Belgium Residence & Citizenship

Belgium Residence & Citizenship

 


Belgium is a financial capital of europe with rich international presence. The country is investor friendly and most favorable for businesses in terms of taxation. Belgium does not offer `citizenship by investment` program like other countries, but ‘residency by investment’ available for investors and business entrepreneurs.

Benefits

  • Belgium is French speaking European schengen country
  • No limitations on minimum stay a year.
  • Belgium citizenship after 5 years.
  • No restrictions on dual citizenship (eg Pakistan).
  • Visa free travel to other EU countries.

Belgium program is only suited to entrepreneurs and business investors who want to start a european company in Belgium. It works through business formation and creating jobs in Belgium.

Belgium Residence Program (BRP) has no minimum residency requirements, does not require you to stay or live at all in Belgium, but still you can apply for Permanent Residence (PR) or Passport. For example if you have a business to look after in UAE, you might like to stay in UAE for most of the time but want to visit or live in Belgium anytime you want, without applying for visa.

This helps you to travel extensively for business without residing in Belgium, which is why this program is ideal for business owners, seeking residence and citizenship in European Union (EU).

We can arrange meetings in Dubai, London, Zurich or in Belgium with our clients. Please contact us for appointments or mention in your online application for appointments.

Fees and Charges

Most of the fee associated with Belgium program are the lawyer & processing fees, office rental, business expenses, social contributions etc. Belgium is a case by case solution and can vary in terms of pricing. Average until citizenship stage (5 years) is reached is EUR 350k – 500k. Payments are done in steps, however, the first year can easily cost you up to EUR 200,000.

We therefore, ask our clients to have atleast EUR 350,000 at their disposal to start Belgium program.

Belgium Residence Permit

We offer a ‘Residence program in Belgium’ package for foreigners and non-EU citizens to get residence permit in Belgium. Foreigners and non-EU persons can apply for residence permit under investor or business category, which usually involves in either investing in a belgium company or forming a new belgium company with a office, and as an employee of the company, you can easily qualify for the belgian residence permit. It usuallytakes 3-8 months to get the residence permit issued to investors who form their company. You will need to renew the residence permit annually for 3 yrs and after which you will qualify for `permanent residence permit.`

The BVBA and SPRL are the most popular company types in Belgium. The Belgian BVBA company works just like Limited Liability Company, and theshare capital must be at least EUR 18,600. Taxes is actually around 30% and annual returns are filed every 12 months in accordance with Belgian regulations. With proper tax planning you can substantially minimize the tax liability.

Belgium Citizenship

Belgium is the only country in Europe where after you are eligible to apply for citizenship after just 3 years legal continious residence. All in all, it takes total of 5 years to receive Belgian citizenship, because the processing time is atleast 2 years. You will qualify for `citizenship` by right in Belgium after 7 years of residence. With residence permit issued by Belgium, you can travel to EU countries without visa and allowed to stay maximum 90 days in every 6 month period in EU schengen countries.

It usually takes 5 yrs to receive citizenship and passport from Belgian authorities. Usually a citizenship application is submitted after 3 yrs of stay in Belgium but it usually takes 5 yrs to recieve Belgian passport because of lengthy processing times. The client is required to pass the language requirement of either French, German or Dutch when applying for citizenship. Belgian passport grants full EU citizenship which means you can live and work anywhere in Europe.

Belgium has no restrictions on dual citizenship. If you are a Pakistan national, then Pakistan has special provisions with Belgium, so that if receive Belgian passport, you dont lose Pakistan nationality. Please see our dual citizenship article on which countries Pakistan allows dual citizenship with.