Recent statistics reveal a growing trend among foreign students and researchers choosing to stay and work in Belgium following their graduation or research tenure. State Secretary for Asylum
and Migration, Nicole de Moor (CD&V), shared these insights.
In 2021, Belgium introduced the "zoekjaar" visa, also known as the search year visa, granting non-European students a one-year window to seek employment or establish a business after completing their studies. The same opportunity was extended to researchers in 2023.
De Moor reported a notable increase in applications for the search year visa in 2023, with 1,927 foreign students or researchers applying—an uptick of 28 percent compared to 2022. Concurrently, the number of applications for combined permits, which allow non-EU individuals to both reside and work in Belgium, surged from 2,478 to 2,811. This suggests that many individuals granted the search year visa successfully secure employment within the stipulated timeframe.
Annually, approximately 10,000 non-EU nationals arrive in Belgium for educational purposes, with around 1,000 engaging in research activities. Photo by Vysotsky, Wikimedia commons.