The Flemish Department of Economy, Science and Innovation has published fresh indicative processing times for work-authorisation dossiers submitted through the federal ‘Working in Belgium’ portal. As of mid-September 2026 the region says first-time applications for highly-skilled staff, executives, EU Blue Card holders and researchers are being picked up after two weeks, while ordinary mid-skilled files face a four-week wait. Once regional approval is granted, dossiers move automatically to the federal Immigration Office for the residence component of the Single Permit. Here the picture is less rosy: first-time permits now take 15–16 weeks at federal level, with status-change cases stretching to 17 weeks—about two weeks longer than in the June update. Officials blame a “large influx of applications” and the summer holiday period. For employers this means the end-to-end timeline for a new non-EEA hire can top 18 weeks. Businesses planning fourth-quarter on-boarding are therefore urged to lodge files at least four months in advance and to instruct candidates not to book travel until their D-visa is issued. The update also reiterates documentation tips: incomplete salary slips remain the top cause of delays in renewal cases, and the region now uses e-Box digital mail exclusively to request extra information—meaning HR teams must check the platform daily. Although the figures are indicative, they are widely used by global-mobility managers to set employee expectations and align project start dates. With Brussels-Capital and Wallonia due to publish their own September metrics next week, observers will watch whether Flanders’ backlog is an outlier or part of a national trend.
