Belgium’s three-week-old postal strike entered a new phase on Monday, 20 April, as mediation talks between Bpost management and trade-unions failed to produce a breakthrough.
![Nation-wide Bpost strike delays residence cards and permit letters across Belgium]()
During this period of uncertainty, companies may want to consider engaging a specialist visa service such as VisaHQ, which can liaise directly with Belgian consulates, arrange expedited appointments and organise secure alternative courier options for the original approval letters that consular officers still require. Their Belgium portal (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) centralises real-time document checklists and tracking so HR teams can monitor every step even when the regular postal network is paralysed.
While headlines focus on household parcel delays, the impact on corporate mobility programmes is growing more acute: thousands of biometric residence cards, Annex 46 work-permit approvals and family-reunification decision letters are stuck in sorting centres in Brussels and Wallonia. According to union representative Luc Tegethoff (VSOA Post), fewer than 20 % of delivery rounds operated in the capital last Friday; on Monday the figure was “close to zero”. Distribution hubs in Liège and Charleroi are reportedly clogged with undelivered registered mail, the channel through which regional authorities send original work authorisations and the Immigration Office dispatches annex documents that foreigners need to pick up residence cards at local communes. In Flanders, service levels are better—around 85 %—but even there business districts around Ghent and Antwerp are experiencing three-day lags. For employers, the disruption translates into postponed start dates and compliance headaches. Foreign nationals who have already arrived on D-visas cannot complete municipal registration without the physical decision letter proving they were granted a combined work-and-residence permit. Those abroad may have to reschedule visa appointments, because Belgian consulates require the original, stamped approval when issuing long-stay visas. Some companies have started using private couriers to collect letters directly from provincial immigration offices, but capacity is limited and costs are rising. Bpost management says it has offered to phase in changes to weekend shifts and pay scales, but unions argue the proposal lacks guarantees on workload and job security. The federal government has so far declined to intervene, although the Interior Ministry admitted that “essential government correspondence” is being slowed. If no accord is reached this week, Bpost warns it may have to prioritise medical supplies and election materials, pushing immigration documents even further down the queue. Global mobility managers should advise assignees to carry proof of application receipts and, where possible, book extra Schengen days on their travel insurance. Municipalities have begun accepting digital copies of approval letters as a temporary measure, but only if the employer can supply a track-and-trace code showing the original is en route. With Belgium’s summer hiring season looming, many fear the stand-off could become the most disruptive postal dispute for mobility stakeholders since 2018.
During this period of uncertainty, companies may want to consider engaging a specialist visa service such as VisaHQ, which can liaise directly with Belgian consulates, arrange expedited appointments and organise secure alternative courier options for the original approval letters that consular officers still require. Their Belgium portal (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) centralises real-time document checklists and tracking so HR teams can monitor every step even when the regular postal network is paralysed.
While headlines focus on household parcel delays, the impact on corporate mobility programmes is growing more acute: thousands of biometric residence cards, Annex 46 work-permit approvals and family-reunification decision letters are stuck in sorting centres in Brussels and Wallonia. According to union representative Luc Tegethoff (VSOA Post), fewer than 20 % of delivery rounds operated in the capital last Friday; on Monday the figure was “close to zero”. Distribution hubs in Liège and Charleroi are reportedly clogged with undelivered registered mail, the channel through which regional authorities send original work authorisations and the Immigration Office dispatches annex documents that foreigners need to pick up residence cards at local communes. In Flanders, service levels are better—around 85 %—but even there business districts around Ghent and Antwerp are experiencing three-day lags. For employers, the disruption translates into postponed start dates and compliance headaches. Foreign nationals who have already arrived on D-visas cannot complete municipal registration without the physical decision letter proving they were granted a combined work-and-residence permit. Those abroad may have to reschedule visa appointments, because Belgian consulates require the original, stamped approval when issuing long-stay visas. Some companies have started using private couriers to collect letters directly from provincial immigration offices, but capacity is limited and costs are rising. Bpost management says it has offered to phase in changes to weekend shifts and pay scales, but unions argue the proposal lacks guarantees on workload and job security. The federal government has so far declined to intervene, although the Interior Ministry admitted that “essential government correspondence” is being slowed. If no accord is reached this week, Bpost warns it may have to prioritise medical supplies and election materials, pushing immigration documents even further down the queue. Global mobility managers should advise assignees to carry proof of application receipts and, where possible, book extra Schengen days on their travel insurance. Municipalities have begun accepting digital copies of approval letters as a temporary measure, but only if the employer can supply a track-and-trace code showing the original is en route. With Belgium’s summer hiring season looming, many fear the stand-off could become the most disruptive postal dispute for mobility stakeholders since 2018.
