Belgium Replaces Its Cross-Border Worker Permit, and UK Residents Lose Their Entry Route

Belgium has overhauled the paperwork that lets people live in one country and commute into Belgium to work. The Belgian Immigration Office has replaced rules in place since 1981 with a framework that sorts cross-border workers by nationality and country of residence. EU citizens no longer need to report to a Belgian municipality at all and can cross with a valid ID card or passport. Non-EU nationals living in France, the Netherlands, Germany or Luxembourg move from the old Annex 15 document to a new Annex 64. Non-EU nationals living in the United Kingdom lose the ability to commute into Belgium on an Annex 15 altogether and must instead obtain a long-stay D visa from the Belgian Embassy in London. Advisers reporting the change date its entry into force to 17 August 2026.

Background

A cross-border worker — in Belgian administrative language a frontalier or grensarbeider — is someone whose main home stays outside Belgium while they work there regularly. It is an everyday arrangement in a country bordered by four others, where a commute from Lille, Maastricht, Aachen or Luxembourg City is shorter than many domestic ones. Until now, non-Belgian workers in that position used an Annex 15, issued by the Belgian municipality where they worked. The Immigration Office says the 1981 framework no longer matches how cross-border employment works, and has replaced it. The new provisions take effect the day after publication in the Belgian Official Gazette, the Moniteur belge / Belgisch Staatsblad. That publication-linked trigger is why the official notice gives only "August 2026" while advisers reporting the change give a specific date.

What exactly changed

The new rules split cross-border workers into three groups. EU citizens are the clear winners: no municipal reporting, no Annex 15, and entry and exit for work on a valid national ID card or passport. Non-EU nationals holding residence in France, the Netherlands, Germany or Luxembourg apply for an Annex 64 through the Belgian municipality where they work. The Annex 64 is not a residence permit — it permits entry into and exit from Belgium for cross-border work and nothing more. It is generally valid for a maximum of one year and cannot outlast the passport or the residence permit issued by the neighbouring country. To obtain one, a worker needs a valid passport, a residence permit from the country of residence, confirmation of residence there, and proof of authorisation to carry out the professional activity in Belgium. Non-EU nationals resident in the United Kingdom face the sharpest change: no Annex 15 route at all, and instead a long-stay D visa — reported as type B63, which likewise grants no residence rights in Belgium — applied for at the Belgian embassy or consulate in the UK. The rules apply to employees, self-employed people and posted workers alike.

Who it affects

Consider an Indian national with a Dutch residence permit who drives from Maastricht to a job in Hasselt each morning. Their Annex 15 stays valid for another twelve months, but within that window they need an Annex 64 from their Belgian work municipality. Now consider a Nigerian national living in London who flies in every fortnight to work at a Brussels office. That person has no route on an Annex 15 and must obtain a long-stay D visa before the next working trip, with no grace period at all. A French or Italian citizen commuting from Lille is better off: the reporting obligation simply disappears. The change also reaches employers. Companies with staff commuting in from across a border need to sort each worker into one of the three categories, and UK-based arrangements need attention first because they are the ones with no transitional cover.

What this means in practice

If you are a non-EU national resident in France, the Netherlands, Germany or Luxembourg and you hold an Annex 15, you have roughly a year, but the Annex 64 is capped at the shorter of one year and your existing documents, so check your residence permit and passport expiry dates before you plan the timing. Gather your passport, your residence permit, proof of your address and evidence of your Belgian work authorisation, and approach the municipality where you work. If you are a non-EU national resident in the UK, start the D visa application now; the Immigration Office warns that embassy appointment availability may be limited, and there is no fallback document while you wait. EU citizens can stop reporting, but should still carry ID given that several of Belgium's neighbours currently run internal border checks. Employers should audit cross-border staff now rather than at renewal. Our Belgium country guide (/country-guides/belgium) covers the residence and work permit picture, and the guides for the Netherlands (/country-guides/netherlands), France (/country-guides/france), Germany (/country-guides/germany) and Luxembourg (/country-guides/luxembourg) cover the other side of the border.