Belgium’s Foreign Affairs website quietly updated its visa-for-employees and visa-for-self-employed pages on 14 September to clarify that the €242 federal handling fee must now be paid before lodging any D-visa application at an embassy. The change, flagged on the ‘Werknemer (gecombineerde vergunning)’ section, replaces older guidance that allowed proof of payment after interview. While the fee itself is not new—it was introduced on 1 July—lawyers say the stricter sequencing could catch out transferees who rely on couriered documents. If proof of payment is missing, some embassies are already refusing to accept files, resulting in multi-week delays for project-critical staff. HR teams moving talent into Belgium under the Single Permit regime should therefore initiate bank transfers at least a week before visa appointments and include the mandatory payment reference (SurnameFirst nameNationalityDDMMYYYY). Failure to do so risks the file being classed as ‘incomplete’ and losing the scheduled interview slot, pushing arrivals into 2027 peak season. The update also re-states that applications may be filed up to six months before travel—useful flexibility for companies planning 2027 deployments amid ongoing EES uncertainties.
