Work permit (set by each region)
Flanders, highly skilled: at least €39,130 a year if you are under 30, €48,912 from 30 (the 2025 amounts, still applied in 2026; they include the 13th month and holiday pay). EU Blue Card: €63,586.
Wallonia, highly qualified: at least €42,576 a year under 30, €53,220 otherwise (2026). EU Blue Card: €68,815.
Brussels, highly qualified: at least €3,703 a month in basic gross pay (2026; 78% of the region's average gross monthly pay). EU Blue Card: €4,748 a month.
Typical monthly pay in Cybersecurity jobs vs Flanders' minimum for a highly skilled worker under 30 DOFI / regions€5,300
typical pay a monthminimum €2,811
Cybersecurity jobs on the EU shortage report for Belgium (2025) EURES30%
Flanders' shortage list (VDAB, 2026) VDAB / Wallonia: Database and network professionals not elsewhere classified, Software and applications developers and analysts not elsewhere classified, Systems analysts, Systems administrators, Computer network professionals are on it.
Wallonia's shortage list for foreign workers (1 October 2026 – 30 September 2027) VDAB / Wallonia: none of these jobs is on it.
In 2025, 1,437 non-EU students in Belgium switched from a study permit to a work permit, 113 of them Indian citizens Eurostat.
Graduates living in Belgium who are citizens of non-EU countries: 66.3% in work, against 88.7% of Belgian graduates (ages 25–64, 2025) Eurostat.