Permanent Residence in Belgium: EU Long-Term Resident Status

Periods of unlimited residence count fully. Periods as a student or in vocational training count for half. For refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, half of the time between the asylum application and the permit counts, or all of it if that time exceeded 18 months. Stays for temporary reasons only, and diplomatic status, do not count.

Absences of less than six consecutive months, totalling no more than ten months over five years, do not interrupt the period. For EU Blue Card holders the limits are 12 consecutive months and 18 months in total, and Blue Card years in other EU states can be added if the last two years were spent in Belgium.

You need a valid residence or settlement permit, proof of five years of legal and uninterrupted residence immediately before the application, stable and sufficient means (EUR 1,038 a month for a single person and EUR 346 for each dependant), health insurance covering Belgium, and you must not be a danger to public order or national security.

File the application on the official annex form at your municipality with the supporting documents. The municipality issues an acknowledgement of receipt and forwards the file to the Immigration Office. If your current card expires during the examination, you receive an Annex 15 covering your stay. A positive decision, or no decision within five months, leads to the L card.

People authorised to stay only to study or train, those with temporary protection or a national protection status, pending asylum applicants and diplomats cannot apply at that moment. The status is lost on acquiring it in another EU state, after 12 consecutive months outside the EU (24 months for H card holders), after six years away from Belgium, or in case of fraud.

A negative decision is notified by the municipality. It can be challenged before the Council for Alien Law Litigation, generally within 30 days.