Belgium has kicked-off the new year by releasing the minimum salary levels that employers must meet when sponsoring non-EEA nationals for Work Permit B and Single Permit applications in 2026. According to a KPMG Flash Alert of 26 January 2026, the three regions continue to use separate methodologies, which means the exact figure an assignee must earn still depends on where the employment contract is registered. Brussels has opted for stability and keeps the 2025 monthly amounts (e.g. €3,703.44 for highly-skilled staff and €6,647.20 for managers). Wallonia has switched to updated annual gross amounts—€53,220 for highly-skilled workers and €88,790 for managers—while Flanders will temporarily keep its 2025 figures until national statistics office Statbel publishes the Belgian wage index, after which Flanders is expected to adjust within a month.(kpmg.com)
The fragmented approach obliges multinational companies to track three sets of rules and to react quickly once Flanders indexes its own thresholds. Failure to do so can trigger permit refusals or even criminal sanctions: Belgium’s Social Penal Code allows fines and imprisonment for employing a third-country national below the legal salary floor. Companies should therefore audit payroll data for all permits that will be renewed in 2026 and build automatic alerts into HRIS systems so that any salary shortfall is corrected before renewal filing.(kpmg.com)
![Belgium’s Regions Publish 2026 Salary Thresholds for Work and Single Permits]()
For employers that prefer to outsource these compliance headaches, VisaHQ’s Belgium team can manage the entire Single Permit process—from verifying regional salary thresholds to assembling supporting documents and tracking renewal deadlines—helping organizations avoid costly refusals. Learn more at https://www.visahq.com/belgium/
In practice the changes will be felt most keenly by start-ups and scale-ups that rely on highly-skilled talent but operate on tight salary budgets. A Walloon tech firm hiring a 29-year-old software engineer, for instance, will now have to budget at least €53,220 plus indexation, social security and benefits—an increase of more than 6 % over last year. Conversely, Brussels-based employers gain a short reprieve because their 2025 monthly thresholds still apply.
Global mobility managers are advised to: 1) map out where employees are legally employed versus where they physically work; 2) review assignment letters and secondment agreements to ensure the guaranteed gross meets the 2026 minimum for the competent region; and 3) brief Finance that shadow-payroll adjustments may be required once Flanders publishes its indexed figures. HR teams should also remind business units that salary top-ups must be contractual (not discretionary bonuses) to be counted by the immigration authorities.
The fragmented approach obliges multinational companies to track three sets of rules and to react quickly once Flanders indexes its own thresholds. Failure to do so can trigger permit refusals or even criminal sanctions: Belgium’s Social Penal Code allows fines and imprisonment for employing a third-country national below the legal salary floor. Companies should therefore audit payroll data for all permits that will be renewed in 2026 and build automatic alerts into HRIS systems so that any salary shortfall is corrected before renewal filing.(kpmg.com)
For employers that prefer to outsource these compliance headaches, VisaHQ’s Belgium team can manage the entire Single Permit process—from verifying regional salary thresholds to assembling supporting documents and tracking renewal deadlines—helping organizations avoid costly refusals. Learn more at https://www.visahq.com/belgium/
In practice the changes will be felt most keenly by start-ups and scale-ups that rely on highly-skilled talent but operate on tight salary budgets. A Walloon tech firm hiring a 29-year-old software engineer, for instance, will now have to budget at least €53,220 plus indexation, social security and benefits—an increase of more than 6 % over last year. Conversely, Brussels-based employers gain a short reprieve because their 2025 monthly thresholds still apply.
Global mobility managers are advised to: 1) map out where employees are legally employed versus where they physically work; 2) review assignment letters and secondment agreements to ensure the guaranteed gross meets the 2026 minimum for the competent region; and 3) brief Finance that shadow-payroll adjustments may be required once Flanders publishes its indexed figures. HR teams should also remind business units that salary top-ups must be contractual (not discretionary bonuses) to be counted by the immigration authorities.
