Belgium has completed the last stage of its immigration-digitalisation drive by requiring employers nationwide to submit all Work Permit B and cross-border commuter permit applications exclusively through the federal “Working in Belgium” portal as of 1 May 2026. The change, announced publicly on 29 May, eliminates region-specific e-mail channels that had long frustrated multinationals moving staff into Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia. Under the new rules, HR teams upload forms and supporting documents directly to the portal, which performs real-time validation and assigns a dossier number that can be tracked by both companies and regional authorities. Officials say the automated checks will cut “back-and-forth” requests for missing information that previously added weeks to processing times. For businesses, the benefits are two-fold: standardised requirements across Belgium’s three regions and greater transparency over case status.
![Belgium makes online portal mandatory for short-term work-permit filings]()
VisaHQ, a global visa and immigration facilitator, can help organisations adapt quickly to these changes by pre-screening documentation, ensuring compatibility with Belgian e-signature rules, and synchronising its own case-tracking interface with the “Working in Belgium” portal. Companies already using VisaHQ’s Belgium desk (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) can therefore manage Work Permit B filings, Blue Cards and short-term visas from the same dashboard, easing the administrative burden on stretched mobility teams.
Mobility managers told The Bulletin that dashboard visibility already helps them plan start-dates more confidently and reduces costly “shadow payroll” periods caused by paperwork delays. The reform also dovetails with Europe-wide moves to digitise immigration administration. Neighbouring Netherlands and France rolled out comparable e-permit platforms in 2025, and EU institutions are pushing Member States to interlink national systems to support talent mobility under the updated Blue Card directive. For companies running multi-country projects, Belgium’s shift removes a final paper bottleneck in the Benelux region. Practically, employers must ensure their legal proxies and payroll providers are registered on the portal and that e-signature protocols meet Belgian standards. While Wallonia is offering a short “grace period” for documents already in pipeline, new email submissions are no longer accepted, and authorities warn non-compliant files will be rejected outright.
VisaHQ, a global visa and immigration facilitator, can help organisations adapt quickly to these changes by pre-screening documentation, ensuring compatibility with Belgian e-signature rules, and synchronising its own case-tracking interface with the “Working in Belgium” portal. Companies already using VisaHQ’s Belgium desk (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) can therefore manage Work Permit B filings, Blue Cards and short-term visas from the same dashboard, easing the administrative burden on stretched mobility teams.
Mobility managers told The Bulletin that dashboard visibility already helps them plan start-dates more confidently and reduces costly “shadow payroll” periods caused by paperwork delays. The reform also dovetails with Europe-wide moves to digitise immigration administration. Neighbouring Netherlands and France rolled out comparable e-permit platforms in 2025, and EU institutions are pushing Member States to interlink national systems to support talent mobility under the updated Blue Card directive. For companies running multi-country projects, Belgium’s shift removes a final paper bottleneck in the Benelux region. Practically, employers must ensure their legal proxies and payroll providers are registered on the portal and that e-signature protocols meet Belgian standards. While Wallonia is offering a short “grace period” for documents already in pipeline, new email submissions are no longer accepted, and authorities warn non-compliant files will be rejected outright.
