Work permits – Intra-corporate transferee

We call employees who are transferred within a company ‘intra-corporate transferees’. It is not yet possible for them to be attain a work permit. Pending amended legislation, the employer needs to apply for a work permit for highly skilled employees.

Foreign nationals coming to work in Flanders must have a prior employment authorisation to do so. Only certain well-defined categories of foreign nationals are not subject to this obligation.

An intra-corporate transferee (ICT) or intra-corporate transferee who does not belong to one of these well-defined categories and therefore does need an employment authorisation can work in Flanders if he or she meets the conditions below.

the Flemish company (as user of the posted worker) and the foreign company established in a third country (as posting employer) belong to the same company or group of companies. This means the set of affiliated and/or associated companies mentioned in Articles 11 and 12 of the Company Code;
A professional or managerial staff member or specialist transferred within a company must have at least a level 5 qualification (Flemish Qualifications Structure), i.e. at least HBO5 (graduate).
a trainee employee transferred within a company should have at least a university level qualification (VKS6), i.e. at least a bachelor;
the posted worker coming to the Flemish company as an intra-corporate transferee must already have been continuously employed by the original employer, i.e. the third-country company, for three months ;
income:
- this shall not, throughout the duration of the transfer, be less favourable than that of comparable positions in accordance with applicable laws or collective agreements or practices;
- there is a presumption that this wage criterion is met if:
  - the salary for an professional or managerial staff member is €72,154 (160% of an average Belgian annual salary)
  - the salary for a specialist and trainee employee is € 45,096.00 euro (100% of an average Belgian annual salary).
- However, this presumption is rebuttable, which means that it can be justified in the application that in the concrete sector the average wage is lower after all. This will then be taken into account when considering the application. The salary amounts (see above) are therefore not absolute!
validity period:
- a professional or managerial staff member and specialist employment authorisation is issued for the duration of the secondment, with a maximum duration of three years. The prospective employer can immediately apply for this single permit for three years.
- an employment authorisation for trainee employees is issued for the duration of the posting, with a maximum duration of one year.
- Extensions may be granted within these maximum periods;
- if the maximum duration of the employment authorisation has been reached, a new application for transfer for the same employee can only be made after an interval of three months has elapsed.

What employment authorisation is required?

As the employer, you apply for an employment authorisation for your prospective employee. The procedure and documents you need differ depending on the length of employment. Are you applying for an authorisation for the first time or renewing it? Even then, there is a difference.

Over 90 days

For foreign national intra-corporate transferee (ICT) or intra-corporate transferee who comes to work more than 90 days in Belgium, the employer applies for a single permit of limited duration . There is no option to apply for employment authorisation for less than 90 days with a work permit and employment authorisation.

For the so-called short-term mobility (employment up to a maximum of 90 days) there is an exemption, particularly the short employment with Limosa declaration.

Importantly, there are two different situations for employment as an ICT (intra-corporate transferee) for long-term mobility (employment of over 90 days):

employment with secondment from the initial foreign company (located in a non-EU third country) to the Flemish branch of the multinational group: (1) third country > (2) Flanders;
employment with secondment from the initial foreign company (located in a non-EU third country) to the Flemish branch of the multinational group:
(1) third country > (2) EU country > (3) Flanders.
In this case, the individual has already been seconded as ICT from the initial foreign company (based in a non-EU third country) to a branch in an EU country. The person concerned then already holds an authorisation to work as an ICT in that other EU country. In such a case, there are three companies involved:
- the Flemish company (as second user of the posted worker)
- the company established in another EU Member State (as first user of the posted worker)
- the foreign company based in a third country (as initial posting employer)

All three must belong to the same company or (multinational) group of companies .

In practical terms, when applying for an employment authorisation to work as an ICT in Flanders for the second situation, the following must then always be proved: the ICT from the other EU member state (valid for the entire duration of transfer to Flanders), the multinational group and the salary criterion.
The qualification requirement and seniority no longer need to be demonstrated as those are criteria to obtain the initial ICT permit in the other EU member state and it is reasonably presumed that those criteria were then met.

Work permits – Intra-corporate transferee

What employment authorisation is required?

Over 90 days

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Work permits – Intra-corporate transferee

What employment authorisation is required?

Over 90 days

Contact

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