Belgium Rewrites the Rules for Europe’s Cross-Border Workforce

Belgium has introduced a new framework for cross-border workers, replacing rules that had been in place since 1981. The changes, effective from August 17, 2026, simplify procedures for EU citizens while creating new documentation requirements for non-EU nationals commuting into Belgium from neighbouring countries and the United Kingdom.

The reform comes as cross-border employment has become an increasingly important feature of Europe’s integrated labour market. Thousands of workers live in one country, work in another and cross national borders as part of their normal working lives. Belgium’s new system attempts to bring that reality into a more structured immigration framework.

A system built around where workers live

Under the new rules, a cross-border worker is someone whose main residence remains outside Belgium while they regularly travel to Belgium for employment. These workers are not registered in Belgium’s National Register.

For EU citizens, the new framework is comparatively straightforward. They will no longer have to report to a Belgian municipality or receive the previous Annex 15 document. A valid identity card or passport will be sufficient for entering and leaving Belgium for work. Workers who subsequently move their main residence to Belgium will instead fall under the standard EU residence procedure.

The change effectively removes an additional administrative layer for EU workers who already benefit from free movement within the European Union.

Non-EU workers face a more formal system

The situation is different for third-country nationals living in France, Germany, Luxembourg or the Netherlands.

From August 17, these workers must apply through the Belgian municipality where they work. The new procedure covers employees, self-employed workers and posted workers. Instead of Annex 15, they will receive an Annex 64.

The distinction is important. Annex 64 is not a Belgian residence permit and does not create a right to live in Belgium. Its purpose is narrower: it allows the holder to enter and leave Belgium in connection with cross-border employment.

Its validity is tied to the relevant professional or work authorisation and is generally limited to a maximum of one year. It also cannot remain valid beyond the worker’s passport or residence permit issued by the country where they maintain their main residence.

This creates a system in which the worker’s immigration status in the neighbouring country becomes directly relevant to their ability to continue working across the border in Belgium.

Britain gets a separate route

The biggest procedural shift concerns people living in the United Kingdom.

Non-EU nationals residing in Britain, including UK nationals covered by the new framework, will have to apply through the competent Belgian embassy or consulate in the UK. If approved, they will receive a D visa marked B63.

The visa does not provide a right of residence in Belgium. Instead, it establishes the immigration basis for cross-border employment.

Belgium’s Immigration Office has specifically advised cross-border workers living in the UK to begin the long-term visa process as soon as possible, warning that they will no longer be able to rely on Annex 15 to enter Belgium as cross-border workers.

That distinction reflects the post-Brexit fragmentation of what was previously a much simpler European mobility regime. A worker can still live in Britain and work in Belgium, but the administrative pathway is now fundamentally different from that available to EU citizens.

Brussels gives old permits a transition period

Belgium is not immediately invalidating existing documentation.

Workers living in France, Germany, Luxembourg or the Netherlands who already hold Annex 15 documents will have a 12-month transitional period to move into the new system.

For employers, however, the transition does not remove the need to prepare. New cases from August 17 will have to follow the new framework, while existing workers will eventually need to be moved from Annex 15 to Annex 64.

For applications involving non-EU nationals in the four neighbouring countries, the required documentation includes a valid passport, a valid residence permit from the country of residence, confirmation that the worker’s main residence remains abroad and evidence of professional activity in Belgium. Depending on the worker’s status, that may include a work authorisation, professional card or, for posted workers, an A1 certificate.

Europe’s borderless labour market still depends on paperwork

Belgium’s reform highlights a broader tension inside Europe’s labour market.

The European single market has made it possible for companies to recruit workers across borders and for employees to live in one country while earning their income in another. Yet immigration and residence systems remain largely national. The result is that the economic border can disappear long before the administrative one does.

Belgium is responding by separating the right to work from the right to reside more explicitly. EU citizens benefit from the existing architecture of free movement, while non-EU workers are placed under a more tightly controlled system that tracks both their professional authorisation and their continued residence outside Belgium.

The approach may make the rules more predictable, but it also increases the importance of documentation for workers whose lives already span several jurisdictions.

For companies operating in Belgium’s border regions, the practical challenge will be keeping immigration status, work authorisation and residence documents aligned. For workers, particularly third-country nationals, the message is even clearer: living outside Belgium is no longer enough to establish a workable cross-border arrangement. The route into the Belgian labour market increasingly depends on having the right document for the specific country in which they live.