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its date on card… you can be smart and try other dates but dont be surprised to receive a rejection after 5 month of waiting on your application

Thanks Evgeny!

Do you know it from your experience or is it written somewhere? I didn't find explanation from the official source on what can serve as prove of 5 years of uninterrupted/legal stay - which is weird!

@Stranger_F

Hello,

The 5 years are counted from the start of your "wettig verblijf" in Belgium — this means the date when you were officially granted legal residence that is valid for more than 3 month. More exactly, it’s the issue date written on your residence card (not the work start date or visa approval).

So, out of the three dates you mentioned, the correct one is number 3 – the start date of your Blue Card (or whichever residence card you first received). That’s when your legal residence officially begins.

You can check the rules here

And at the bottom of the page, you’ll also find official documents and Royal Decrees.

Thank you @Mia0210 !

That makes sense!

But when I received working visa I got my annex 46 which says "Bovenstaand persoon is gemachtigd om meer dan negentig dagen op het Belgische grondgebied te verblijven met het oog

op een hooggekwalificeerde baan" - isn't it exactly the start of legal residence?

Also, if I wasn't legally residing in Belgium at that time I wouldn't be able to work for Belgium company?

@Stranger_F

Annex 46 = authorization to work while waiting for your residence card/your physical arrival in the Kingdom

Residence card (date of issue) = start of your wettig verblijf = start of the 5 years for L kaart.

When you received the Annex 46, it allowed you to work legally, yes — but it is still considered a temporary step before actual "legal residence" (wettig verblijf). In other words, it's just a approved work permit. Law considers that you may never even come to work and reside in Belgium, that's why eID exist.

The official 5-year count for permanent residence (L kaart) starts only when you receive your residence card (like an A card, Blue Card, etc.). In some cases they may consider date when you first registered at the commune, but I could not find specific info about it regarding workers. For sure it counts for EU family members (but not belgians, for example). I recommend you to learn Royal Decree, maybe the list of acceptable permits is listed there.

Thanks @Mia0210 !

I went through Royal Decree, but it never specifies what exactly means "wettig verblijf".

For instance, when I moved to Belgium I received 1-year working visa (based on annex 46), so to me it already sounds like  "legal residence that is valid for more than 3 month", given that I entered country and started to pay taxes from day 1.

I understand that it's a common practice (and you are most likely right about it) that "wettig verblijf" starts with issue date of A/H card, but why it is exactly so is a mystery to me

I think it is most often defined as the date when you were registered in the register (of foreigners / aliens) in Belgium.

I think that information / date is stated in the Mijn Dossier platform, and it matches the date your first card was issued.

@residencecuriousity

No, it's not correct. Registre des étrangers de Commune |  Date de création de votre dossier au Registre national | Date de délivrance du titre de séjour - those are three different dates and they might be months apart.