BELGIUM - New Government Notification
Requirement for Employers of Foreign Nationals
By
Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP.
03/21/2007
Beginning April 1, 2007, employers sending foreign
national employees to Belgium on assignment must notify the Belgian Ministry of
Social Security about the assignment before the employee arrives in Belgium.
This requirement, called a Limosa declaration, applies to all foreign nationals
(EU and EEA nationals included) that will work in Belgium without a Belgian
employment contract, including self-employed persons, trainees, and business
visitors who will be present in Belgium more than five working days in one
month. Foreign employees working under an employment contract with a Belgian
employer are already reported to the Belgian Ministry of Social Security.
Employers who have sent foreign national employees to Belgium on assignment
prior to April 1, 2007 must notify the Belgian Ministry of Social Security by
September 30, 2007.
Foreign employers should ideally submit the declaration electronically using an
on-line form; however they may also submit the form via fax or mail. Once the
declaration has been submitted, the employer may print out (or will be sent, if
submitting a paper declaration) a "Limosa-1 certificate" as evidence of
notification. The employee should carry a copy of this certificate to Belgium.
The declaration form and additional information are available at
http://www.limosa.be.
The Belgian host company, if any, will be responsible for ensuring the foreign
employer has made the required declaration. If the foreign employer has not done
so, the Belgian host company must do so via the Ministry of Social Security
website at
http://www.socialsecurity.fgov.be/.
However, this does not exempt the foreign employer
from the notification requirement.
Both the foreign sending company and the Belgian host company, if any, may be
subject to severe penalties in the event of non-compliance. These may include
imprisonment of the foreign employer for up to two years and a fine of €6205
(approximately US$8000).
The new requirement is intended to enable the Belgian government to have better
visibility of all foreign national workers in Belgium and to combat social
security fraud.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the global
immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Global Immigration
Services, or send an email to the appropriate regional mailbox:
canada@fragomen.com,
lar@fragomen.com
(for Latin America),
asiapac@fragomen.com,
or
emea@fragomen.com
(for Europe, Middle East and Africa).
Source:
http://pubweb.fdbl.com/news1.nsf/c8abb103352ef95a86256e3100809438/39dcd5e74b8207d6852572a400735955?OpenDocument
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