Belgium: a professional card in 30 days, if an incubator backs you

• 3 decisions

  Professional card, D visa, residence card; from three authorities

• 1 September 2026

  Start of the Innovation & Startup Permit name and fast track

• 30 days

  Card decision with an Access Point letter

• 1 to 3 years

  Card validity, renewable

In Belgium, authorisation to work as a self-employed person and authorisation to reside are two separate decisions by two separate governments. The work authorisation, the "professional card", is issued by a regional government: Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia or the German-speaking Community, depending on where the company's place of business is registered. Residence is granted by the federal Immigration Office, through a D visa you get from the Belgian embassy in your country of residence. The card is useless without the visa, and the visa is not issued without the card.

What changed on 1 September 2026 is the name and the speed, not the conditions. Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) has named the professional card procedure for innovative entrepreneurs the "Innovation & Startup Permit" so it is more visible internationally, and promises a decision within 30 days for a file that includes a cooperation letter from an approved Access Point. The official page itself states that the conditions of the professional card procedure remain unchanged.

So if someone sells you a "Belgian startup visa" with direct residence, they are describing a programme that does not exist. What exists is a one-to-three-year card tied to you personally and to the activity written on it, which must be renewed, and which after five years may lead to long-term residence, with a legal question we explain further down.

These are the same for all four added-value categories (economic, innovative, sporting, cultural):

Nationality

You are a national of a country outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland, and no exemption applies to you. Nationals of countries such as Iran are covered, and permanent residence in another (non-European) country does not exempt you.

Education

At least a level 4 qualification in the qualifications framework, i.e. the equivalent of a secondary-school diploma. A bachelor's degree is not required, but the diploma must be submitted with a sworn translation and legalisation.

Means

From the date the card is issued, "stable, sufficient and regular" resources for you or your family, at least equal to 110% of Belgium's guaranteed minimum monthly wage. From April 2026 that is €2,408.79 net a month; the annual figure published from 1 March 2026 is €26,086.66.

Public order and the law

You are no threat to public order and security, you register in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, and you comply with tax, social and company-law obligations. The business must be economically viable and must not harm the market or employment.

• 3 criteria

  New product, new technology, or cooperation with an incubator

• 1 is enough

  They are alternatives, not conditions at once

• €0

  Fixed company capital in the innovative category

• €22,838

  Only in the economic added-value category

The professional card is granted for an activity that brings added value to Flanders, and the startup route falls under the "innovative added value" category. For this category you must provide evidence of at least one of these three: developing a new product, service or process that creates value for the company and the economy; applying a new or improved technology to an existing product, service or process; or cooperating with an incubator, accelerator or research and knowledge-dissemination organisation.

The point lost in most reports: in the innovative category there is no starting-capital requirement. The €22,838 figure (indexed from 1 January 2026, in an account in your own name) is a condition of the "economic added value" category, designed for traditional businesses with job creation and investment. Both categories require a full business plan.

The third criterion is the Access Point letter itself. One letter both meets the substantive innovation condition and triggers the 30-day route. That is why the whole game in Flanders turns on this letter.

• 59

  Organisations on the official August 2026 list

• 30 days

  Decision with the letter

• 120 days

  Decision without the letter, then tacit approval

• Dutch template

  Letter only on the government's official Word or PDF template

Startup.Flanders says you do not apply for this permit alone: you work with an incubator, accelerator or research and knowledge institution approved by the Flemish government. That partner assesses the quality of the project, helps strengthen the file and signs the cooperation letter. The letter has a fixed template, in Dutch, in Word or PDF format on the government site, and must be attached to the file as is. Without it you can still apply for the card on innovative added value, but you lose the 30-day route.

