Belgium: Flanders Introduces €180 Single Permit Fee

Belgium: Flanders Introduces €180 Single Permit Fee

Employers submitting Single Permit applications in the Flemish Region must now pay a new regional processing fee.

Since 1 September 2026, a fee of €180 applies to each initial or renewal Single Permit application for a worker from outside the European Economic Area or Switzerland. It is payable in addition to the applicable federal administrative fee for processing the residence element of the application.

The new charge does not apply to work-card applications. The amount will be indexed annually on 1 January.

Payment is required before processing begins

Employers must pay the fee through the Working in Belgium single permit portal after submitting the application. Once the application has been filed and a case number generated, the portal should automatically display a payment request.

Payment must be completed within 15 days of submission. If it is not received by the deadline, the application will be closed automatically.

The fee is non-refundable, including where an application is refused, withdrawn, closed or cancelled by the employer. Payment is also an admissibility requirement: the application will not be forwarded to the Flemish Economic Migration Service, and processing will not begin, until the file is complete and the payment has been processed.

Employers should check that the portal status changes to “Newly submitted” following payment. No separate invoice or payment receipt is issued. At the time of publication, the Flemish government is also reporting technical problems with the online bank-transfer option.

Processing times remain lengthy

The Flemish government’s September 2026 estimates indicate that applications may wait between one and four weeks before examination of the employment element begins, depending on the category. The estimated wait is two weeks for highly skilled workers, managers, researchers and EU Blue Card applicants, and four weeks for medium-skilled applications.

For the federal residence element, the Immigration Office is currently reporting approximate timelines of:

• 15–16 weeks for initial applications
• 12–13 weeks for renewals
• 16–17 weeks for changes of status; and
• 11–12 weeks for EU Blue Card applications

Importantly, these estimates are calculated from the start date of the work-authorisation process. They should therefore not be treated as additional periods to be added to the regional waiting time.

What employers should do

Employers sponsoring workers in Flanders should:

• budget for the additional €180 charge on every initial and renewal application;
• ensure that the person responsible for payment has the necessary portal access;
• complete payment promptly and confirm that it has been processed;
• review upcoming expiry dates and prepare renewals as early as the rules permit; and
• allow sufficient time for the currently reported processing periods when setting proposed employment start dates.

Further details are available in the official Flemish Government fee guidance and its September 2026 processing-time estimates.