Belgium to introduce post graduate work permits for international students by October 2021.

 

Belgium will allow non-European students to stay for one year after graduation to look for a job or start a company – currently, these students must find a job immediately after finishing studies if they haven’t found an employer to sponsor their visa.

Belgium is in many ways one of the most international countries in the world. A founding member of the EU, NATO, the eurozone, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the OECD. Belgium also hosts many multinational companies and organizations – including the European Commission – in its capital city, Brussels.

But for all that, the country has lagged in adopting a key strategy used by most competitive destinations to attract international students: policies that make it easy for these students to remain in the country after graduation and find a job.

But in March, Belgium’s Council of Ministers approved a proposal to allow non-European students to remain in the country for 12 months to find a job or start a company after they graduate. The “search year” (that has also been called “orientation year”) is expected to come into legislative effect in October 2021.

The imminent policy is intended to:

• Make Belgium more competitive with Hungary, where 10,000 non-EU internationalstudents went in 2019, and the Netherlands, which hosted 20,000 that year. In comparison, only 8,600 non-EU students studied in Belgium in 2019.

• Attract talented non-EU students to remain in Belgium and contribute to the labour force – a real need given that roughly a quarter of the population is over the age of 60 and this is expected to increase to 33% by 2050.

• Enable more non-EU students in Belgium – many of whom are at the postgraduate level – to be able to find a job in the highly internationalised economy of the country instead of having to leave right after graduating if they don’t immediately find a job.

Post-study job seekers will have to “find a job offering salary thresholds, start their own company, or find an internship with an international or government organization in order to get a new permit once their current visa has expired.”

Belgium’s higher education system is relatively affordable for international students. Average annual tuition for non-EU students studying at any study level is €4,175 (US$4,900).

Currently, six universities in Belgium are ranked in the Top 300 Times Higher Education global rankings. Belgium ranks in the Top 25 economies in the world and is, with Switzerland and the Netherlands, in the Top 3 most globalised countries. With this being said, you should start considering Belgium as one of your study destinations if you haven't done so.