The official list (August 2026) has 59 organisations: from university incubators such as Ghent's IIC and the KU Leuven incubator, the technology transfer offices of the universities of Ghent, Antwerp, Hasselt and Brussels, to imec.istart, Start it @KBC, VIB, VITO, Flanders Make, Janssen's JLABS, Corda Campus, The Beacon and sector clusters such as Catalisti, Flux50, Blauwe Cluster and Flanders’ FOOD. The list gives only the name, website and VAT number; nothing about fees, admission criteria, capacity or what they ask in return for a letter.

• Get the letter before you submit, not after: without a letter the file goes on the 120-day route and cannot be sped up later.
• The letter template is written for one entrepreneur; whether one letter can cover several founders is not stated on any official page.
• The list has data errors (two organisations with one VAT number, one wrong website address); confirm each organisation directly.
• The main question is open: do these organisations want equity, charge a fee, or require you to join an acceleration programme in exchange for a letter? Each has its own answer, and it must be asked before promising anything to any client.

A full business plan must contain at least: market and target group, market size, competitor analysis, SWOT analysis and marketing plan, plus a financial plan in the official Excel template. The fixed documents for a first application are these:

The six official Startup.Flanders steps, with the deadlines and fees given by the Flemish government and Immigration Office pages:

• 1. Profile: non-European nationality, a diploma, means of €2,408.79 a month, and an activity that meets one of the three innovation criteria.
• 2. Business plan: market study, competitor and SWOT analysis, marketing and financial plan, with the official financial template.
• 3. Access Point: agreement with one of the 59 listed organisations and a signed letter on the Dutch template.
• 4. Submitting the application: from abroad, at the Belgian embassy or consulate in your country of residence, with €140; the embassy forwards the file to Flanders within 5 days. From inside Belgium, on the WSE portal.
• 5. Decision and D visa: at most 30 days with the letter, 120 days without it with tacit approval; then the D visa application at the same embassy with the regional decision, a medical certificate, a police certificate and the receipt for the administrative contribution.
• 6. Arrival and start: the card is posted to the business counter you chose; on arrival you pay €90 per year of validity, collect the card, register with the municipality, register the company in the KBO and sign up for VAT and a social insurance fund for the self-employed.

• €140

  When submitting the card application

• €90

  Per year of validity, when the card is issued

• €320

  Total for a two-year card

• Separate

  D visa administrative contribution and consular fee

The Flemish professional card has two fee items: €140 when you apply, and €90 per year of validity when the card is issued; a two-year card is €180, a three-year card €270. If you applied from abroad, you pay the €90s at the business counter on arrival. Brussels charges the same €140 and €90. No separate fee has been announced for the fast track.

The D visa has two separate fees: an administrative "contribution" in euros paid into the Immigration Office's account in Belgium, whose amount depends on the visa category (we have not verified the current amount on the Office's page; take it from there), and a consular fee paid in local currency according to the schedule of the embassy or consulate where you live; legalising each document at Belgian posts carries its own fee. Sworn translation, apostille or legalisation of documents, the medical certificate, company registration and any Access Point fee are separate.

• 5 days

  The embassy forwards the file after the €140 fee

• 6 months

  Maximum age of the police certificate and legalised documents

• VisaOnWeb

  The federal D visa form, for every post

• Each post

  Sets its own submission method, fees and templates

The core is the same for everyone: you submit the professional card file to the Belgian embassy or consulate in the country where you legally reside, pay the €140 there, the embassy forwards the file to the regional office within five days, and after a positive decision you request the D visa from the same post. The visa form is filled in on the federal VisaOnWeb system.

But each post sets the practical details itself, and they differ from post to post: whether submission is in person or by post, the number of copies, the consular fee schedule in local currency and how to pay it, the medical certificate template and which doctors are accepted, the type of police certificate (for example, with fingerprints) and whether an apostille or consular legalisation is required, the minimum passport validity, and how many months before travel an application is accepted. None of this is on the Flemish pages; it is on that embassy's D visa page, and you must read it before preparing the file.

