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For business activity, Belgium's route is the Professional Card for self-employed people, freelancers, company directors and entrepreneurs. It's regionalised, and each region weighs your business plan and its usefulness to the local economy.
Belgium's main business-based route to living there is the Professional Card (carte professionnelle / beroepskaart), for self-employed people rather than employees — including freelancers, company directors and entrepreneurs. There isn't a passive "investor" permit in our corpus; the focus is on running a genuine activity that's useful to the local economy.
The Professional Card is regionalised, so you apply to Flanders, Wallonia or Brussels-Capital depending on where your activity is based, and each region assesses your business plan and whether your activity meets its economic-interest and regulatory conditions. You'll submit a solid business plan to the competent regional authority, and for stays over 90 days you'll typically combine the card with a type-D long-stay visa, plus a medical certificate and a recent criminal-record extract.
Validity, exact conditions and fees are set regionally, so the details depend on where your business will be based. Because these rules can change and differ by region, confirm the current requirements with the official source before committing.
If you're weighing where to base your business or how to frame your business plan for a particular region, ACME offers a free initial consultation to help you plan.
Get a free, personalised assessment from a licensed ACME advisor, or ask Acey.
Guidance only, not legal advice. ACME is an independent consultancy, not affiliated with any government. Rules change, confirm details with official sources.