certificate sets the pace, often the criminal record extract.
File and pay EUR 140
Actor: the Belgian post abroad or an accredited business counter, never the Region directly. In Flanders the post forwards the file within 5 days of payment.
Admissibility, then examination
Actor: the Region. Flanders gives 30 days to cure a missing document; Wallonia sends an acknowledgement with a file number.
Decision
Actor: the Region. Brussels takes 3 months on a complete file, Wallonia 3 months on average, Flanders 120 days from acceptance, with deemed approval.
If abroad, the visa D
Actors: you, the Belgian post and the Immigration Office. Residence carries national mention B15 for the card's life plus 3 months. No Belgium-wide timing or fee was found.
Collect the card and register
Pay the issue fee, then register with the municipality, the KBO/BCE (EUR 111.50 per establishment unit, 2026) and a social insurance fund. Read what a director of a Belgian company is personally liable for.
The document set is assembled before anything is filed.
- Decide if a card is neededYou, with usNo official timing
- Build the caseYou, with usNo official timing
- Assemble the documentsYouNo official timing
- File and pay EUR 140Belgian post or business counterFlanders: forwarded within 5 days of payment
- Admissibility, then examinationThe RegionFlanders: 30 days to cure a missing document
- DecisionThe Region3 months (Brussels, Wallonia); 120 days (Flanders)
- Visa D, if abroadYou, the post, Immigration OfficeNo official timing found
- Collect the card and registerYouIssue fee EUR 90 per year of validity; KBO/BCE EUR 111.50
Not sure which Region will decide your file?
Send us your registered office and planned place of activity, and we set out which Region's test applies to your file.
The three Regions compared: fees, time and what they test
Each figure is that Region's own wording, from its official page read in September 2026. An empty cell means the page does not publish it.
| Item | Brussels | Flanders | Wallonia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Which Region decides | Registered office, or mainly planned activity, in Brussels | KBO establishment unit; the headquarters Region for a company working across Regions | Not published on the page read |
| What is tested | Right of residence, regulatory compliance, benefit to the prosperity of the Region | Economic, innovative, sporting, cultural or artistic added value | Economic, cultural, social, artistic or sporting interest for Wallonia |
| Application fee | EUR 140 on filing | EUR 140 | EUR 140 |
| Issue fee | EUR 90 when the counter issues the card; the French page words it per year of validity | EUR 90 per year of validity | EUR 90 per year of validity |
| Two-year card, application plus issue | Not printed: the issue-fee wording differs | EUR 320 (140 + 2 x 90, our arithmetic) | EUR 320 (same arithmetic) |
| Decision time | 3 months on a complete file | Within 120 days of acceptance, extendable; deemed approval | 3 months on average |
| Validity | Maximum five years; a first card is generally two years | One to three years | Generally one to three years |
| Renewal deadline | At least 2 months before expiry | No later than 60 days, for cards first obtained after 1 January 2022 | At least 3 months before expiry |
| After a refusal | New application two years after the previous submission date, with exceptions | One year after notification | Two years after the previous submission date, with exceptions |
| Funds shown | Not published on the page read | EUR 22,838 in an account in your name (economic track), plus a subsistence proof whose figure differs between the English and Dutch pages | Not published on the page read |
Professional card by Region, checked on 30 September 2026. Sources: Brussels, Flanders, requirements, Flanders, first application, Flanders, Dutch page, Flanders, renewal, Wallonia.
Documents you will need
Each item names the Region that asks for it. Visa D documents are listed by the post.
- Valid passport (all Regions' files; the post sets the validity at the visa D stage)
- Criminal record extract from your country of residence (Brussels; under 6 months old at the visa D stage)
- Copy of the identity card and two photos (Brussels)
- Business plan: at most 20 pages (Brussels); five listed elements (Flanders)
- Diploma of at least qualification level 4 (Flanders)
- Proof of funds and of means of subsistence (Flanders)
- Company file if a Belgian company carries the activity: articles, appointment document, register (Flanders, provisional)
- Sworn translations, legalised or apostilled if sworn abroad (Flanders only)
- Proof of payment of the EUR 140 application fee (all three Regions)
Problems we solve
Searching for a visa that does not exist
Founders search for a self-employed, startup or investor visa. We set out the route that exists: a regional card first, then a visa D if you are abroad.
Three Regions, three sets of rules
Fees, times and documents differ by Region. We work to the Region that decides your file and set the figures side by side. We do not rank the Regions.
A business plan the Region can test
Brussels tests benefit to the Region and accepts at most 20 pages; Flanders lists five plan elements. We build the plan to the headings the Region itself uses.
Renewal that fails on evidence
Brussels asks for two years of certified accounts showing the pay of managers and partners. The B15 renewal asks for proof of real activity and paid contributions.