With a positive decision, both you and the embassy are informed, and you request the "temporary residence authorisation", the D visa, from the same embassy. For this visa the federal Immigration Office wants the regional decision, a medical certificate confirming you have none of the diseases in the annex to the 1980 Act, a police certificate less than six months old and the receipt for the administrative contribution. Once the Flemish economic migration office has the visa copy, it sends the card by registered post to the business counter you chose on the form.

In Belgium: €90 per year of validity and collecting the card at the counter; registering with the municipality where you live, with the card and visa, which leads to the residence card; registering the company or activity in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises and getting a company number; VAT registration; and joining a social insurance fund for the self-employed. If the company hires staff, registration with the National Social Security Office is added. A Flemish card is also valid in Brussels and Wallonia.

• 1 to 3 years

  Validity of the Flemish card, depending on the merits of the file

• 2 years

  Usual probation period of a first card in Brussels

• 5 years

  Maximum validity in Brussels

• 2 months

  Before expiry: deadline for the renewal application

The Flemish card is valid for one to three years, and the merits of the file set the length. It is personal, not transferable, and covers only the activity written on it; a change of address, of the nature of the business or of status requires an amendment request. You must request renewal before it expires.

Brussels describes renewal more explicitly, and the Flemish logic is the same: the first card is usually a two-year probation period with a maximum of five years; to renew you must be profitable, unless the losses come from investments that contribute to future success, and you must provide certificates of no debts for direct tax, VAT, the social insurance fund and social security, the last two years' tax returns, an accountant-certified balance sheet and profit and loss account showing the pay of directors and partners, and the last two years' sales and receipts ledger. The renewal application goes in at least two months before expiry.

If the file is incomplete, you get an email and have 30 days to complete it; after that the file becomes "permanently inadmissible" and only the Council of State can review it, within 60 days. If you are refused or the card is revoked (for example after a failed inspection), you can appeal to the Flemish minister for work within 30 days from the third working day after the decision was sent, by letter or email.

Know three things about the appeal: while it is pending, any new application for the same activity is inadmissible; the appeal has no suspensive effect, and if your right of residence ends in the meantime you must follow the Immigration Office's instructions and probably leave; and if the minister confirms the refusal, you must wait one year from notification for the same activity, although you can apply for a different activity at any time. In Brussels the wait is two years from the date of the previous application, unless the refusal was for an incomplete file, you have new evidence, or you propose a different activity.

Brussels issues its own professional card for the same €140 and €90, with no fast track and no Access Point. The project must contribute to the region's prosperity and offer goods or services that are not plentiful in Brussels, and achieve at least one of these: improving existing sales channels, improving the performance of the region's companies and organisations, innovation in the design and distribution of goods and services or scientific research, sustainable creation of salaried jobs, a cultural offering, sustainable development, or Brussels' appeal to international institutions. The business plan or its summary is at most 20 pages, review of a complete file takes three months, an appeal is by registered letter in French or Dutch within 30 days, and then the Council of State within 60 days.

Wallonia also issues its own professional card through the Public Service of Wallonia (SPW, employment department) and has specific forms for applicants abroad. The official Walloon page would not open for us when we checked on 5 November 2026; for that reason we quote no timelines or figures from it. If you are heading for Liège, Namur or Charleroi, read that page yourself before any decision. In all three regions, one region's card is also valid in the other two.

The federal Immigration Office says a third-country national who has authorisation to work and stay more than 90 days can bring their spouse or registered partner and minor children with them or have them join later, "under certain conditions". Those conditions are defined in the section on family reunification with non-EU nationals holding limited residence and normally include adequate housing, income and health insurance. Reunification is not automatic, and there is no guarantee your family arrives at the same time as you. Each family member needs a separate D visa with evidence of the family relationship, and the card's 110% means figure is defined for "you or your family".

