色花堂

its date on card鈥� you can be smart and try other dates but dont be surprised to receive a rejection after 5 month of waiting on your application

Thanks Evgeny!

Do you know it from your experience or is it written somewhere? I didn't find explanation from the official source on what can serve as prove of 5 years of uninterrupted/legal stay - which is weird!

@Stranger_F

Hello,

The 5 years are counted from the start of your "wettig verblijf" in Belgium 鈥� this means the date when you were officially granted legal residence that is valid for more than 3 month. More exactly, it鈥檚 the issue date written on your residence card (not the work start date or visa approval).

So, out of the three dates you mentioned, the correct one is number 3 鈥� the start date of your Blue Card (or whichever residence card you first received). That鈥檚 when your legal residence officially begins.

You can check the rules here

And at the bottom of the page, you鈥檒l also find official documents and Royal Decrees.

Thank you @Mia0210 !

That makes sense!

But when I received working visa I got my annex 46 which says "Bovenstaand persoon is gemachtigd om meer dan negentig dagen op het Belgische grondgebied te verblijven met het oog

op een hooggekwalificeerde baan" - isn't it exactly the start of legal residence?

Also, if I wasn't legally residing in Belgium at that time I wouldn't be able to work for Belgium company?

@Stranger_F

Annex 46 = authorization to work while waiting for your residence card/your physical arrival in the Kingdom

Residence card (date of issue) = start of your wettig verblijf = start of the 5 years for L kaart.

When you received the Annex 46, it allowed you to work legally, yes 鈥� but it is still considered a temporary step before actual "legal residence" (wettig verblijf). In other words, it's just a approved work permit. Law considers that you may never even come to work and reside in Belgium, that's why eID exist.

The official 5-year count for permanent residence (L kaart) starts only when you receive your residence card (like an A card, Blue Card, etc.). In some cases they may consider date when you first registered at the commune, but I could not find specific info about it regarding workers. For sure it counts for EU family members (but not belgians, for example). I recommend you to learn Royal Decree, maybe the list of acceptable permits is listed there.

Thanks @Mia0210 !

I went through Royal Decree, but it never specifies what exactly means "wettig verblijf".

For instance, when I moved to Belgium I received 1-year working visa (based on annex 46), so to me it already sounds like聽 "legal residence that is valid for more than 3 month", given that I entered country and started to pay taxes from day 1.

I understand that it's a common practice (and you are most likely right about it) that "wettig verblijf" starts with issue date of A/H card, but why it is exactly so is a mystery to me

I think it is most often defined as the date when you were registered in the register (of foreigners / aliens) in Belgium.

I think that information / date is stated in the Mijn Dossier platform, and it matches the date your first card was issued.

@residencecuriousity

No, it's not correct. Registre des 茅trangers de Commune |聽 Date de cr茅ation de votre dossier au Registre national | Date de d茅livrance du titre de s茅jour - those are three different dates and they might be months apart.

Can we count from the date of issue for the Annex 15? or does it have to be the actual electronic card. I came first as a student and my annex 15 was at september where my residence card was issued only at december.

@uygarts9

Legally, your period of residence in Belgium is generally counted from the date you officially register at the commune, not from the date your A card is issued. so... YES!

You can see the date by requesting doc called "Attest van gezinssamenstelling" or "Attest van hoofdverblijfplaats met volledige historiek" etc

HOWEVER, most of the city halls (commune) like Antwerpen, will only count the days starting from your first A card was issued.

Many city halls in Belgium calculate the 5-year period for an L card (long-term resident card) starting from the date your first A card was issued. This is likely because they follow the same logic applied to the B card, which is explained clearly on the Vreemdelingenrecht website under "Verblijfsrecht onbeperkte duur (B kaart)"

Arbeidsmigrant na vijf jaar tewerkstelling met een gecombineerde vergunning (61/25-6, 搂 4 Verblijfswet) .

De periode van vijf jaar begint te lopen vanaf de afgifte van de eerste verblijfskaart (bijv. A kaart). Volgens DVZ gaat het in dit geval niet om een recht op een B kaart na 5 jaar, maar om een gebonden bevoegdheid om in het kader van een verlengingsaanvraag na meer dan 5 jaar een B kaart af te leveren. Daardoor kan het in in dit geval in de praktijk meer dan vijf jaar kan duren voordat je een B kaart krijgt.

Quote from:

Because of this, many municipalities apply the same logic to the L card.

However, the 5-year period for the L card is not necessarily the same as for the B card. According to federal sources and legal aid organizations, the five years can start earlier than the first A card, as long as the foreigner was legally residing in Belgium.

In the brochure by Helder Recht, titled ,issued on 6 February 2025, it states:

Je verblijft legaal in Belgi毛 met: een A- of een B-kaart (bewijs van inschrijving in het vreemdelingenregister)

This means the 5-year period is counted based on being registered in the foreign nationals register (vreemdelingenregister) but they also warn:

鈥淒e regels om tot een totale periode van 5 jaar te komen zijn behoorlijk ingewikkeld. Je doet best navraag op de gemeente.鈥�

("The rules for reaching a total period of 5 years are quite complex. It鈥檚 best to ask your municipality.")

When you check

Verblijfsperiodes die gedeeltelijk in aanmerking worden genomen:

Er wordt voor de helft rekening gehouden met de periodes gedurende dewelke de vreemdeling gemachtigd werd om in het Rijk te verblijven om te studeren of een beroepsopleiding te volgen.

(Periods of residence partially taken into account:

Half of the periods during which the alien was authorized to reside in the Kingdom to study or receive vocational training are taken into account.)

The Annex 15 period issued while one was under student status is also a period during which one was authorized to reside in the Kingdom to pursue studies or vocational training. Therefore, I believe it should be counted as half toward the five-year calculation.

BBBUT, based on my personal experience dealing with different city halls and staff members,

The interpretation and application of the rules can vary significantly, totally up to the staff who handle your case! You can get different answers by asking different staffs from the same city hall. Welcome to Belgium!

@ashiseverywhere

This is so true! My municipality looked into computer and told me to start applying in the mid July, and I only arrived to Belgium in August. I think I'd better wait until at least registration date:)