Belgium’s three regional authorities – Brussels-Capital, Wallonia and Flanders – have opened 2026 with a steep inflation-linked hike in the minimum pay foreign workers must earn to obtain or renew a Belgian work authorisation. Brussels published its new scale on 18 January, setting the highly-skilled threshold at €3,703.44 gross per month (≈ €44,441 p.a.), €6,647.20 for executives and €4,748 for EU Blue Card holders. Wallonia simultaneously released annual figures of €53,220 for highly-skilled staff, €42,576 for junior assignees under 30 and €88,790 for executives, while Flanders is expected to confirm broadly comparable numbers in the coming days.(visahq.com)
The automatic indexation mechanism ensures that immigration salary floors track Belgian cost-of-living increases. For HR and global-mobility teams the impact is immediate: employment contracts and budget models signed in late 2025 that still reference the old salaries must now be amended, and regional immigration portals have begun flagging files that quote outdated figures. Any application lodged from 1 January that underpays by even a few euros risks being ruled inadmissible.
Existing permit holders are grandfathered until their current authorisation expires, but renewals will have to meet the new bar. Visa advisers warn that some online forms have not yet been updated; until they are, applicants should attach a cover letter explicitly citing the 2026 thresholds to avoid costly “additional information” requests.
![Belgium raises 2026 minimum-salary thresholds for Work Permit B, Single Permit and EU Blue Card]()
To make this transition smoother, VisaHQ’s Belgium specialists offer real-time guidance on the new thresholds and can pre-check employment contracts before they are uploaded to the regional portals. Their interactive platform (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) also features salary-compliance calculators and step-by-step filing support, helping employers and assignees avoid last-minute refusals and keep projects on track.
In the medium term, the increase nudges Belgium above France and the Netherlands for mid-level talent costs, although it remains cheaper than Luxembourg and parts of Germany for senior executives. Companies planning graduate-intake or rotational programmes are already revisiting head-count plans and considering salary top-ups or longer assignment cycles to smooth the budget hit.
Practical tips for employers include issuing instant salary addenda for Q2 start dates, updating shadow-payroll systems so that gross-to-net conversions reflect the higher floors, and briefing recruiters that junior transferees may now fall short of eligibility unless supplementary allowances are added.
The automatic indexation mechanism ensures that immigration salary floors track Belgian cost-of-living increases. For HR and global-mobility teams the impact is immediate: employment contracts and budget models signed in late 2025 that still reference the old salaries must now be amended, and regional immigration portals have begun flagging files that quote outdated figures. Any application lodged from 1 January that underpays by even a few euros risks being ruled inadmissible.
Existing permit holders are grandfathered until their current authorisation expires, but renewals will have to meet the new bar. Visa advisers warn that some online forms have not yet been updated; until they are, applicants should attach a cover letter explicitly citing the 2026 thresholds to avoid costly “additional information” requests.
To make this transition smoother, VisaHQ’s Belgium specialists offer real-time guidance on the new thresholds and can pre-check employment contracts before they are uploaded to the regional portals. Their interactive platform (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) also features salary-compliance calculators and step-by-step filing support, helping employers and assignees avoid last-minute refusals and keep projects on track.
In the medium term, the increase nudges Belgium above France and the Netherlands for mid-level talent costs, although it remains cheaper than Luxembourg and parts of Germany for senior executives. Companies planning graduate-intake or rotational programmes are already revisiting head-count plans and considering salary top-ups or longer assignment cycles to smooth the budget hit.
Practical tips for employers include issuing instant salary addenda for Q2 start dates, updating shadow-payroll systems so that gross-to-net conversions reflect the higher floors, and briefing recruiters that junior transferees may now fall short of eligibility unless supplementary allowances are added.
