Belgium’s Minister for Asylum and Migration, Anneleen Van Bossuyt, scored a legislative victory on 14 October 2026 as the parliamentary home-affairs committee approved her bill to simplify professional migration for highly skilled third-country nationals. The reform centres on the EU Blue Card, the bloc-wide residence permit for experts with a university degree and a job offer that pays at least 1.5 times the Belgian median salary. Under the new rules, the Immigration Office must rule on Blue Card applications within 90 days (down from 120), and regional labour ministries will accept digitally signed contracts, eliminating the need for legalised hard copies. Crucially, the bill also aligns Belgian law with the revised EU Blue Card Directive (2021/1883), granting card-holders short-term business-trip mobility of up to 90 days to other member states without additional work permits. That feature is expected to benefit the life-sciences and fintech clusters around Leuven, Ghent and Brussels, where project-based assignments across EU sites are common. Van Bossuyt paired the streamlining with tougher anti-fraud measures: the Immigration Office can now reject applications linked to ‘shell companies’ or inconsistent salary data, and victims of labour exploitation will have six months (up from three) to find a new employer without losing status. For employers, the message is clear: Belgium wants to compete aggressively for specialised talent but will scrutinise dubious sponsorships. HR teams should refresh onboarding checklists, ensure employment contracts meet the new minimum-salary thresholds, and budget for the shorter but more intense 90-day processing timeline.