• 5 years

  Legal and continuous residence before applying

• 6 / 10 months

  Maximum single absence / total absences over five years

• 5 months

  Decision deadline; silence means approval

• 12 months

  Outside the EU: status lost

EU long-term resident status (L card) in Belgium is granted after five years of legal and continuous residence immediately before the application, on these conditions: a valid residence permit, stable and regular means of at least €1,038 for one person plus €346 per dependant, health insurance covering Belgium, and no threat to public order. Absences of less than six consecutive months and at most ten months in total over five years do not break continuity. The application goes to the municipality with Annex 16; if the Immigration Office does not decide within five months, the municipality issues the L card itself. The status is lost after 12 consecutive months outside the EU, or six years outside Belgium.

This is where the open question lies. The same page says the periods counted are those in which you were authorised to stay "for an unlimited period", half of any period of study counts, and residence "for purely temporary reasons" does not. Where a one-to-three-year professional card and the residence tied to it fall in this classification cannot be established from that page; it depends on the interpretation of Article 15bis of the Act of 15 December 1980 and on the Office's practice. Until a Belgian immigration lawyer has said in writing that professional card years count, do not write "permanent residence after five years" in any client material. The €1,038 figure is also clearly older than the card's €2,408 figure; do not use it for calculations.

These four issues appear in no official table, but for an applicant from a sanctioned country such as Iran they decide the timing and outcome of the file:

Legalising documents

Iran is not a party to the Apostille Convention. So every Iranian document, from diploma and transcript to police certificate and financial documents, needs the full legalisation chain: sworn translation, certification by the justice ministry and the foreign ministry, then legalisation by the Belgian embassy in Tehran. This chain takes time and money that appear in no official table; plan it at the start of the route, not the end.

Means and banking

The €2,408 a month must be "stable, sufficient and regular" and provable. A balance in an account in your home country with a documented source, a property sale deed or rental income is acceptable if translated and legalised, but moving that money to Belgium after arrival is a separate problem, and opening a Belgian bank account with a passport from a sanctioned country is not easy. If you have an account and banking history outside your home country, build on that.

Police certificate

It is required from your "country of legal residence": if you live in Iran, that means an Iranian police certificate with the legalisation chain; if you live elsewhere, a certificate from that country with its apostille or legalisation. The place to apply is likewise the Belgian embassy in that country of residence, not necessarily Tehran; each post's submission and payment procedure differs, and you must coordinate with that post before preparing the file.

An Access Point letter from a distance

Most of these organisations are incubators and universities and assess the project before signing a letter. An online pitch, an MVP or early market data, and a team that can work with them in Dutch or English improve the chances of a letter. Without a letter the 120-day route remains open.

Belgium has the highest means threshold of the four (€2,408 a month against about €1,210 for Finland and €1,860 for the whole period in Bulgaria) but the fastest decision, if you have the letter: 30 days, against 30 days for Bulgaria's certificate and months for a Business Finland assessment. It asks for no fixed capital, like Bulgaria and unlike its own economic category. In exchange, dependence on a third party, the incubator, is structural in Belgium, as with the Dutch facilitator and unlike Finland, where the government agency itself assesses.

If you want a big market and a central position in Europe and you have the first year's savings, Flanders makes sense. If money is tight and you can start with a one-year certificate, Bulgaria. If you want the government itself, not an incubator, to assess the project, Finland. We have set all three side by side on the comparison page.

We are not immigration lawyers or licensed consultants, and we do not file Belgian applications. Our work is the part the Access Point and the economic migration office judge:

• Identifying the category: innovative or economic, Flanders or Brussels, and whether you meet the means and level 4 diploma conditions, before a single euro is spent.
• A business plan in the Flemish format: market, market size, competitors, SWOT, marketing, and a financial plan in the official Excel template, written so both the incubator and the office can read it.
• Choosing and approaching an Access Point: which of the 59 organisations fits your field, what it wants, and how to present the project to it so the letter gets signed.
• A documents and legalisation plan: the translation and legalisation chain for documents from non-Apostille countries, the procedure of the embassy in your country of residence, and the timing of certificates that are valid for only six months.
• Year-two readiness: a company financial structure that passes renewal, not just issue.