The European Commission on 29 January 2026 presented its first-ever EU Visa Strategy together with a Recommendation on attracting talent for innovation. For Belgium – which hosts the EU institutions and processes close to a million Schengen visa applications a year – the package is highly consequential. The Strategy promises a more "strategic, secure and competitive" visa policy for the whole Schengen area. It foresees stricter monitoring of visa-free regimes, the option of targeted restrictions when partner countries fail to cooperate on returns, and tougher document-security standards, all of which could translate into new operational rules for Belgian consulates and border officers.
At the same time, the Commission pledges to make legal mobility easier for tourists, business travellers and corporate assignees. Among the headline measures are longer-validity multiple-entry visas for “trusted travellers”, full digital lodgement and payment by 2028, and closer alignment between consular posts and border-control databases. For Belgian employers these moves could reduce uncertainty around short-notice assignments and cut processing times once consulates adopt end-to-end e-visa platforms.
Businesses and individual travellers who want to stay ahead of these shifting rules can turn to VisaHQ for help. The company’s Belgium portal (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) consolidates up-to-date Schengen requirements, offers step-by-step application support and provides real-time tracking so mobility teams and assignees can navigate the process with confidence.
![EU adopts first-ever Visa Strategy and Talent Attraction Recommendation]()
Running in tandem, the non-binding Recommendation on talent calls on Member States to create ‘fast-track’ channels for researchers, STEM graduates, founders and other innovation profiles. It encourages simplified documentation, shorter decision deadlines, smoother pathways from studies or research to employment, and improved intra-EU mobility so that highly-skilled professionals can move between offices without having to restart the permit process in every country. Brussels-based multinationals have long argued that Belgium’s region-by-region rules make the country less attractive than neighbours such as the Netherlands; the Commission’s benchmarking tool and regular peer-reviews are designed to expose such bottlenecks.
In practical terms, the ball is now in the court of Belgium’s federal and regional authorities. They will need to transpose the digital-visa Regulation (adopted in 2025) and decide whether to replicate the Commission’s recommended “innovation permits” or upgrade existing schemes such as the Brussels Start-Up Permit. Stakeholders expect detailed implementation proposals to surface during Belgium’s EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2026.
For mobility managers, the immediate takeaway is that change is coming on two fronts: tighter security screening but also potentially faster, more predictable processing for bona-fide travellers. Companies should start mapping their assignee populations, review supporting-document templates for digital submission, and engage with the regional authorities to ensure Belgium’s new rules stay competitive within the EU talent market.
At the same time, the Commission pledges to make legal mobility easier for tourists, business travellers and corporate assignees. Among the headline measures are longer-validity multiple-entry visas for “trusted travellers”, full digital lodgement and payment by 2028, and closer alignment between consular posts and border-control databases. For Belgian employers these moves could reduce uncertainty around short-notice assignments and cut processing times once consulates adopt end-to-end e-visa platforms.
Businesses and individual travellers who want to stay ahead of these shifting rules can turn to VisaHQ for help. The company’s Belgium portal (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) consolidates up-to-date Schengen requirements, offers step-by-step application support and provides real-time tracking so mobility teams and assignees can navigate the process with confidence.
Running in tandem, the non-binding Recommendation on talent calls on Member States to create ‘fast-track’ channels for researchers, STEM graduates, founders and other innovation profiles. It encourages simplified documentation, shorter decision deadlines, smoother pathways from studies or research to employment, and improved intra-EU mobility so that highly-skilled professionals can move between offices without having to restart the permit process in every country. Brussels-based multinationals have long argued that Belgium’s region-by-region rules make the country less attractive than neighbours such as the Netherlands; the Commission’s benchmarking tool and regular peer-reviews are designed to expose such bottlenecks.
In practical terms, the ball is now in the court of Belgium’s federal and regional authorities. They will need to transpose the digital-visa Regulation (adopted in 2025) and decide whether to replicate the Commission’s recommended “innovation permits” or upgrade existing schemes such as the Brussels Start-Up Permit. Stakeholders expect detailed implementation proposals to surface during Belgium’s EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2026.
For mobility managers, the immediate takeaway is that change is coming on two fronts: tighter security screening but also potentially faster, more predictable processing for bona-fide travellers. Companies should start mapping their assignee populations, review supporting-document templates for digital submission, and engage with the regional authorities to ensure Belgium’s new rules stay competitive within the EU talent market.
