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Belgium provides international students with a high-quality education system, affordable living, and diverse opportunities attracting a good number of students from all over the world to the country for education. The students once done with the education program sometimes desire to stay back and look for career options in the country. However, student visa comes with certain limitations, to combat these limitations and allow the students to live and search for jobs freely in the country post-study work visa was introduced. Learn everything about the post-study work visa through the following blog.
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Read About: Study In Belgium
What Is Belgium Post Study Work Visa
The students who have graduated from Belgium require a new visa to stay in the country after their graduation has been completed because their student visa expires. Post-study work visa is the visa that allows this extra stay in the country. This visa is granted to people who have recently graduated from Belgium. It is called the “Search Year residence permit”. This visa allows the student to stay in the country for one year after the completion of their education program to look for a job or employment opportunity in the country. The students can look for a job, work in a job, or be self-employed in this one year in the country similar to the Belgian citizens.
Requirements for Application Residence Permit
If you have recently graduated from Belgium and need the Search Year Residence permit, you need to meet the following eligibility requirements:
- You must be having student resident permit for your duration of stay in the country as a student
- You have obtained a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree from a Belgian University or hogeschool in the previous year
- You must have health insurance for the whole year of your search year permit
- You must have sufficient funds to sustain your life in Belgium for the whole year. You must be able to show proof of having 789 EUR each month.
- You must have other documents like a valid passport, educational certifications, and photographs
The Application Process For The Belgium Post Study Work Visa
The application for the Belgium post study work visa must be made at least 15 days before the expiry of your student residence permit. Following is the process for the application:
- Log in to the official governmental website of the country
- Browse the post-study visa application
- Fill out the application with the correct details
- Provide the documents asked, like a valid passport, proof of Belgian degree, proof of solvency, proof of health insurance, and proof of bank statement.
- Post submission you will receive a receipt of the application being made
- The immigration office will decide within 90 days of the date of application
- In the duration of the processing of your application, if the student visa expires, you will receive annex 15 as your temporary permit to stay in the country and work until you receive a search year permit
- If your permit application is approved, you will receive your resident permit for the search year which will be valid for 12 months.
Also Read: How to apply for visa
Permits With The Belgium Post Study Work Visa
You get the following access and permits with your search year permit in the country:
- You get unlimited access to the Belgium labour market
- You do not need a student employment contract and can work freely under any employer even on a full-time basis, with no salary restrictions and your employer does not need to apply for a visa
- You can take up an education program and study while your permit is valid
- You can travel in and out of the country
Despite these permits and access to several activities, you must keep looking for a permanent job as your main goal is to get a work permit in the country.
Belgium Work Permit
Once you have found yourself a permanent job and your search year is coming to an end, you must apply for a work permit in the country. You need a valid job offer to be able to apply for this work permit. The Belgium work permit costs 108 EUR and it takes around 8 to 10 weeks to get processed, so the application must be made in a suitable time frame.
Benefits Of Working In Belgium
The following are the benefits of working in Belgium:
- The country provides a very good average pay
- The average working hours in the country are 38 hours a week
- You get access to the best healthcare and education facilities
- You get a very good quality of life
- There are several retirement and leave benefits provided by the firms in the country
- You get medical insurance
FAQs
To get a work visa to Belgium you need to have an employer who can initiate the visa application for you. The basic requirement is to get a job offer and the availability of required documents for the visa.
No, it is not that hard to get a work permit in Belgium, you just need to have a relevant job offer and an employer who can apply for the permit. Once your application gets approved by the authority, you get the work permit to the country.
Yes, the application for a work permit can get rejected due to several reasons like inability to verify documents, etc. If the application gets rejected your employer can appeal this decision before the competent appeal body within 30 days of the decision.
This was all about the Belgium post study work visa, to read about more such informative topics, follow, the Student Visa Archive. To learn about studying abroad, follow Leverage Edu.
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