The 'Single Permit', Your Chance of Recruiting Talented Employees Worldwide

Effective economic immigration is definitely one of the strategies to be pursued in order to remedy the structural labour shortage in the Belgian industry in the future. Not just from within the European Economic Area (EEA), where the free movement of people does not pose too much administrative problems. For acute shortages, we will also have to look beyond the borders of the EEA. And these days that border already starts in the United Kingdom!

In recent years, our government has made efforts to facilitate international recruitment procedures through increased flexibility and administrative simplification. This makes Belgium more attractive to foreign applicants and makes it easier for employers to recruit so-called 'third-country nationals' worldwide and put them on their Belgian payroll as a salaried employee for a longer period of time.

In 2019, the 'single permit' was introduced. This single permit (combined permit) replaces the traditional work permit and residence permit for 'third-country nationals' who want to work here for more than 90 days. These decisions are taken by the regional Economic Migration Service and the Immigration Office of the FPS Home Affairs respectively.

In this article, we provide a brief overview of the general guidelines in Flanders, since Belgium has regional nuances as always. We will only discuss the typical company profiles that qualify for companies based in Belgium, and not the exceptions to the rule or other sectors.

Since there seem to be quite a few misunderstandings about this single permit, we will try to clarify things by giving a few concrete and frequent examples.

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Situation: you fail to get your vacancy filled through local recruitment of a Belgian employee and you cannot find the right profile within the EEA or Switzerland either. For which third-country nationals is the single permit an option?

For the sake of clarity, 'third-country nationals' are citizens from outside the EEA and Switzerland. The European Economic Area includes the EU countries, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

 The basic questions to ask yourself are:

-       Is it a recognised shortage occupation?

-       Is it imperative that the profession is included in this list of shortage occupations?

-       What is the employee's level of education?

-       Does the employee have managerial responsibility?

SHORTAGE OCCUPATION

What is a ‘shortage occupation’ within the context of the single permit? The list of shortage occupations that is published annually by the VDAB (public employment service of Flanders) is NOT the same as the list of shortage occupations single permit. The latter is considerably shorter and is updated every two years by the Flemish Government (latest update 1 April 2021). It includes 22 medium-skilled occupations (for which no higher education is required) that Flemish employers have a very hard time filling their vacancies with and for which the minister acknowledges that there is a structural shortage. Think for example of a truck or crane driver, a maintenance mechanic, a sanitary installer, a chef, a butcher, a baker or health care/nursing staff. For these shortage occupations, no prior labour market research is required.

Example: you need a maintenance technician and this profession is on the recent list of shortage occupations single permit. In that case you are allowed to recruit worldwide without any labour market research and, as an employer, you can start the single permit procedure.                                                                      

WHAT IF THE POSITION IS NOT ON THE LIST OF SHORTAGE OCCUPATIONS?

Does the single permit only apply to these officially recognised shortage occupations? No. It is important to know that you can apply for a single permit for a medium-skilled employee from outside the EEA (and Switzerland) who is not on Belgian territory (unless as a long-term EU resident). As an employer, you must substantiate this with special economic reasons and you must prove by means of a labour market survey (in cooperation with the VDAB) that no suitable candidate was found in Belgium and the EEA (and Switzerland) within a reasonable period of time.

Example: you cannot find a diamond cutter in Belgium, nor in any other EEA country (or Switzerland). This occupation, however, is not explicitly mentioned on the shortage occupations list. If you can prove that you have not been able to find such a profile within the EEA (or Switzerland), you can under certain conditions apply for a single permit for a professional from e.g. Armenia or India.

HIGHLY SKILLED STAFF AND MANAGERS                                                        

For highly skilled persons (with higher education, university degree or equivalent), the requirements are simpler and less restrictive. These profiles do NOT have to be on the shortage list and do NOT need a prior labour market survey. For highly skilled persons, the only requirements are a recognised diploma and salary.

Example: you need an engineer. You can recruit this highly skilled profile worldwide as long as the person has the appropriate diploma and the gross annual salary is at least €43,524 (amount fixed for 2021). For highly skilled persons under 30 years of age and nurses only 80% of this amount applies.

For managerial staff members, it must be proven that the person is responsible for the day-to-day management of the company and is authorised to represent and bind the employer. In addition, the person also leads the company and supervises the work of subordinate employees. So diploma does not play a role here. However, the salary must be at least 160% of the average gross annual salary in Belgium. For 2021, this amount is set at €69,638 gross.

DURATION OF A SINGLE PERMIT                                                       *

Single permits for medium-skilled occupations can be valid for 1 year and must be renewed each year thereafter.

Single permits for highly skilled persons and managers can be applied for immediately for a period of 3 years.

There are also single permits with indefinite term but these must be applied for by the employee himself after having worked here for a certain period. In that case, the employee is free to work for any employer.

 LATEST PROCEDURE DEVELOPMENTS

* Whereas the entire application procedure for a single permit used to take about four months, the Immigration Office now aims for a much shorter processing time. In practice, these efforts are already showing results. The processing times are actually becoming shorter. Files are now often processed within two months.

 * Since 1 March, foreign workers who want to renew their single permit are allowed to continue their work here in order to remove previous uncertainties during this transitional period.

 * The government developed a digital portal 'Working in Belgium' so that the application is now done in a modern and transparent way.

With these recent measures, Flanders and the federal government have taken an important step towards the internationalisation of our labour market. In the global and fierce 'war for talent', this is certainly a boost for the Belgian business community, which can now confidently turn to international recruitment. Closing the gap!

Have you tried everything to find that one talent, without success?

Link2Europe, specialist in international recruitment, helps you to extend this search to the rest of the world. We support your company, look for candidates and guide them towards the Belgian labour market.

Interested to learn how we can assist you? Take a look at www.link2Europe.be.