Staying with a foreign employer
Flanders requires a Belgian branch, subsidiary or separate company before it grants a card. We plan that step beside the file, for example a private limited company under its Belgian name.
Want the file checked before it goes to the post?
We check your document set for completeness against the Region's own list before filing. We give no opinion on the outcome.
Why work with us
Nadia El Amrani leads founder services in Brussels and works in French, English, Dutch and Arabic.
From our practice: we build each file from the Region's own checklist and ask first for the slowest document. Renewals rest on evidence of a real activity, so we keep the records for it from the start.
Related services
- Company formationSetting up the Belgian company that will carry your activity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Belgium have a self-employed visa, an entrepreneur visa, a startup visa or an investor visa?
No visa of those names appears on the official lists read: the FPS Foreign Affairs list of D-visa purposes, the Immigration Office list of national mentions and the Commission's Belgium category list. The route is a professional card granted by a Region, then a visa D when you apply from abroad. Belgium has no golden-visa programme.
Do I need a professional card, and who is exempt?
Non-EEA, non-Swiss nationals need a card to carry on a self-employed activity, including as a founder running a company. EEA and Swiss nationals need none. Other exempt groups include holders of an unlimited-duration residence document, recognised refugees and the assisting spouse.
Which Region decides my file, and does the card work in the other Regions?
Brussels decides if the registered office or the mainly planned activity is there. Flanders looks at the KBO establishment unit, and the headquarters Region for a multi-Region company. Wallonia's page read states no test. A card from one Region is recognised across Belgium.
What does the state charge for the professional card in each Region?
EUR 140 on filing in all three Regions. The issue fee is EUR 90 per year of validity in Wallonia and Flanders (EUR 180 for two years). Brussels prints EUR 90 when the counter issues the card; its per-year wording is disputed between language versions. KBO registration is EUR 111.50 per establishment unit.
How long does a decision take, and what happens if the Region does not decide?
Brussels: 3 months on a complete file. Wallonia: 3 months on average. Flanders: within 120 days of acceptance, extendable, and the card is deemed approved if the extended period passes. No series of real decision times is published, so treat these as the administrations' own figures, not as a forecast.
What is the visa D, and does it come before or after the card?
The visa D is the long-stay visa for stays over 90 days. A founder abroad applies for it at the Belgian post after the Region's grant, and residence carries national mention B15 for the card's life plus 3 months. No Belgium-wide timing or fee was found.
Can I apply from outside Belgium, and where?
Yes. The file goes through the Belgian diplomatic or consular post of the country where you may reside, never directly to the Region. A founder already holding a qualifying Belgian residence document files at an accredited business counter instead, which then passes the file on.
Can I just travel to Belgium for board meetings without a card?
Only within a narrow exemption limited to that activity, and worded differently by each source: 90 days per year (Brussels), 90 days within a 180-day period (Flanders), three consecutive months (Royal Decree of 3 February 2003). It never covers running the company.
What money must I show for a professional card?
Flanders asks EUR 22,838 in an account in your name on the economic added-value track, plus a means-of-subsistence proof whose figure differs between its English and Dutch pages. Brussels and Wallonia publish no number on the pages read. Figures quoted in summaries are not statutory.
What happens if my application is refused, and can I appeal?
Brussels and Wallonia bar a new application for two years from the previous submission date, Flanders for one year after notification, with exceptions. Appeal: 30 days to the minister, then the Council of State in Brussels. Wallonia published 1,586 grants and 600 refusals for 2019 to 2024.
Can I form the company before the card is granted?
The sources do not settle it. Flanders lists provisional articles among the documents, while Brussels says the card is needed as a rule to register with the KBO. We assert neither answer; the company route is planned with you alongside the file.
What is the 30% rule in Belgium, and does it apply to a founder?
It is the inbound-taxpayer regime, which Art. 32/1 of the Income Tax Code 1992 denies to a founder or co-founder of their own company and to a holder of 30 percent or more of its capital. This is a statute fact, not tax advice.
Can a US citizen work in Belgium?
A US citizen is a non-EEA national, so the self-employed route above applies: a professional card, then a visa D from abroad. Employment is a different instrument, the single permit, which the employer files. No US-specific rule was found on the official pages read.
How do I renew a professional card?
Apply at least 2 months before expiry in Brussels, 3 months in Wallonia, and 60 days in Flanders for cards first obtained after 1 January 2022. Renewal rests on evidence of a real activity, such as certified accounts and social contributions.
Can my family join me?
One post lists a D-visa category for family members of a self-employed worker. Its conditions were not read, so none are stated here. Whether and how a spouse or child can join a card holder depends on a separate procedure with its own checklist, which this page does not describe.
Request a professional card file plan
Tell us your nationality, country of residence, planned activity and Region, and we prepare the file plan.