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Professional card exemptions

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Certain categories of foreign workers are exempted from obtaining a professional card, either because of the nature of their activity, the nature of their stay or in application of international treaties.

This is the list of such exemptions:

1) Foreign nationals who hold a valid alien's identity card or indefinite CIRE (Certificate of registration in the aliens' register);

 2) Nationals of a member state of the European Economic Area (the European Union member states, Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein) and, provided that they live with that person:

  • their spouse;
  • their descendants or those of their spouse, aged under 21 years or dependant on them;
  • their ascendants or those of their spouse, dependant on them, with the exception of the ascendants of a student or those of their spouse;
  • the spouse of those persons referred to in points 2 and 3.

 3) The spouse of a Belgian national and, provided that they live with that person:

  • their descendants or those of their spouse, aged under 21 years or dependant on them;
  • their ascendants or those of their spouse, dependant on them;
  • the spouse of those persons referred to in 1 and 2.

 4) Recognised refugees in Belgium;

 5) Spouses who help or stand in for their spouse, when performing their self-employed activity;

 6) Foreign nationals who make business trips, provided that the duration of the stay, required by the trip, does not exceed three consecutive months. The following are considered as business trips: travel in Belgium by a foreign national who does not have a main residence in Belgium and who travels there on their own behalf or on behalf of a company for the purpose of:

  • visiting professional partners;
  • looking for and developing professional contacts;
  • negotiating and signing contracts;
  • participating in trade shows, fairs and exhibitions in order to present and sell their products or those of the company;
  • attending company management board meetings or general assemblies.

 7) Foreign nationals who do not have their main residence in Belgium and who come to present lectures, provided that the duration of the stay required by their services, does not exceed three consecutive months; 

 8) Foreign journalists who do not have their main residence in Belgium and who come for the needs of their activity, provided that the duration of the stay required by their services, does not exceed three consecutive months; 

 9) Foreign sportspeople, along with their self-employed coaches, who do not have their main residence in Belgium and who come to provide services within the framework of their respective activities, provided that the duration of the stay required by such services does not exceed three consecutive months; 

 10) Foreign artists, along with their self-employed associates, who do not have their main residence in Belgium and who come to provide services within the framework of their respective activities, provided that the duration of the stay required by such services does not exceed three consecutive months; 

11) Foreign students authorised to stay in Belgium, who are attending a course required by their studies, for the duration of this course; 

12) Foreign nationals who come to Belgium to attend a course approved by the competent authority within the framework of development cooperation or reciprocal exchange programmes, for the duration of their course;

13) Foreign nationals registered with the Bar Council for Solicitors or the list of interns in accordance with the Royal Decree of 24 August 1970 stating exceptions to the nationality requirement set out in Article 428 of the Judicial Code relating to the title and exercise of the profession of solicitor; 

14) Self-employed professionals and researchers for the coordination centres referred to by Royal Decree no. 187 of 30 December 1982 relating to the creation of coordination centres.